Patton 1911

Of that time frame? I'm thinking that there wasn't really any high velocity ammo for .22 yet like there was starting in the 1950s/60s, so I'd say yes.
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I know for sure - 1939 catalog reprint - that .22 LR high velocity was available with velocity at 1400+ fps rifle and 1135 fps in 6" revolver.
You could get a heat treated mainspring housing for your older Woodsman for $2.00 to shoot it without beating up the gun. (The Woodsman MT was then $41.50, Sport and Target models $32.50. Of course they came with the new mainspring housing, recognizable by serrations instead of checkering.)

I once read that when Winchester brought out the original Super Speed .22 that it was even hotter but there was no rifle then available that would handle it except Winchester model 63 auto and 61 pump, so they toned it down a bit.
 
Several sources say the change for use of high velocity .22 LR was made in 1932 at #83790, while the Match Target "Bullseye" was introduced in 1938. So Patton's gun would have been made to use HV.

Google "Colt Match Target bullseye" to see pictures of the gun that fitted that long holster.

Jim
 
He is speaking with his spiffy shiny helmet liner wich has 5 stars on it. His jacket has four.
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I recall one gunzine article showing one of Patton's pistols with three stars on the grip after he had made full General. Why bother to have it updated?
 
"He is speaking with his spiffy shiny helmet liner which has 5 stars on it. "

Really? If so, he was impersonating a General of the Army, since Patton never made 5 stars. He got his fourth (temporary) on April 14, 1945.

IIRC, his helmet actually had three stars in a horizontal row, with the fourth centered above them, obviously added when he became General.

Jim
 
I stand corrected. I looked at the video again and noticed there is some sort of emblem below the center star, which made me think it is a star. I can't zoom in on the emblem so I don't know what it is. I meant no disrespect to the general when I described his helmet liner.
 
RE: Post #27

In post #27 I believed the information in the catipon was correct and is why I provided source information. It appears that the source may have been incorrect. My ntention was to contribute something of value and regret any further confusion this may have caused.

This has been an interting thread so far.
 
both a Colt SAA in .45 ACP and a 3 1/2 inch Registered Magnum though out the war in Africa and afterwards; those guns are shown in many photographs.
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I've never seen a wartime pic of Patton wearing the .357?

but curious if anyone can recommend a good biography on Patton.
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I have a couple on the shelf at home; will post info.
 
Patton apparently carried two SAA revolvers early on, but he reportedly gave one to an entertainer in appreciation for his efforts for the troops. He replaced it with the Registered Magnum.

Does anyone know the name of the entertainer?
 
BarryLee, Bill O'Reilly has a book out titled, "Killing Patton". The consensus is he did not write the book. A friend is reading it. I do not have his opinion of the book.
 
RayJay, well, you can call me Ray and you can call me Jay but you doesn't have to call me Johnson.

I stand corrected about the movie; however, I am correct that they used a late 1940s/early 1950s helicopter which is totally out of place for the movie.
 
I guess you can't believe everything you see/hear on television or perhaps we interpret what is being presented incorrectly. Jim Scouten, host of the show, "Shooting USA" was host of another shooting show, "American Shooter" which aired a few years ago. On each episode, they did a segment dedicated to a specific firearm called, "Great Guns".

On one Great Guns segment, Jimmy Daye, did the narration and demonstration of the commemorative Patton S&W 357. I recorded some of those Great Guns segments so I retrieved the segment on the 357 and watched it. Jimmy Daye clearly states, twice, Patton carried the S&W on his left hip and the 1873 on his right hip. It could be the producers of the show had their facts wrong.
 
The guns and holsters are at the Patton Museum, and lots of pics of the hogleg on Patton's right hip, but there certainly could have been additional holsters.
 
I did not realize that HV ammo appeared before World War II. Interesting.


"Several sources say the change for use of high velocity .22 LR was made in 1932 at #83790, while the Match Target "Bullseye" was introduced in 1938. So Patton's gun would have been made to use HV."

I've seen indications that guns made after 1933 are set for HV ammo.

Do we know, however, when Patton obtained his Woodsman and when it was made? I can't tell from the picture above whether it has the earlier checkering or the later serrations.
 
.22 LR HV

Marlin Model 39 rifles made prior to 1932 had an "S" prefix on the serial number. All 39's made in 1932 and after had an "HS" prefix. The HS rifles had a "high-speed" bolt for HV cartridges, and one could damage an S bolt using HV ammo.

I had an S prefix rifle made ~1928 and shot only standard/target/subsonic velocity rounds through it. My son now owns it.

Jim
 
When I was in the Army, I had a friend who was in formation with Patton inspecting the troops. A Life Magazine photographer had shot a photo with my friend in the photo with Gen. Patton. In the photo Patton is wearing a Colt Pocket Model auto, at the time the General Officers issue pistol. The Colt medallion was clearly visible in the photo.

Bob Wright
 
Here's another picture of Patton, apparently taken at the same time as the one posted above.

It also shows the Colt Woodsman, but again not quite clearly enough to tell exactly what it is, but the grips and holster shape are suggestive of it being a Woodsman target model.

http://www.britannica.com/media/full/40319

What's interesting is that it says that the picture was taken in Tunisia in 1942. I can't imagine Patton carting around a .22 in a war zone, even in a rear area.
 
Caption also says "........M2 medium tank." Tank is an M3 light tank, a Stuart I believe was its nickname.

Notice Patton is taking a compass reading?

NEVER take a compass reading standing near a tank! Seems the tank is always north of you!

Bob Wright
 
Nope, I'm pretty sure that that's an M2 light tank.

The M3 was an updated version of the M2.

It also makes it VERY likely that that photo was NOT taken in Tunisia, as the only combat the M2A4 saw was at Guadalcanal.

Virtually all other M2A4s were reserved in the United States for training.

My guess is that those photos were taken at the US Army Desert Training Center, and were only later said to be of Patton in Tunisia
 
Damn.

Nope, that's an early M3.

The idler wheel is the key difference.

It's a very early M3 because of the riveted hull, and I'm still thinking that it was taken at the Desert Training Center because of Patton's choice of handgun.
 
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