1917 British contract .455 Eley Colt Government Model pistol

[Von der Goltz]

Here for your perusal is my British Government Contract 1917 .455 Eley Colt Government Model Pistol No. W 92124 which was 1 of 300 shipped to the London Armoury Company on March 30, 1917. Photos show British Military Crossed Pennants and Broad Arrow property and proof marks. Here are photos of the .455 Eley magazine for this pistol. Here are two British contract .455 Webley auto barrels for this pistol. You can see the groove cut into the barrel below the hood to accept the .455 Eley auto cartridge. Such barrels are often marked with a "W" on the bottom of the barrel as shown in the photos (or sometimes an "E") or with British military inspection and property marks such as the crossed pennants and Crown/E etc on the barrel links.

 

[1911art]

Very nice pistol. You don’t see a lot of those.

 

[Von der Goltz]

Here are photos of the 7-round packet of .455 Eley self-loading pistol ammo dated January 30, 1919 and individual rounds with 1917 and 1918 head stamps issued for this pistol. Note the "Not for Revolvers" warning against using this ammo in the .455 Webley-Scott revolvers which took a different cartridge.
Attached Thumbnails

 

[Von der Goltz]

Here's one of the few .455 Eley barrel marked I've seen to show .455 caliber self-loading (SL) cartridge, broad arrow British military property mark, brass length (.9 inches) and 9-tons/square inch pressure. This barrel was original to this pistol.

 

[tark]

those rounds look almost identical to a 45ACP I wonder......

 

[1911art]

The 455 case is shorter than the 45 ACP and the 455 headspaces on the rim while the 45 ACP headspaces on the case mouth.

It may be possible to fit a 45 ACP barrel but the collector value of that gun would seem to preclude that.

 

[BigBlue 94]

I'd heard of the 1917 colt revolvers being chambered in .455, but not a 1911. Very cool!

 

[Von der Goltz]

I shot a few magazines of the WWI .455 self-loading ammo and had only one FTF so old warhorse stills functions with the proper ammo.