colt government model shipping question

[Garandy]

C99034 lettered to Iver Johnson sporting goods co. BOSTON, MA 1 of 10, shipped on July 9 1917, some people put this sn in 1918
What would iver johnson be doing with these government models? Did they market them, or was the 1917 purchase for something else?

[Scott Gahimer]

I've letter a few pistols that were sold/shipped to Iver Johnson. I always assumed they were selling them. If shipped in 1917, it is a 1917.

[emmagee1917]

During this time period Colt seem to be incapable of shipping in numerical order . Only a letter can be sure. Lists are a good guess at best.
Now , what confounds the heck out of me is how they couldn't ship 1917s in any numerical order by serial number but could do it by the 2nd government required set of numbers .
Chris

[Garandy]

It was obviously manufactured earlier in 1917, with the US entry into WW1 3 months earlier, was there any reason for IJ to buy these UNless they sold them in the catalogues? Anyone know?

[Johnny P]

During both world wars Colt began by shipping in numerical order, but it proved to be such a headache that the practice was abandoned in both wars even though all pistols were built to the same specifications. It would make even less sense to try and ship commercial production in numerical order with the huge variety of options that could be requested. Colt also kept a large inventory of completed pistols on hand, and trying to find the earliest production to fill orders just wasn't important.

If I remember correctly the butt markings of the Model 1917 Revolver were applied after finish, and while no attempt was made to keep the Colt serial number in numerical order, it would be much easier to keep the military number numerical. Trying to keep two sets of numbers numerical would have been too large to overcome with the time limitations on getting the revolvers out. Commercial sales of the New Service continued, and serial numbers would have come from the range that was being applied to the Model 1917.

[kwill]

It was obviously manufactured earlier in 1917, with the US entry into WW1 3 months earlier, was there any reason for IJ to buy these UNless they sold them in the catalogues? Anyone know?

In those days, most of the gun manufacturers had a retail outlet. They sold their own guns, of course, but also sold other popular brands. You can find Colts shipped to S&W and Winchester as well as Iver Johnson et al. When you see a Colt letter that just has an individual's name and "address unknown" it is most likely because they bought it from the company store and just walked out with it.

[Garandy]

Is this considered an early government model? Worthy of a collection?

[Scott Gahimer]

It's early compared to 2014. It's late compared to 1912 or 1913. What generally makes something worthy of a collection is originality and high condition. Show us some good pictures and I might know what I think. Just because it lettered to Iver Johnson isn't enough to go on.