Colt New Service
Produced by Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Co.
The Colt New Service is a large frame, large caliber, double-action revolver made by Colt from 1898 until 1941. Made in various calibers, the .45 Colt version with a 5½" barrel, was adopted by the U.S. Armed Forces as the Model 1909. The Colt M1917 revolver was created to supplement insufficient stocks of M1911 pistols during World War I. It was simply a New Service re-chambered to take the .45 ACP cartridge and used half-moon clips to hold the rimless cartridges in position. After World War I, the revolver gained a strong following among civilian shooters. A commercial rimmed cartridge the .45 Auto Rim was also developed, that allowed the M1917 to be fired without the need for moon-clips. In the 1930s, the New Service was chambered for .38 Special, and then .357 Magnum. As one of the most powerful handgun cartridges available at the time, it was easily capable of penetrating the automobile bodies and body armor used by public enemies such as gangsters, bank robbers, and fugitives of that era. As such, it became instantly popular with lawmen, state troopers and highway patrolmen.