WINNER: o******e

HIGH BID: $10,000.00
(RESERVE MET)

COLT Model 1895 Machine Gun, Cal. 30-06

This auction is for a COLT-BROWNING MODEL 1895 MACHINE GUN CAL .30 (.30-06), SN# 902, manufactured by Colts Patent Firearms Mfg. Co., Hartford, CT. It is a DEWAT (Deactivated War Trophy), the breech is plugged and welded and the barrel is welded to the frame. It is NFA registered. Condition is excellent with 90% plus of the original blued finish on barrel and receiver frame. The action cycles and serial numbers match. There is a small chip out of the right grip panel (see photo). The original tri-pod mount is also in excellent condition with over 90% of the original blued finish and the brass mount functions correctly. The seat is in excellent condition. The wooden ammo box and canvas ammo belts are missing (the boxes come along from time to time and usually sell for $60.00 to $100.00). The leather tool kit is in good condition however the tools are missing. The leather gun case is in excellent condition. This is a very nice piece of history and will make a great addition to a collection.

Barrel Markings: CAL. .30 /NO.902. COLT AUTOMATIC GUN/BROWNING PATENTS. MANUFACTURED BY COLT'S PAT. FIREARMS MFG. CO./HARTFORD, CT. U.S.A. PATENTED IN THE UNITED STATES JULY 30. AUGUST 20. 1895.

General information about the Colt Model 1895 Machine Gun:

The Model 1895 is a gas-operated, swinging lever, air-cooled, automatic machine gun. It fires from the closed bolt position. It has a propped breech locking system. It is fed by 120 or 250 round canvas fabric belts. Sights are a blade front and leaf rear marked to 2000 yards. Muzzle velocity of ~2800 fps. Effective range is ~2000 yards and maximum range is ~4000 yards. It is fully automatic fire only with a cyclic rate of 400-450 rpm. The gun weighs ~36 lbs. and the tripod weighs ~69 lbs. Barrel length = ~28 in., OAL = ~41”. The Model 1895 was known as the “Browning Peacemaker” but it earned the nickname "Potato Digger" because when using the low mount tri-pod it was sometimes too close to the ground and the swinging had the reputation of digging in the dirt. In checking with the Colt factory historian we found that they do not have records of the serial numbers and dates of manufacture and they don’t issue Colt Factory Letters on the Model 1895 MG.

The Model 1895 MG was manufactured in the following Calibers:

6mm Lee Navy – Original Caliber
7x57mm Mauser
.30-40 Krag
.30-06 Springfield
.303 British
7.62x54mmR for Russian contracts.

Total of Model 1895 and Model 1895/1914 Colt/Browning Machine Guns delivered.

Pre-World War I Commercial sales (Model 1895): 642
Pre-World War I U.S. Navy sales (Model 1895): 400
Pre-World War I U.S. Army sales (Model 1895): 156
Wartime commercial sales (Aug. 1, 1914-Nov. 11, 1918: 15,188>
Wartime U.S. Navy sales (Mark III): 1,500>
Post-World War I sales: 122>
Total sales: 18,008
The wartime commercial sales numbers include the 7,185 made by Marlin Rockwell Corp. for Russia to the Colt Model 1914 specifications. They were given Colt serial numbers in the Colt serial number range and were billed to the customers by Colt, not by Marlin Rockwell. All guns listed were either Model 1895 or the Model 1895/1914 Colt guns.

The Ludlow Massacre & the Colt M-1895 MG

The Ludlow Massacre was an attack by the Colorado National Guard on a tent colony of 1200 striking coal miners and their families at Ludlow, Colorado on April 20, 1914. The Ludlow tent colony was shot up by the militia, Ludlow, a canvas community of 900 souls, was riddled by machine guns shooting 400 bullets a minute (Colt M-1895 MG, at least two were deployed by the Guard). Then the tents were burned. The site was private property leased by the miners' union, which had supported the colony for seven months during the strike.



The massacre resulted in the violent deaths of between 19 and 25 people; sources vary but all sources include two women and eleven children, asphyxiated and burned to death under a single tent. The deaths occurred after a day-long gunfight between strikers and the Guard.
Ludlow was the deadliest single incident in the southern Colorado Coal Strike, which lasted from September 1913 through December 1914. The strike was organized by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) against coal mining companies in Colorado. The three largest companies involved were the Rockefeller family-owned Colorado Fuel & Iron Company (CF&I), the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company (RMF), and the Victor-American Fuel Company (VAF).
When leasing the sites, the union had strategically selected locations near the mouths of canyons that led to the coal camps, for the purpose of monitoring traffic and harassing replacement workers. Confrontations between striking miners and working miners, referred to as "scabs" by the union, sometimes resulted in deaths. The company hired the Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency to protect the new workers and harass the strikers.



Baldwin–Felts had a reputation for aggressive strike breaking. Agents shone searchlights on the tent villages at night and fired bullets into the tents at random, occasionally killing or wounding people. They used an improvised armored car, mounted with a machine gun (Colt M-1895 MG) the union called the "Death Special," to patrol the camp's perimeters. The steel-covered car was built in the CF&I plant in Pueblo, Colorado from the chassis of a large touring sedan. Frequent attacks on the tent colonies drove the miners to dig pits beneath the tents where they and their families could be better protected. Credit Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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PAYMENT & SHIPPING:

You are bidding on a COLT-BROWNING MODEL 1895 MACHINE GUN CAL .30 (.30-06), SN# 902, manufactured by Colts Patent Firearms Mfg. Co., Hartford, CT (DEWAT) in excellent condition. We will ship only to a licensed FFL or C&R Dealer. Buyer pays packaging, shipping & handling. Payment can be Money Order, Cashier’s Check or Personal Check which must clear before shipping (allow 10 days), NO Credit Cards, GUNPAL or Pay-Pal. Shipping is by UPS Ground Insured (or other method chosen by the shipper) with an estimated cost of approx. $200.00 to $300.00 depending upon selling price (for insurance cost) and your address within your ZIP Code if by UPS.

BR

Payment and Shipping Instructions:

Payment Methods:

Money Orders,  Personal Checks,  Cashiers Checks,

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