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What a good idea, Twaits! Maybe quite a few photos of these grand old revolvers will turn up. These Colts have been ignored in years past and perhaps with some justification for they seem mechanically primitive. Still, they are functional and apparently did give reasonable service from the 1890s through the early part of the twentieth century. Over 250,000 were made which indicates market success and and general acceptance by its users. The sub-variants given the successive model names would seem to indicate product improvement on the fly but are really no different than the many changes made to the Smith & Wesson K-Frame Hand Ejector over the course of its long life, both before and after it acquired the Model 10 designation.
What I've grown to like about them is their appearance. They look modern, yet quaintly antiquated. Their lines are graceful and elegant. They are very much a product of their age. Much happened in the United States and world wide when these Colt revolvers were current and in general use. I think they are attractive revolvers.
They don't give the impression of being really strong revolvers and their cartridges aren't powerhouses. The .38 caliber models got a bad reputation as having woefully inadequate stopping power during their heyday. While the .38 Long Colt is not potent, it apparently did suffer from some bad lots of ammunition provided to the armed services. I've read that some contractors produced substandard ammunition that wasn't up to military specifications. The .38 Long Colt, if loaded to specification, would have to be a better self defense choice than a .380 ACP.
I think the .41 Long Colt would have made a good choice for personal self defense back in the day. The 32-20 would be a handy choice for the fellow who had a rifle so chambered.
I feel kind of bad about these old revolvers because I ignored them for so long. My very first Colt revolver is the Model 1901 that I still have. I got it over 30 years ago for nothing more than to plug a hole in a budding U.S. military collection. I didn't properly appreciate it then for its own qualities. I imagine I will acquire a few more of these Colt D.A.s in coming years. I'd love to have one nickel example like yours. Those don't come along that nice very often.
Model 1901 .38 Long Colt (serial number 1208 so is a reworked early model)
New Navy .32-20 from 1906. This one is the dog I purchased off of GunBroker for $50 last year about this time. It had both missing and broken parts and a hammer that had the firing pin ground off. All it lacks now is a good cylinder stop with attached cylinder stop spring and it will be in shooting order.
New Navy .41 Long Colt produced in 1901. This one was purchased as a parts doner for the .32-20 above but proved to be so nice mechanically that it seems a shame to break it up. The .41 Long Colt is said to be an inaccurate round but this one shoots tight groups.
