It won’t be long before all this fine World War II ammo is gone, and no wonder. Not only does it shoot well, but it’s inexpensive. Best of all, it allows us to participate with honor in the last act of a drama that changed the world.
Where does it come from?
In 1942 America was newly in a war we still weren’t sure how to fight. But one job was clear–we had to support our allies with a steady stream of cargo ships. In response Nazi Germany spread submarines across the Atlantic shipping lanes, ready to pick off lone freighters like ducks in a shooting gallery. Oddly, our Chief of Naval Operations rejected the idea of assembling convoys shepherded by patrol planes and destroyers until later in the war.
The “Murmansk Run” was one of the most terrible assignments. Since the Soviet Union was our ally, we sent civilian ships through the U-boats and icebergs in order to supply them with all sorts of war materiel. The merchant marine sailors who did the job knew that at any moment a torpedo might sink them without hope of rescue. Even if they did manage to get into the freezing lifeboats, no later ship would dare stop and pick them up.
Carrying a cargo of ammunition must have been pure horror. A freighter loaded with something else might survive a single torpedo and limp into port, but a boatload of explosives would instantly turn into a fireball visible for 100 miles on a clear night. How America found civilians willing to take such an awful gamble is a mystery to this later, softer generation. But they went.
The irony was that some of that ammunition was unusable when it got there. For instance, the Soviet Army had very little need for .45 ACP ball, having only a few Russian Contract M1911 pistols which were sold to the Czar between 1914 and 1918. In a classic example of F.U.B.A.R., we sent them tons of it which wound up sitting in warehouses. Finally, unwilling to let anything of value spoil, the Soviets repackaged it in big cans where it remained through the Cold War. Now that the U.S.S.R. is on the trash heap of history and most everything in the new Russia is for sale, we have been able to buy it back at bargain prices.
Should we purchase it when we gave it to them in the first place?
Absolutely. Americans help fallen enemies as an act of honor. Many objected to our buying cheap goods from postwar Germany and Japan, but the cash flow to those countries helped stabilize and turn them into allies. Although Russia’s situation is muddier, we do no good for them or ourselves by adding to their poverty. The men who died to supply them that ammunition did so in an effort to produce a peace which would bless the world. This purchase can help make that hope a little more possible.
Is it really honorable to take ammunition with such a history to the range instead of a museum?
It is. But let us remember and tell others where it has been, what the journey has cost, and why. At a time when our Second Amendment rights are under attack, using this particular ammunition is doubly meaningful. In that spirit we should honor these rounds like so many ageing American flags, with a fitting disposal of fire.
Is it safe to shoot?
Yes, for anyone willing to clean his or her weapon carefully and without delay. Like most pre-1950s military ammunition (with the notable exception of the M1 .30 Cal. Carbine ammo), its primers produce a substance that attracts moisture. This makes it “corrosive,” because those little beads of water start to cause rust within a day or so. During World War Two, all military services used cleaning solvent that would neutralize the problem. It is still available at gun shows and even some shops, but no more is being produced because it has been labeled as carcinogenic.
Many gun-wise people recommend heated, soapy water followed by normal cleaning with solvent and oil, but there is something odd about fighting moisture in a gun’s barrel, firing pin, hammer action, etc., by spraying it with hot Mean Green. Still, it is true that G.I.s used to take their weapons into the shower with them. One thing NOT to do, though, is follow a recommendation I saw at a website to put the gun in the oven for drying afterward. I did this only to discover rusty residue on the hot metal. A chemist friend told me that baking it just speeded up the oxidation as the water evaporated..
The best method avoids all water-related solutions. Go to your gun shop and find an oil-based solvent that smells strongly of ammonia, a chemical which dissolves mercury salts very effectively. (Actually, Windex does the same job, but there’s that water again.) Like all cleaners it should be removed promptly with an oil wipe-down, for the ammonia is unfriendly to blueing if left alone for a few days. I have used this method (Butch’s Bore Cleaner, actually) for about 500 G.I. rounds over several months with no ill effects on my 1911A1 whatever.
Some additional usage tips from Jason Baker:
The 1969 edition NRA Handloaders’ Guide has a chapter on corrosive primers and why and how to clean up afterwards. It says that commercial powder solvents do not remove potassium chloride residue very well. It does say that the old GI bore cleaner works great. According to the NRA guide, hot water is good for cleaning because the potassium chloride has an affinity for water (which is why it would rust if left in the barrel), but also allows it to be cleaned out. The reason for the hot water is that it makes for easier cleaning and the barrel dries faster. It also mentions cold water or saliva can be used if necessary.
I bought some of the 1942 ball about a year ago and posted requests for helpful hints to several firearms lists. There were mixed reviews on using oil based cleaners for washing out the corrosive residue. Two that come to mind are Ballistol oil and Guardian Corrosive Ammo Neutralizer that are marketed by their manufacturers as being suitable for corrosive ammo and both seem to work in my Mausers and 1911. I was also told that any cleaner that was being marketed to black powder shooters would work also. The answers I received on using ammonia containing cleaners was to dissolve the jacket fouling to get down to any residue trapped below the alternating layers of propellant and jacket fouling.
One problem that came up was light hits on the primers. Before I fired the first round of this ammo one of the people that replied to my request stated that the ammo he bought would have about 5 failures to ignite out of every box (I think he was using a Wilson Combat pistol). When I started shooting this stuff in my Springfield (that I had installed a 19lb. hammer spring in) I had about the same number of failures to ignite that the responder had. A friend of mine was shooting this stuff in his 1911 with stock springs and not having any problems so I installed the Springfield factory spring (23 lbs. I think?) and have not had a problem since.
Editor’s Note: This ammunition is no longer available.
In the early 1970s, the Army decided to do something for its General Officers in terms of personal protection. The M1908 Colt Pocket Hammerless pistols issued to General Officers since World War II had finally outlived their service life. To address this situation, Rock Island Arsenal, in Rock Island, Illinois began to modify the standard M1911-A1. The US Army adopted the M15 General Officers Model Pistol in 1972 as a self-defense weapon for army officers. In size and weight it is very similar to the Colt Combat Commander, but internally, there are some differences.
The pistol’s slide and barrel were shortened just over .75″ (1.905cm) and the barrel had one locking lug removed. A full-length recoil spring guide was installed, as was an enlarged set of fixed sights. Checkered walnut grip panels inlaid with a brass plate bearing the officer’s name replaced the M1911A1 pistol’s brown bakelite grips. The M15 was adopted in 1972 as the United States Pistol, General Officers’, Caliber .45, M15.
The nemesis of Bonnie and Clyde packed an M1911 but it was a .38 Super
By Rick Cartledge
After some discussion with fellow Thompson book writer Rick Mattix and the helpful Dee Cordry, we voted that the following might be of interest to the knowledgeable OklahombreS readers. Writers have churned out much on Frank Hamer’s skill with guns, not enough about his ability as a detective, and almost nothing about his thorough knowledge of firearms. Most of this article springs from research for an article on Bonnie and Clyde which will appear in the July issue of Machine Gun News and will be subsequently included in the new Thompson book edited by Tracie Hill. Some of this drops from a fortunate experiment done by a friend of mine in 1939. Finally, a small part of this comes from having spent the last 23 years in the good company of State Troopers, those most adaptable of lawmen.
Rangers Hamer and Gualt patrolled on horses before they got cars. History records numerous examples of Ranger adaptability with the most famous being called Patterson and Walker. When Lee Simmons and Ma Ferguson put Frank Hamer on the trail of Bonnie and Clyde, the Ranger not only changed his car but his guns. The legendary lawman always carried a rifle and a .44 Triple Lock Smith and a C engraved single action .45 Colt called “Old Lucky”. Frank Hamer believed justifiably that he could hit any target and had proved on numerous occasions that he could kill any target that was shooting at him. Given that Hamer had supreme confidence in his ability to equal anyone in a gunfight, the formidable lawman would not have changed the guns he was comfortable with without a very good reason.
Since he kept “Old Lucky” and changed the other two guns, I believe that he had a very good reason and that reason was penetration. I believe that the savvy Ranger knew that Clyde’s thick bodied V8 Ford was, to all but high powered guns, an extremely fast and bullet-proof car. Hamer may have suspected body armor. Hamer chose guns comfortable to him that would pierce the body of the V8 Ford and the bulletproof vests sometimes worn by lawmen and outlaws of the day. The two guns Hamer bought were both semi-automatic. Given his mission and the level from which it was launched, Capt. Hamer could have had any weapon he wanted. He selected for his rifle a Remington Model 8 in .35 caliber. For his pistol Hamer chose what has often been described as a .45 Colt automatic. This writer has never believed that the Colt was a .45, but more about that later.
Frank Hamer had owned an engraved Remington Model 8 in .30 caliber for years and knew well the excellent qualities of the weapon. He opted for a larger caliber to deliver more punch to the target. He ordered the standard .35 from Jake Petmeckey’s store in Austin, Texas and was shipped serial number 10045. Hamer also contacted the Peace Officer Equipment Company in St. Joseph, Missouri for it’s “police only” 20 round magazine for the Remington rifle. Some years ago Frank Hamer Jr., a distinguished lawman in his own right, gave a filmed interview in which he showed the nimble .35 that his father had bought especially to go after Bonnie and Clyde. As to the rifle’s ability to tear holes in a V8 Ford, Frank Hamer had an unimpeachable source – Clyde Barrow. Though Clyde and Bonnie escaped the Sowers ambush by Dallas County authorities in November of 1933, Clyde ditched his shot up car near the Ft. Worth Pike and commandeered a less damaged car to make good their flight to freedom. The abandoned V8 spoke volumes to the able lawmen of Dallas County and to the Rangers. Ted Hinton had hit the car 17 out of 30 shots with his Thompson submachine gun and hadn’t penetrated the car body. Veteran Deputy Bob Alcorn had chugged away with his hefty Browning Automatic Rifle and ripped some respectable holes all the way through the car. Hinton called his Congressman, got a BAR from the government and a back seat full of ammunition, and learned how to shoot the roaring automatic rifle.
Two months later, Frank Hamer opted for the Remington .35 as his hole puncher and he picked an interesting pistol to go with his quick-pointing rifle. To front for “Old Lucky”, Capt. Hamer stuffed a blue steel Colt commercial automatic in his belt and it is this gun that is most interesting to this writer. I had long suspected that this Colt was not a .45 but one of the then new .38 Supers and I had three reasons for believing this. First, gangsters (Dillinger, Nelson, etc.) as well as lawmen had caught on to bullet proof vests and their resistance to .45 caliber penetration. Second, gangster use of the .38 Super to telling effect was known and thugs had even hammered the .38 Super into the extremely deadly machine pistol configuration. Two of these 22 round magazine equipped death machines were confiscated in a raid on John Dillinger’s apartment in St. Paul in April of 1933. These Supers belonged to Nelson and were assembled from kits made by the Monarch Gun Company of Hollywood, California by underworld gunsmith H. S. Lebman of Texas. Nelson killed Federal Agent Baum at Little Bohemia with a .38 Super machine pistol. The third reason springs from a fortunate experiment done by a friend of mine in 1939 on a dare. Joseph Pinkston in his excellent book, with Robert Cromie, “Dillinger, A Short and Violent Life” writes of the apprehension of Dillinger gang member Leslie Homer and of his advice given to Racine officers in November of 1933. Since Capt. Hamer was known to have followed the Dillinger case as a matter of professional curiosity, he may well have been familiar with Homer’s published remarks which were “If you want to give your coppers an even break with present-day gangsters, you want to equip them with the new Super .38 caliber. A gun of that type will shoot a hole right through any bulletproof vest ever made.”
A friend of this author who sold Thompson submachine guns in the 1930’s and 1940’s proved Leslie Homer’s assertion in 1939 although he had never heard of Leslie Homer or his assertion. After an afternoon of shooting with another associate and a local policeman, my friend and the other man were dared to shoot the policeman in his bulletproof vest. The other man, armed with a .38 pistol, shot the policeman and knocked him to the ground but did not otherwise injure him. My friend was equipped with a .38 Super, and, more sense than the other two. He told the policeman that be would shoot the vest if he put it on a post, which the policeman did. My friend said the .38 Super cut a hole in the vest as neatly as a drill press. Had the policeman been wearing the vest he would have been killed instantly.
This story teaches two lessons. First, a contemporary gun using contemporary ammunition blew a hole in a gangster era bulletproof vest. Second, my friend was knowledgeable of guns in the 1930’s. So was Frank Hamer. Several months ago, this author was discussing this story with friend Mike Thacker. Thacker said he had something tucked away in his files that might help. Two days later, Mike handed over a copy of Guns and Ammo’s “Handguns for Sport and Defense” magazine. In this March 1992 issue, Jim Wilson tells of an interview with Frank Hamer Jr. in which Mr. Hamer confirms that his father’s Colt was indeed a .38 Super. Mr. Hamer’s comment that his father did not particularly like automatics seems to hammer home the thought that the Ranger picked the gun for a reason. Finally, at about 9:15 in the morning of May 23, 1934 while the rifle smoke still hung in the air, the gun Frank Hamer held in his hand as he approached the bullet riddled 1934 Ford V8 was the .38 Super. Should either of the murderous pair still have breath in their bodies and strive to fire one more defiant round, the legendary lawman was packing iron that would go right through the car body. Most printed lists of the death car’s armament list a number of .45 automatics. Ted Hinton, in his book “Ambush”, declares that two of the colt automatics were .38 Supers. On the subject of penetration it seems that Clyde may also have known. It’s for damn sure that Frank Hamer did.
THE END
SOURCES:
Girardin, G. Russel and William J. Helmer. “Dillinger – The Untold Story”
Helmer, William J. “The Gun That Made The Twenties Roar”
Hinton, Ted. “Ambush”
Jenkins, John and H. Gordon Frost. “I’m Frank Hamer”
Jones, W. D. “Riding With Bonnie and Clyde”, Playboy magazine 1968
Pinkston, Joseph and Robert Cromie. “Dillinger – A Short and Violent Life”
Quimby, Myron J. “The Devil’s Emmissaries”
Toland, John. “The Dillinger Days”
Treherne, John. “The Strange History of Bonnie and Clyde”
also, Rick Mattix, Bussey, Iowa; Janice A. Reece, Waco, Texas; Bob Weesner, Dexter, Iowa; Joyce Hick, Stuart, Iowa; Larry Joyner, Arcadia, Louisiana; James Ballou, Salisbury, MA; Tracie Hill, Newark, OH; Jim Foster, Dallas, TX; and Vida Ford, Hot Springs, AR .
This article was originally published on the Oklahombres site. Since that site has gone down it is impossible to provide a source link for this material.
The Detonics Combat Master was the first really small and compact 1911-pattern pistol to be produced in significant numbers. Law enforcement fell in love with it immediately due to its diminutive size and quality. It received “star quality” when Don Johnson as Sonny Crockett in Miami Vice was seen carrying one in a leg holster in the show. Far more important than the media exposure was the revolutionary reliability work done inside the pistol. The Detonics introduced the bulged barrel end so that the pistol did not require a bushing. It also incorporated double and triple recoil springs. It was the first production 1911-pattern which was throated and ramped for hollowpoints. The high price and limited market for the pistol doomed the company, but were the Combat Master to be reintroduced today, it would no doubt be a different story. Those fortunate enough to own a Detonics pistol treasure them.
The Gun
“The concept of the original Detonics was simply a stainless single action pistol. The big guns came after the little gun. Detonics was actually started with the Combat Master. Before Detonics, mini-pistols were all built by hand; they were cut-down Colts. The driving force behind the original company was to build a small, manufacturable production .45 ACP pistol and that was Sid Woodcock’s baby. He was the daddy of the Combat Master. He came up with that idea sitting around on a beach with Chuck Lyford somewhere down in South America in the mid ‘70’s. So Chuck introduced Sid to some money people in Seattle, and Detonics was started.”
Robbie Barrkman, 1991
“(Woodcock) got together with some friends and set about to improve the basic Colt/Browning design in such a manner that a gun could be mass-produced with not only the classic custom modifications already in place, but of a reduced size for easier concealment and reengineered to be more reliable and easily managed than the original. The firm that grew out of this attempt to make good better was Detonics (.45 Associates) of Seattle, Washington. Detonics originally offered a blued, ordnance steel Colt/Browning-style .45 of about the same size as a Walther PP. The gun featured a beveled magazine well, hammers of various peculiar shapes, a pre-pinned grip safety, a butt shortened to handle a six-round magazine rather than a seven (which could still accept full-size magazines as spares), a slide and barrel length much shorter than Colt’s Commander and slicked-up internal parts which allowed the gun to handle hollowpoints and hardball with equal aplomb. The barrel was bulged at the muzzle to facilitate the bushingless design, self-centering to mate with the slide. The (Colt) standard single recoil spring was replaced by a recoil spring guide with (two, and later three) separate counter-wound recoil springs. The six-round magazine featured a loaded magazine indicator. This was advertising hype to compensate for necessity. To give full support for a six-round capacity in so small a magazine, it was necessary that with the gun fully loaded a thumbnail-sized piece would protrude from the rear of the magazine base plate, to disappear again once the magazine went one round lighter. The first of these guns used cut-down Colt parts. The little guns caught on. Soon, various models were offered – adjustable sights, .38 Super and 9mm, etc. Then Detonics did something really radical. Detonics began to offer the little gun – by now known as the Combat Master – in stainless steel.”
Jerry Ahern, Petersen’s Handguns, 7/90
Field Stripped Detonics Pistol
“The Detonics pistol, now in limited production and geared for full production the first of the year (1975) at Detonics .45 Associates, Seattle, is a short, compact, all-steel, single-action, single-column variation of the Browning/Colt of 1911. Various parts (slide-stop and thumb-safety assembly, magazine release, trigger, sear, disconnector, etc.) are interchangeable. While the butt is too short to include the standard seven-shot Colt magazine, such magazines are entirely functional and might be preferably carried as spares. The little gun is 6 ¾” long by 4 5/8″ inches deep, and its width is exactly that of the service auto. The . . . rear sight is set oddly forward, reducing the sight radius to a bare 4 inches. Admitting that this is no target pistol, it does seem odd to deliberately aggravate what is already a drawback. The Detonics pistol is a strong, simple, rather heavy – due to its all-steel construction – example of the type, with the distinct virtue of utilizing many standard Colt parts and employing neither exotic nor untried mechanical systems. Standard price $399.”
Jeff Cooper, Guns & Ammo, 12/74
“This remarkable pistol is the smallest, lowest recoil single action .45 caliber semi-automatic in the world. The Detonics .45 is a premium quality professional tool for the serious handgun expert and combat shooter. It is capable of providing the brute force stopping power of the standard-sized .45 in a size no larger than a snub-nosed .38, or “pocket” 9mm auto. The Detonics .45 has an advanced mechanism which reduces the apparent recoil remarkably below the full-sized .45. This awesomely powerful pistol is smaller, more easily concealed, and has greater short/medium range rapid fire accuracy than any single action .45 weapon available today. This masterpiece of combat design is gaining recognition as the finest defensive handgun in the world today.”
Detonics .45 Instruction Manual, 4/80
“The carbon steel production guns start at (serial) number 2000. The first 1999 numbers have been set aside for presentation and commemorative models. So, to determine the true production number of your pistol, subtract 2000 from your serial number. Stainless steel production numbers start at number 10,000.”
Detonics Instruction Manual
“Although there are six different models available to the general buying public, a Detonics is a Detonics is a Detonics. Only finish, type of material used and adjustable rear sight differentiate one model from another. The plain-Jane entrant is the Combat Master Mark I, attired in a matte blue finish, fixed sights, with a retail price of $369 (1980). Stepping up a notch, the Mark II is a fixed-sight model dressed in a satin nickel finish with a price tag of $390. The Mark III is handsome in its hard chrome appearance with fixed sights and sells for $488. Variation number IV is resplendent in a mirror-bright blue finish and adjustable rear sight, and $499 will allow the buyer to take one home. The Mark V is a brushed-finish, stainless steel model with fixed sights and will sell for $498 ($626, 1983). And, finally, the top-of-the-line model is the Presentation-grade, Professional Mark VI which boosts the price to $575 ($635, 1983)[There was eventually also a sightless Mark VII, also $635 in 1983].”
Art Blatt, Guns & Ammo, 5/80
“The original Detonics pistol, a modified and much smaller version of the Colt Model 1911, made it initial appearance in 1977. Billed as the world’s smallest single-action autoloader chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge, the Detonics Mark I was an instant hit with law enforcement officers. Not content with their original little .45 ACP powerhouse, the Detonics people went back to the drawing board and created a new cartridge that is a real blaster. The .451 Detonics Magnum is virtually identical in (external) dimensions to the .45 ACP, except for case length. The .451 Detonics is only some .050″ longer, but the added capacity is enough to allow considerably heavier powder charges to be used without exceeding safe pressure limits. According to the loading manual, four different propellants will produce velocities exceeding 1,300 feet per second from a 185-grain bullet. The Detonics manual specifically states that seating depth is critical. Overall cartridge length must lie between 1.220 and 1.235 inches, using bullets no longer than .558 inch. Average velocity for all four loads was 1,188fps vs. an average of 1,284 for velocities given in the manual. Since we did not use maximum loads, it may be assumed that velocities in the neighborhood of 1,300fps would be possible with careful load development. If a velocity in excess of 1,300fps is truly attainable with a 185-grain slug, the .451 Detonics would produce a muzzle energy of more than 700 foot pounds – a remarkable improvement of raw power over a factory-loaded .45 ACP. The base price of the pistol is $754 (1984).”
Ralph Glaze, Guns & Ammo, 2/84
Corporate Travail
“Detonics, specialists in stainless-steel for going on two decades, changed hands. An agreement was reached in early December ’86 between Diane McCarthy, Detonics’ General Manager, Ed “Tim” Lasater, Sales Manager and Energy Sciences Corp., for McCarthy and Lasater to take over the complete business, including all the Detonics handguns. McCarthy retains her title, while Lasater becomes President and CEO.”
Combat Handguns, 6/87
“The original Bellevue, Washington company ultimately floundered, and a group of investors led by Lyford bought Detonics assets out of bankruptcy. Lyford knew Robbie (Barrkman) from the latter’s tenure at Gunsite, and contacted him about getting involved with the new company.”
Waldo Lydecker, Guns Magazine, 8/91
“I said, ‘Well, you guys aren’t doing very much. What are you looking for? What are you trying to do? I really didn’t think it would work out, but promised to give it 100 per cent. They agreed, and in July of 1989 New Detonics was in business in Phoenix.
Robbie Barrkman, 1991
Detonics’ line of guns expanded from the Combat Master to include the Commander-sized Servicemaster, Government-sized Scoremaster, and the compensated, race-gun style Compmaster. I don’t really know how or why the company finally failed. All of the reviews of Detonics guns, as late as 1991 were positively glowing. They were VERY expensive. The Combat Master cost $400 when a Colt Commander cost $250. The top-of-the-line Compmaster target pistol, similar to the various custom “pin guns”, was over $1600 in 1991!
Parts Compatibility
Combat Master parts that are compatible with standard Colt Government Model production:
Shortly after the Second World War, the United States Government began sponsoring a series of tests to find a new pistol to replace the Colt M1911A1. One of the key requirements dictated at the time was that the pistol was not to exceed 7.0 inches in length or 25 ounces in weight. These tests were conducted at Aberdeen Proving Grounds as well as at Fort Benning, Georgia. The pistols submitted at this time were the S&W M39, the Colt Commander, a modified Inglis Hi Power, a FN Hi Power and the T3 trial pistol, all chambered in 9mm Parabellum. Proposed at the end of 1949, the Commander was intended to fill a military need for a lighter handgun which would be issued to officers. None of these pistols were selected for the Armed Forces during this round of tests, but Colt wisely decided to go forward with commercial production of the Commander and it proved itself to be a popular and successful design. It was available in several chamberings including the 9mm Parabellum, .45 ACP and the .38 Super. Prior to 1970, Commander frames were made in a light aluminum alloy, called “Coltalloy®”. It was the first time that any name-brand auto pistol manufacturer had used an aluminum frame in a regular-production big-bore gun. Another first for the Commander was that it was the first Colt 1911 designed specifically with the 9mm Parabellum cartridge in mind. In 1970, an all-steel version was introduced under the name of “Combat Commander”. From 1970 on, the Commander was referred to as the “Lightweight Commander.” Colt has continued to build Commander-style pistols through its successive design permutations. The Gold Cup, MKIV Series 80, M1991A1, and XSE series have all included Commander and Lightweight Commander models.
Colt Commander, 1950Colt Series 70 Combat CommanderColt Series 70 Combat CommanderNickel Series 70 CommanderNickel Series 70 Combat CommanderSatin Nickel Series 70 Combat CommanderMkIV Series 80 Combat CommanderGold Cup Commander BluedGold Cup Commander Stainless SteelM1991A1 CommanderSwenson Customized Series 70 CommanderXSE Series Commander
Series 80 Combat Commander – .38 Super, 9mm, .45, blue slide and stainless receiver variant with Hogue grips in 1998 only, blued, stainless and satin nickel variants.
Gold Cup Commander – .45, blued and stainless variants
M1991A1 Commander – .45, blued and stainless variants
Some of the more interesting Colt products, both from the collector’s and shooter’s perspective, are those in the “Ace” line of .22 rim-fire pistols, based on the Government Model .45. Included in this group are the original Ace pistol of the early ’30’s, the Service Model Ace introduced just before WWII, and the .22-.45 Conversion Unit, which allowed the owner of a Government Model to practice with cheap .22 ammo while retaining the feel of the big pistol.
The first Ace was a conventional blow-back operated semi-automatic that outwardly resembled the gun adopted by Uncle Sam in 1911, but with the swinging link and locking lugs of the .45 replaced by a barrel pinned solidly into the frame by the slide stop. Other modifications included a 1/4″ shorter slide and barrel, a unique rim-fire firing pin and stop, ejector, and a stack of shock-absorbing washers under the barrel. These washers limited slide travel, necessitating relocation of the slide stop notch to suit the new .22-length action. Atop the slide sat the adjustable Ace sight, also unique to this model. This sight was developed at the behest of the U.S. Army, which was helping in the development of the Ace, and upon whose approval Colt depended for the promise of volume sales.
Reports on the gun, both contemporary and modern, are a mixed bag. The pistol was beautifully fitted and finished in the manner of all pre-war Colts; and accuracy, from what amounted to a fixed-barrel pistol, was excellent. Of course, the Ace had the familiar feel of the .45, but there were problems associated with trying to operate a big-bore size pistol with the recoil energy contained in the .22 Long Rifle cartridge. With Colt’s own sleek, handy Woodsman on the market, the Ace’s popularity was never great, with either the commercial or military contingent; but the gun remained in production for about ten years.
Still, there was interest in a gun with the handling characteristics of the G.I. .45, but with the economy of rim-fire ammunition. In the days before hand loading was widespread and commercially reloaded ammo was available, the cost savings to the dedicated shooter was considerable. There was evidence, though that the rim-fire ammo of the day was a contributor to the Ace’s reliability shortcomings, the pressures generated not being as consistent as today’s uniformly excellent products.
Colt went back to the drawing board, to find a better way to adapt the small cartridge to the big pistol. If the pistol couldn’t be made to act small, maybe the cartridge could be made to act big. Enter David Marshall “Carbine” Williams, whose expertise in perfecting the short-stroke gas piston system would earn him his nickname after his design was incorporated into the mechanism of the wildly successful Ml Carbine. A variation of Williams’ principle, in which a separate “floating” chamber was itself the piston, allowed the recoil energy of the .22 cartridge to be boosted sufficiently to cycle a slightly modified .45 slide. Although this new Ace would still have many unique parts, it was very much more like the service pistol than the original one, so it would be called the Service Model Ace. It not only looked and operated almost identically to the .45, its new recoil-boosting design made it an even better trainer, causing Colt to tout it as an ideal companion to their new National Match .45. The Service Ace even included the new Stevens-pattern target sight as offered on the center-fire pistol.
The development of the Service Ace, with its fewer unique parts, allowed Colt to market a “conversion” kit of components that permitted someone already in possession of a Colt Government Model, National Match, or Super Match to swap the slide, barrel, spring and magazine for those in the kit, and have a .22 pistol. Conceptually, this was an even better idea than the Ace, as the .22-.45 Conversion Unit allowed retention of the all-important feel of the trigger of the parent arm. And since economy was the whole point of the exercise in the first place, having to buy only half a gun was an added attraction. The same idea, in reverse, did not work out so well, as the .45-.22 Conversion was a short-lived offering from Colt (In what has always seemed a confusing circumstance, Colt chose to name the Conversions in what would seem to be a counter- intuitive manner – the one converting the .45 to a .22 being the .22-.45 Conversion. If you take the meaning to be “a .22 from a .45”, it then makes sense). A few years after the introduction of the Service Ace and Conversion Units, the world was plunged into war, and all of Colt’s Aces were drafted into military service for the duration.
In 1949 the original Ace and Service Ace were no longer available, the last pistols having been assembled from parts produced during the war. The .22-.45 Conversion Unit however, was reintroduced to the commercial market, in slightly simplified form, and sporting a new rear sight – the Coltmaster. At that time, Colt ceased the serial numbering of the units, continuing to sell and catalog them throughout the 1950’s and ’60’s, although they were not always in production.
In the late 1970’s, Colt reintroduced the Service Ace pistol, updated with, you guessed it, a new rear sight. The Accro was pressed into service (pinned, actually . . .), this sight having superseded the Coltmaster in 1955.
Although there were detail changes made throughout the production runs of all of these models, I emphasize the rear sights as an aid to identifying the era in which a given pistol or conversion was built. It’s possible to date pieces by checking serial numbers against various lists intended for just that purpose, but if the subject is an unserialed conversion, or just a rough estimate of age is desired (is it pre- or post- war?), then the rear sight tells a lot.
The Ace sight was fitted exclusively to the original Ace pistol, from 1931 to 1941. It was screw adjustable for windage and elevation, and was only slightly bulkier than the fixed sights available today on Colt’s service pistols. The production runs of the Ace and Service Ace overlapped for about four years, the latter pistol being commercially offered initially in 1937. By this time, Colt had adopted the Stevens sight for its other target arms, so the same sight went on the Service Ace, and the Conversion Unit when it was introduced in 1938. This sight featured a “shield” type rear blade, presenting a flat, square surface, angled to prevent glare. Its chief improvement over the Ace sight was the slight lengthening of the sight radius that it allowed. When the Conversion Unit was reintroduced after the war, it was equipped with the then-new Coltmaster sight, which was also on Colt’s other adjustable-sighted models, from the Match Target Woodsman to the Officer’s Model Special. The Coltmaster was similar to the Stevens in general configuration, but featured a single, spring-loaded adjusting screw for elevation, and one for deflection, dispensing with the locking screws of the earlier design. The blade showed the notch set into an angled, horseshoe-shaped cut-out in a rounded, oppositely-angled surface – the whole sight picture looking very much like that of the “modern”, highly touted Novak fixed sight. In 1955 the Accro replaced the Coltmaster throughout Colt’s line. Whereas the earlier sights had all been set into transverse dovetails, the Accro was held in a lengthwise slot, in a rib raised above the slide. When the Service Ace was reintroduced after a 20-year absence from the market the Accro was, and still is, the standard on most Colt models. This sight features a thin blade, set into a heavy body containing the adjusting mechanism, similar to that of the old Micro and Ruger sights. A shooter who teams his modern Ace or Conversion Unit with a Gold Cup National Match might want to switch the Accro for the Colt-Elliason sight which is a drop-in modification, and commonizes the sight pictures.
All of the Aces and conversions were finished in the blue of the day, with the pre-war models in overall polished finish, and the later models done in the polished flats/sandblasted rounds, which is still in use at Colt. Military surplus pieces can also be found parkerized, and a magazine photo of a “rare” nickel-plated Conversion Unit would indicate that some were also finished in that manner at the factory.
If you are a shooter, and you have a Service Ace or Conversion Unit, you are fortunate, because they have never been made in large numbers, having been rendered less viable market-wise by hand loading for the center-fire calibers and the introduction of newer, cheaper conversions by other manufacturers. Although the original Ace pistols are almost too valuable for the collector to shoot, with prices well into four figures for pristine examples, most Service Ace and Conversion Units can be shot; but not necessarily with much accuracy or dependability. Published reports indicate great variations in accuracy, and everything from feeding and ejecting woes, to severe bore leading. While the Service Ace can be a well-fitted gun, the Conversion Unit’s potential for accuracy is limited by the nature of its one-size-fits-all concept, and reliability varies from piece to piece. Williams’ ingenious “vibrating member”, the floating chamber, seems to be the source of most of the grief, while acknowledging that the gun wouldn’t operate at all without it.
My own Conversion Unit is a circa 1950 model, with the Coltmaster sight, and without serial number. The post-war Units were not supplied with a barrel bushing, recoil spring guide or plug, as were the earlier ones; and the whole is packaged in a black cardboard box. I have also seen conversions of the same period packed in brown boxes. The slide shows the legend COLT’S MFG. CO. HARTFORD, CONN. USA which was peculiar to products manufactured in the 1947-55 period – a handy way to recognize Colt products from that era.
Mounted on an M1911Al lower, many trips to the range, over a period of years, ended in as few as fifty round fired, with the floating chamber no longer floating in its seat in the barrel. So caked with lead and powder residue that it had to be pounded out with a mallet, the separate chamber worked much better in theory than in actual use. Hundreds of rounds of Remington, Winchester, CCI and every hardware store brand I could find were sent down range – but rarely more than fifty at a time, lest the tightly-fitted chamber would freeze up. Besides the choking, the converted .45 showed indifferent accuracy. Although the donor pistol is a nice, low-mileage Colt (purchased by my father through the NRA in the ’50’s for $20!), the Conversion Unit was designed to fit every pistol made since 1911, and tolerances are necessarily large. To improve the grouping, all of the conventional work done in “accurizing” a .45 can be applied – closely fitting the rails, installation of a National Match bushing, etc. But could this tightening rob the slide of the necessary energy to reciprocate under the urging of the diminutive rim-fire? Even if the accuracy could be improved, what fun is a pistol that can only go fifty rounds? Old, printed road-tests of the Service Ace and Conversion Unit advise against using standard velocity ammo, as poor function and leading would result. I was getting plenty of leading from high velocity stuff, so I thought to go one better, and try “hyper-velocity” ammunition (Since virtually all .22 ammunition on the market today is “high velocity”, then why isn’t our choice either standard or low?). These cartridges feature lighter bullets, driven faster than even high velocity ammo. The difference was like night and day. The hyper-velocity CCI Stingers left only a light wash of lead build-up, even after 100 rounds. Rim-fires of all types seem to display pronounced preferences for some types or brands of ammo over others, and now that I have discovered the improved function of the hyper-velocity ammunition, I can investigate the accuracy potential of other brands, as well.
Why does the ammunition so dramatically affect the operation of this gun? Putting my liberal arts education to work on this problem of combined engineering and physics, I believed originally that the leading was caused by the bullet having to jump a gap between the chamber and the barrel as the gun fired, like the flash gap in a revolver, only internal. I reasoned that the high velocity bullets were able to pass the chamber/barrel joint before the chamber moved under recoil! Yeah, that’s it! But, then I remembered from my “Physics for Liberal Arts Majors” class, that part about the equal and opposite reaction, and figured that the action of the gun would open just that much faster as well – and the bullet would be long gone before the recoil could overcome the inertia of the slide, and the force of the recoil and mainsprings. After additional thought, and examination of a dozen different bullets, it appears that the bullets of the hyper-velocity rounds have a much thicker jacket, compared to the plated bullets of the slower-moving ones. This allows the bullets to pass the joint of the chamber and barrel (while it’s still tightly closed!) without shaving or distortion, resulting in cleaner shooting. Also, it has been reported in various publications that a coating of this, or a drop of that special lubricant will prevent leading of the chamber. I have not found this to be the case, so working to reduce the leading to a minimum is the way to go.
Although the days of the Aces as serious sub-caliber trainers are mostly over, they do afford a moderately-priced collectable, and the economical shooting originally promised 65 years ago.
Bibliography:
(Although there are no direct quotes from any of these sources, I referred to all of them to varying degrees.)
Colt: An American Legend
R. L. Wilson
Abbeville Publ., 1985
A History of the Colt Revolver
C. Haven & F. Belden Bonanza, 1940
Guns & Ammo Magazine:
1/76, 10/77, 9/78, 12/80, 10/83, 8/86
