1918 RAF Colt Government Model .455 Eley Pistol

[varifleman]

Here for your viewing pleasure are photos of my WWI RAF British military proofed Colt 1911. It was one of 400 pistols shipped to Captain Sir Connop Guthrie, Pier 60, North River NY NY on March 12, 1918. Guthrie was the Special Representative for the British Ministry of Shipping in the U.S. and a member of the U.S. Shipping Commission in 1918. It has the view mark for G.W.R. Steadman, British Inspector at the Colt New Haven Factory and the British Broad Arrow and Crossed Pennant military acceptance marks. Serial number is W 100744.

[John Sukey]

Onedoes wonder a bit why the guns were in .455 Eley since .45ACP had been around for long before WW1

[SMOKEY]

Nice,thanks

[stripper clip]

Onedoes wonder a bit why the guns were in .455 Eley since .45ACP had been around for long before WW1

I suspect it's kind of the same thing that fell into place with the P-14 rifles; U.S. factories are making the guns for England, and the English government sets the specs they want for the U.S. produced weapons. Ultra nice looking example varifleman!

[varifleman]

I suspect it's kind of the same thing that fell into place with the P-14 rifles; U.S. factories are making the guns for England, and the English government sets the specs they want for the U.S. produced weapons. Ultra nice looking example varifleman!

Stripperclip and John Sukey. Thanks for comments. The British adapted the Webley-Scott automatic pistol chambered in .455 Eley (a rather clunky-looking pistol) for several branches of service right before and during WWI so the .455 Eley was their standard automatic round and thus readily available whereas .45 ASP was not. Most of the early WWI Colt Governemnt Model pistols were in .45 ACP but the British specified that the latter Contract Colt Government Model pistols be made in .455 Eley calibre which required a few technical changes to the barrel and magazine to accomodate the .455 Eley cartridge.

[da gimp]

pretty..........

[Annihilator I]

Hang on guys. The cartridge used in that particular Colt was not the .455 Eley (which was only used in revolvers), but a totally different round called the .455 Webley Auto Mk I. Here is a link to a photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:455_Webley_auto_cartridge.JPG

[RCS]

Photo shows 9.8 Colt, 45 Thompson (1923) and 455 Webley Mark 1