Winchester Model 1905
Type	Semi-automatic rifle
Place of origin	United States
Production history
Designer	T.C. Johnson
Manufacturer	Winchester Repeating Arms Company
Produced	1905 to 1920
No. built	29,113
Variants	“Plain” and “Fancy Finish” Rifles
Specifications
Weight	7 lb (3.2 kg) to 8 lb (3.6 kg)
Length	40 in (1,000 mm)
Barrel length	22 in (560 mm)
Cartridge	.32SL and .35SL
Action	Blowback
Rate of fire	Semi-automatic
Feed system	Detachable 5 and 10-round box magazines
Sights	Open iron sights and optional tang or receiver-mounted aperture sights

The Winchester Model 1905 (also known as the Model 05), is a blowback-operated, semi-automatic rifle produced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company beginning in 1905 and discontinued in 1920. This rifle loads cartridges from a 5 or 10-round capacity, detachable box magazine located immediately forward of the trigger guard. Winchester offered factory chamberings in .32SL and .35 Winchester Self-Loading (.35 WSL).^[1]
Notably, a Model 1905 in .35 WSL was used by Harry Payne Whitney on an arctic expedition. The rifle proved reliable in extreme low-temperatures, yet insufficiently powerful enough for taking of large game such as musk ox.^[2]
The basic design for the Winchester Model 1905 is covered by U.S. Patent 681,481 issued August 27, 1901 and assigned to Winchester by Thomas Crossley Johnson, a key firearms designer for Winchester. This patent was initially used to protect the design of the rimfire Winchester Model 1903, but came to be applied toward the centerfireWinchester Self Loading rifle series, which includes the Model 1905, Model 1907 and Model 1910.^[3]

Variants[edit]

In addition to the standard or “plain finish” model, a deluxe or “fancy finish” model was offered with pistol grip stock and checkering on the forearm and wrist of the stock. The plain finish rifles were offered in 1905 at a list price of $28, the fancy finish rifles for $43.^[4]

References[edit]

Colt New Service revolver
Colt New Service
Type	Revolver
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1898–1946
Used by	United States United Kingdom Canada Commonwealth of the Philippines Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Wars	Spanish–American War, Boxer Rebellion, Second Boer War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War (limited)
Production history
Manufacturer	Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Co.
Produced	1898–1946
No. built	356,000+
Specifications
Cartridge	.45 Colt, .455 Webley, .476 Enfield, .45 ACP, .44-40, .44 Special, .38-40, .38 Special, .357 Magnum
Action	double-action revolver
Feed system	6-round cylinder
Sights	fixed blade front, notch rear

The Colt New Service is a double-action revolver made by Colt from 1898 until 1941. It was adopted by the U.S. Armed Forces in .45 caliber as the Model 1909 U.S. Army, Marine Corps Model 1909, Model 1909 U.S. Navy and in .45 ACP as the Model 1917 U.S. Army.^[1] The Model 1917 was created to supplement insufficient stocks of M1911 pistols during World War I.^[2]

History[edit]

The Colt New Service was the largest revolver ever manufactured by Colt and one of the largest production revolvers of all time until the 1970s. There are several generational variants including the “Old Model” (which refers to the first 21000 units made),”Transitional Model” (which incorporated a hammer-block safety), “Improved Model” (325,000 units) and “Late Model” (manufactured from 1928 to 1941). A “Target Model”, “Shooting Master” and “Deluxe Target Model” were offered as well.^[3]

Colt M1917 revolver[edit]

New Service Revolver, lock

Colt had produced a revolver for the U.S. Army called the M1909, a version of their heavy-frame, .45-caliber, New Service model in .45 M1909, a version of the .45 Long Colt with an enlarged rim to facilitate extraction, to supplement and replace a range of 1890s-era .38 caliber Colt and Smith & Wesson revolvers that had demonstrated inadequate stopping power during the Philippine–American War. The Colt M1917 Revolver was a New Service with a cylinder bored to take the .45 ACP cartridge and the half-moon clips to hold the rimless cartridges in position. Later production Colt M1917 revolvers had headspacing machined into the cylinder chambers, just as the Smith & Wesson M1917 revolvers had from the start. Newer Colt production could be fired without the half-moon clips, but the empty cartridge cases had to be ejected with a device such as a cleaning rod or pencil, as the cylinder extractor and ejector would pass over the rims of the rimless cartridges. During its lifetime, the Colt New Service was the most popular revolver made by Colt, surpassing 150,000 units. After World War I, the revolver gained a strong following among civilian shooters.^[4]

Fitz Special[edit]

John Henry Fitzgerald was an employee of Colt prior to World War II and was known to carry of a pair of New Service “Fitz Specials” in his front pockets. These revolvers had bobbed hammers, 2″ barrels, shortened and rounded grip frames, and the front of the trigger guard was removed. Although less than 30 left the factory, it became an after-market conversion for many gunsmiths. Colonels Rex Applegate and Charles Askins were proponents of this model.^[4]

Canada and United Kingdom[edit]

Dealer case of Fine collectible pistols including a 1916 Colt New Service Revolver in 455 Eley

In 1899 Canada acquired a number of New Service revolvers (chambered in .45 Colt) for Boer War service, to supplement its existing Model 1878 Colt Double Action revolvers in the same caliber.^[5] In 1904/5 the North-West Mounted Policein Canada also adopted the Colt New Service to replace the less-than satisfactory Enfield Mk II revolver in service since 1882.^[6]
New Service revolvers, designated as Pistol, Colt, .455-inch 5.5-inch barrel Mk. I, chambered for the .455 Webley cartridge were acquired for issue as “substitute standard” by the British War Department during World War I.^[7] British Empire Colt New Service Revolvers were stamped “NEW SERVICE .455 ELEY” on the barrel,^[8] to differentiate them from the .45 Colt versions used by the US (and Canada).
The Colt New Service was a popular revolver with British officers and many of them had privately purchased their own Colt New Service revolvers in the years prior to World War I as an alternative to the standard-issue Webley Revolver. British Empire and Canadian forces received 60,000 Colt New Service revolvers during World War I and they continued to see official service with US until the end of World War II.^[8]