Small and fast or big and slow, the great handgun cartridge debate. Here's part of the story.
Colt had tried unsuccessfully to sell the army on it's 1878 model revolver, a early large double action with characteristics of both the past and future. Having failed to reliably fire hard primer 45 Colt army cartridges Colt tried again by installing a more powerful hammer spring, adding a longer trigger and larger guard to make the DA pull less hard. Still rejected by the army which was more interested in the new swing out cylinder guns chambered in 38 Long Colt some of these guns are ordered. They make their way not to American officers but to the Philippine Constabulary in 1902. Then governor Taft was looking for Colt revolvers, Krag rifles, and Winchester shotguns to arm the newly formed police force, but gets these cast offs and 45-70 Springfields.
With the Moro rebellion, the story goes that army officers are finding that these tribesmen are absorbing 38 Long Colt bullets without much effect but are probably surprised to see their allies in the Constabulary getting the desired results with these rejects. These stories circulate back to the brass where changes are made that will last for a long time. The Thompson LaGuarde tests in 1904 provide evidence that supports the stories from the Philippines, and the US military decides handguns need to be 45 Caliber.
Pictured is a Colt 1878 Philippine model from 1902 complete with it's army acceptance marks from chief inspector Renaldo A. Carr, and if you look closely, the same John T. Thompson who would go on to history first performing the tests in 1904 and then to the submachinegun that bears his name. At the time a young officer working in the ordinance department.
Sadly the army sold these modified 1878s to Bannerman arms after the war where they moved on to the civilian market. They never received much attention in the history books, but holding and shooting one is like being part of the story.
Colt had tried unsuccessfully to sell the army on it's 1878 model revolver, a early large double action with characteristics of both the past and future. Having failed to reliably fire hard primer 45 Colt army cartridges Colt tried again by installing a more powerful hammer spring, adding a longer trigger and larger guard to make the DA pull less hard. Still rejected by the army which was more interested in the new swing out cylinder guns chambered in 38 Long Colt some of these guns are ordered. They make their way not to American officers but to the Philippine Constabulary in 1902. Then governor Taft was looking for Colt revolvers, Krag rifles, and Winchester shotguns to arm the newly formed police force, but gets these cast offs and 45-70 Springfields.
With the Moro rebellion, the story goes that army officers are finding that these tribesmen are absorbing 38 Long Colt bullets without much effect but are probably surprised to see their allies in the Constabulary getting the desired results with these rejects. These stories circulate back to the brass where changes are made that will last for a long time. The Thompson LaGuarde tests in 1904 provide evidence that supports the stories from the Philippines, and the US military decides handguns need to be 45 Caliber.
Pictured is a Colt 1878 Philippine model from 1902 complete with it's army acceptance marks from chief inspector Renaldo A. Carr, and if you look closely, the same John T. Thompson who would go on to history first performing the tests in 1904 and then to the submachinegun that bears his name. At the time a young officer working in the ordinance department.
Sadly the army sold these modified 1878s to Bannerman arms after the war where they moved on to the civilian market. They never received much attention in the history books, but holding and shooting one is like being part of the story.
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