U.S. Navy Small Arms 1916-1917

M

mbarrash

Inactive
Good day. I'm researching U.S. Navy records from 1916-1917 which reference the following small arms:

"Rev. 38 Colt D.A."

I presume that this is a .38 cal Colt revolver, but is the D.A. referring to double action or something else? The reason that this question came up is that the same pieces are referred in later entries as: " Colt 38 B.A. Revolvers"

This isn't just a one time typo, but this reference was repeated in all subsequent records from this file.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks,
Marvin
 
The "D.A." almost certainly stands for "Double Action."

I believe that it was Colt's normal practice to mark their .38 caliber revolvers, at least those produced under military contract, with "COLT. D.A. .38" on the left side of the barrel. (The .45 cal. Double Actions they later produced for the Government bore "COLT. D.A. .45") In this marking, D.A. does stand for "Double Action." This would have been true of the Models 1889 (the first officially adopted DA revolver), -92, -94, -95, 96, 1901, (all .38 Long Colt) and 1903 (.38 Spl.). Although one website I've seen pictures a M1894 with no such marking, so I don't know how many of each model may have escaped that stamping. Smith & Wesson had similar markings on their revolvers.

Remembering that the Colt M1873 Single Action Army was still being issued to units through the Spanish-American war, and may have remained in some inventories through WWI, the D.A. designation would still, by 1916-1917 have been relevant, and useful enough for inclusion in official nomenclature.

As for the mysterious recurring "B.A." references?

My guess is, considering the source (U.S. Navy, right?), I would have to surmise it to be the result of a common bureaucratic S.O.P.:

Step #1) Goof.
Step #2) Repeat.


I hope this helps more than I think it does,
Dave
 
Thanks for the reply!

It seems to make sense that the most recent error would be repeated from month to month. I just needed to know. I appreciate your reply. This is a very good forum.

Take care,
Marvin
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top