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Title:	REVOLVER -  COLT REVOLVER MODEL 1892 DA ARMY .38 SN# 741
Maker/Manufacturer:	COLT
Date of Manufacture:	1892
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 1876
Measurements:	OL: 30.4CM 12" BL: 15.2CM 6" 2.1 lbs.

Object Description:

COLT REVOLVER MODEL 1892 DA ARMY .38 SN# 741
Manufactured by Colt, Hartford, Ct. in 1892 - Standard specimen of the Colt M1892 DA Army Revolver. 6-shot. Blued finish. First of solid frame, side-swing cylinder Colts adopted by Army. Blade steel front sight, V-notch milled in frame rear sight. Muzzle velocity 750 fps. Effective range 50 yards. Weapon weighs approximately 2 lbs. 1 oz. This was the first double action revolver adopted by the Army in 1892, four years after the Navy had adopted a double action revolver.

Markings:
Barrel: COLT'S PT. F.A. MFG. CO., HARTFORD, CT. U.S.A./PATENTED AUG. 5TH 1884. NOVEMBER 6TH 1888. Left side: COLT D.A. .38
Buttstrap: U.S./ARMY/MODEL/1892/NO./741.
Frame: (741).
Cylinder yoke: K/741.
Cylinder release: K/741.
RAC inspector marks on frame, cylinder, etc. RAC = Rinaldo A. Carr.

1909 Catalog # 7012 - "Revolver. Colt's Army Revolver. Double Action. Six shots. Mod. 1892. No. 741."

Notes: On 19 April 1892, the Chief of Ordnance Daniel W. Flager (1835-1899) recommended adoption of the Colt double-action to the secretary of war, whose approval was given on the twenty-fifth of the month.
That year Colt received an initial order for 5,000 Model 1892 New Army double-action revolvers, which were distributed to troops in 1893. Like the Navy Model 1889, the New Army had a counter-clock wise cylinder rotation. By 1 November 1893, all cavalry units, with the exception of the Indian scouts, had the New Army Revolver.
Not everyone was thrilled with the adoption of the .38 caliber revolver. Writing the the "Cavalry Journal," March, 1893, Lieutenant Eben Swift of the 5th Cavalry saying in effect that the experience of the British in savage warfare in Africa and India, proved that a reduction in calibre was not warranted. Events later in the Philippines would prove Swift correct.

"I am instructed by the Chief of Ordnance to communicate the following to you for your information. On inspection report made by Col. G.H. Burton, Inspector General, of property for which Captain G.H.G. Gale, 4th Cavy., Presidio of San Francisco, Cal., is responsible, eighteen (18) Colts revolver, calibre .38, were recommended to be turned into Dept. for repairs, with the following remarks: 'The majority of these revolvers have become unserviceable through the failure of the rear stud to properly lock the cylinder in place. This fault seems to be caused by the collection of dirt in the socket which contains the stud, which prevents the proper sliding motion of the stud, and also perhaps interferes with the proper working of the spring which controls it. It was found that one of these studs would not slide in one of the first revolvers removed from the chest when they were originally received, and so far it has been impossible to remedy the defect by cleaning, as none but a practical gunsmith can remove the parts without injuring the piece. In some of these revolvers, the cylinder will apparently lock when first closed but the shock of the first shot from the pistol will release it, making it impossible to fire a second shot without readjusting. In some cases the failure to properly lock seems to be due to wear of the end of the stud.'
The defect referred to in this report of the sticking of the latch is also noticed in a new revolver (model 1894, No. 63), in this office." - Captain Charles G. Clark, Ordnance Department, Letter to Springfield Armory, Jan. 3, 1896.

"Accidents soon showed that the Model 1892 could be fired before the cylinder locked into the frame. Colt engineer Frederick Felton developed a special interlock to release the trigger only when the cylinder latch was properly seated, creating the Model 1894. However, 7490 M1892 guns were rebuilt to 1894 standards at Springfield Armory in 1895-6." - Walter

"You are requested to confer with the Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Co., and report if you consider it practicable to alter the Army revolver, calibre .38, model 1892, to make it conform to the model 1894, which has the hammer and trigger locks, and what the probable expen
"Referring to my letter of March 7 in regard to the repairs of the model 1892 calibre .38 revolvers, and the propriety of calling in revolvers of that date for such repairs as would make them conform to the model 1894, I have sent you by express to-day two revolvers which illustrate the principal defect in the model 1892 revolver.
This defect consists in the possibility of firing the revolver when the cylinder has been not quite returned to an locked in the firing position. When the revolver is fired with the cylinder in this position, it appears that the edges of the lugs on the rear of the cylinder, which serve as part of the mechanism for causing the cylinder to revolve, as cut, worn and abraded until this defect sometimes results in a failure of the cylinder to revolve.
The model 1894 overcomes this difficulty by an improvement which makes it impossible to fire the revolver until the cylinder is locked in position.
An early reply to the inquiries in my letter of the 7th is desired." - General D.W. Flager, Chief of Ordnance, Letter to Springfield Armory, March 11, 1896

In the Philippines the .38 DA revolver could not stop the Moros whose fanatical charge seldom ended, despite five or more rounds in his body, until he had a kris in a soldier's neck. The .38 simply lacked the stopping power needed against the Moro and the call went out for the return of the Colt Single Action Army.

"Antonio Caspi a prisoner on the Island of Samar, P.I. attempted to escape on October 25, 1905. He was shot four times at close range in a hand-to-hand encounter by a .38 Colt revolver loaded with U.S. Army regulation ammunition. He was finally stunned by a blow on the forehead from the butt end of a Springfield carbine. 1. Bullet entered chest near right nipple, passed upward, backwards and outwards, perforated lung and escaped through back passing through edge of right scapula. 2. Bullet entered chest near right nipple, passed upward, backwards and inwards, perforating lung and lodging in subcutaneous tissues. 3. Bullet entered chest near left shoulder, passing downwards and backwards, perforating lung and lodged in back. 4. Bullet entered through palm of left hand and passed through subcutaneous tissues and escaped through wound on anterior surface of forearm. Treated at military hospital, Borongan, Samar. Turned over to civil authorities and cured, Nov. 21, 1905." - Colonel Louis A. LaGarde, M.D.

References:
Ezell, Edward C. HANDGUNS OF THE WORLD. Stackpole Books. Harrisburg, Pa. 1981.
LaGarde, Colonel Louis A. GUNSHOT INJURIES. Wrn., Wood and Co. N.Y., N.Y. 1916.
Potocki, John. THE COLT MODEL 1905 AUTOMATIC PISTOL. Andrew Mowbray Publishers. Lincoln, R.I. 1998.
Walter, John. THE GUNS THAT WON THE WEST: FIREARMS ON THE AMERICAN FRONTIER, 1848-1898. Stackpole Books. Mechanicsburg, Pa. 1999.
Wilson, R.L. COLT: AN AMERICAN LEGEND. Abbeville Publishing Group. N.Y., N.Y. 1985.