Colt M1901

F

Fred S

New member
I'm going to show big ignorance here. I just bought a Colt M1901 DA revolver. Its a 38 but the guy who sold it to me said it is in 38 Long Colt and not 38 Special. Told me not to shoot 38 Smith and Wesson Special in it. I'm a bit confused. What is the difference in 38 Special and 38 Long Colt. Can the 38 Special be fired in this gun?

Thanks for making me smarter...
 
"Can the .38 Spl. be fired from this gun."

NO.

I'll repeat the answer.

NO.

The .38 Long Colt was developed by Colt in the 1870s or early 1880s. It served for a time as the US' standard handgun round, but fell out of favor after it was found to be sadly lacking in stopping power during the Philippine Incursion.

Knowing this, and wanting to try for a slice of the military market, Smith & Wesson took the .38 Long Colt and lengthened the casing by about 1/8th of an inch and upped the bullet weight to 158 grains.

The result was the .38 Spl.

.38 Spl. cases MAY fit in the cylinder of your 1901. But that does not mean that you should fire them. Higher pressures generated by the Special round could damage your revolver.
 
The answer is yes you can, BUT you should not do it. Stick to .38 Long Colt ammunition if you want to shoot your revolver.
 
Thanks for the responses. I hear that .38 LC is hard to get. Anyone know of sources of ammuntion or brass?
 
Starline MAY be making brass to supply the Cowboy Action shooters.

But, all the brass you could ever want or need is easily available just by trimming .38 Spl. cases.

If you intend on shooting this gun, have it checked over by a competent gunsmith. If you're interested in shooting it for accuracy, have him slug the bore.

As for Hard Ball's answer "Yes you can," there is a physical limitation caveat that needs to be made.

It may NOT be possible to chamber .38 Spl. rounds in your 1901. The cylinder could be too short for the .38 Spl. rounds, or there MAY (but definitely not a certainty) be shoulders in the chambers to prevent longer cases from being chambered and fired.

One round that will work, though, and is often found at gun shows, is .38 Short Colt.
 
Thanks again guys. I bought this gun for my collection of US military sidearms. I will want to shoot it every now and then.
 
Fred,

US Military .38 Long Colt ammo, mostly headstamped FA (Frankford Arsenal) is still pretty readily available.

I saw a bunch at at the Virginia Gun Collector's Show this past weekend.

Granted, individual rounds are kind of pricy at $1.50 or so a piece, but having a cylinderfull of the original stuff might be a neat addition for your collection.

The only cases I've ever seen have been tinned, which was a common practice for .45-70, .30-40, and .38 Long Colt of the period, although I suspect that untinned ammo was also produced.
 
I'm with Mike on the idea of using .38 Short Colt instead. AFAIK it's still listed in the Remington catalog.
 
A guy I knew in high school had one of these guns (maybe the 1903 model) handed down in his family. If memory serves, he could drop in a .357 Magnum round, although it would be foolhardy to actually fire one!

Lone Star
 
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