For those of you who aren’t familiar with the legendary M1911 single-action semiautomatic pistol and its .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) cartridge, it became the U.S. Armed Forces’ standard-issue sidearm following the failures of the Army’s .38 Long Colt revolvers during the fight against the Moro warriors in the Philippine Insurrection of 1899-1902.
But was the .38 Long Colt truly the abysmal failure that conventional wisdom makes it out to be? Or is there in fact a sufficient degree of exaggeration or misconception to challenge this long-standing ballistic paradigm?
As a stopgap measure, the American troops and Philippine Constabulary reverted to using the tried-and-true Colt Single Action Army “Peacemaker” .45 revolvers (ofttimes erroneously termed “.45 Long Colt”) and 12-gauge Winchester pump-action shotguns. These weapons provided much better stopping power against the Moros, but even these didn’t have a complete success rate.
The oh-so-maligned .38 Long Colt cartridge started off its life as a black powder cartridge introduced by Colt’s Manufacturing Company in 1875. After the transition to smokeless powder, it fired a 150-grain lead bullet at a muzzle velocity of 770 fps for a muzzle energy of 195 ft.-lbs. This paled in comparison to the .45 Colt’s 400 ft.-lbs., but officials deemed it was adequate for the job.
Fast-forward to the present day and the .38 Long Colt cartridge remains highly popular for competitive shooting events such as Cowboy Action Shooting.
This was a double-action (DA) revolver that featured a then-revolutionary swingout cylinder that facilitated the speed of reloading compared with a single-action revolver; indeed, it became the first DA wheelgun with a swingout cylinder to become a general-issue sidearm for the U.S. Army.
The Colt A&N was actually initially well received by the troops, according to Garry James of Guns & Ammo Handguns magazine. Indeed, during the revolver’s first “blooding” during the Spanish-American War of 1898, no less than Teddy Roosevelt—then a lt. col. with the legendary Rough Riders—used a Model 1892 A&N gun (recovered from the sunken battleship USS Maine no less) to good effect. Several of Roosevelt’s comrades-in-arms also got positive battlefield results with the DA Colts.
And in spite of the stigma of the Philippine Insurrection, the A&N remained in production until 1907, with over a quarter million specimens produced for the military and civilian market alike, prompting James to remark, “Not a bad track record for an arm that many consider something of a failure.”
True Gun Value states that “A COLT MODEL 1892 pistol currently has too little sold data to calculate an average price”; however, if you scroll down that very same hyperlinked page, you’ll see a total of seven recently sold specimens (I’m only counting the ones actually chambered for the .38 Long Colt cartridge, not the .32-20 Winchester Center Fire [WCF] caliber), ranging in price from $245-$880. Meanwhile, Guns.Com has one in “Excellent” condition with an asking price of $2,550.99.
As for the ammo to feed these guns, AmmoSeek has several options listed, from a low of $46.49 for a box of fifty rounds of Black Hills brand 158-grain lead round nose to a high of $449.50 for a case of 500 rounds of that same brand/weight/configuration. Meanwhile, Choice Ammunition charges $37.99 for a fifty-round box of 105-grain TCFP Hi-Tec Coated Lead Cast Bullet, $179.99 for a 250-round box, and $38.99/$189.99 for the same round counts in the 125-grain bullet weight.
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor for National Security Journal (NSJ). He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch, The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, and Simple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS).
