The United States Marine Corps is an interesting branch of the United States military. It’s easily arguable that the United States doesn’t need an entirely separate branch to do Marine Corps functions. It could be wrapped into the Navy or the Army. It’s often said that America doesn’t need a Marine Corps; America wants a Marine Corps. Their unique mission and design have made them fluid with weaponry, and they’ve used a number of interesting weapons, including revolvers. Today, we are looking at the revolvers used by the Marine Corps.
Specifically, the revolver used by their general forces. We aren’t diving deep and including guns used by Marines in MACVSOG or personal revolvers, the Marines may have carried. Instead, we’ll focus on some of the more popular models the Marines have used as standard-issue weapons. This will keep us from getting too deep into the weeds.
The First Marine Corps Revolver – The Colt 1851 Navy Revolver
The Marine Corps is closely associated with the United States Navy, and if you take a time machine rearward, that association was a lot closer when we were a young nation. This extended to the Marine Corps using Navy-issued rifles and handguns. These are cap and ball revolvers, and the Navy models differed from the Army model in terms of caliber. The Colt 1851 was extremely popular outside of military use and had about the same power as a modern .380 ACP.
Naval forces didn’t need to kill horses, so they used the smaller .36 caliber ball revolvers. The Colt 1851 Navy held six rounds and was rather lightweight for the era. These were easy to carry on your belt — a requirement for Marines going ashore and guarding ships, harbors, and ports. Not to mention the fighting that could arise from ship-to-ship combat. Marines often chased pirates down and needed a small, easily-wielded sidearm for close-range engagements.
The Sequel – The Colt M1861 Navy
The Colt 1861 Navy was largely the same as the Colt 1851 Navy. The Colt 1861 Navy was a .36 caliber, six-shot revolver designed for the Navy and Marine Corps. The 1861 used a streamlined barrel design, something Colt used in their 1860 Army. The pistol also used a better loading lever that was a creeping style with conical teeth.
The 1861 fulfilled the same role as a lightweight weapon that was easy to use with a single hand. That’s important when the other hand has a sword or is used to help scale a ship. This would be the last cap and ball revolver used by the Marine Corps, although it’s likely that Marines carried the old guns for quite some time, especially models converted for metallic cartridges.
Into the Cartridge Era – Colt Single-Action Army
The Single-Action Army is the most famous old West revolver out there. This metallic cartridge revolver provided the United States military with a robust, accurate, and capable sidearm. The weapon fired the famed .45 Colt cartridge, which remains one of the most powerful revolver cartridges ever used by the United States government. Fun fact: the Colt SAA revolver armed the entire United States military at one point.
The Colt Single Action Army provided Marines with a .45 caliber, man-stopping, horse-killing revolver that was exceptionally capable. Marines could quickly reload the revolver compared to cap and ball options. Reliability was amped up to the extreme, and in a close-range fight, the famed SAA in .45 Colt was a fearsome cartridge. It was powerful enough that even after it was replaced, it was dug out of armories for the Phillipine-American War.
The Rare One – The Colt M1905 Marine Corps (and Colt M1892)
The United States military wanted to move to a modern double-action revolver with a swing-out cylinder in a smaller, faster projectile. They settled on the Colt 1892 chambered in .38 Long Colt. This became the New Army and Navy revolver since it would arm both forces. The Marine Corps made a special order for a series of pistols that later became known as the Colt M1905 Marine Corps.
The gun was largely the same as the standard model 1892 but featured a rounded grip frame and a special set of checkered grips. This was the first pistol ordered exclusively for the Marine Corps, and fewer than 1,000 marked USMC were ever ordered. It’s tough to say why this was done, but it is worth noting that the Commandant at the time, Major General Commandant George Elliot, had fought to keep Marines on Capital ships and to prevent the Marine Corps from being merged into the Army. Maybe he wanted a distinct pistol for a distinct force?
The Joint Service Revolvers – The Colt and S&W M1917s
Coming in World War I, the official sidearm of the United States military, including the Marine Corps, was the semi-auto M1911. When America committed to World War I, they didn’t have enough M1911s to go around and couldn’t produce enough of them. They turned to Colt and Smith & Wesson to produce the M1917 revolvers en masse. These guns were modern, double-action revolvers with swing-out cylinders.
They chambered the .45 ACP cartridge and utilized moon clips to eject the cartridges. The Marine Corps, like all other branches, fielded the M1917s extensively. They were still used in World War II and were later taken in small numbers to Korea and Vietnam. In fact, the M1917 was popular with tunnel rats in Vietnam due to the tight quarters of the tunnels.
The Modern Era – the S&W Model 10
The Smith & Wesson M1899 Hand Ejector had a long history of service with the United States military, and as the weapon evolved, it became known as the Model 10 in .38 Special. The Model 10 is a fairly famous revolver made in numerous configurations. The Model 10 wasn’t a special Marine Corps-issued sidearm. Instead, it came from the U.S. Department of State, which issued the revolvers to Marines assigned as embassy security personnel.
The standard model issued was the four-inch variant, likely the most mass-produced version ever used. This was the standard sidearm of Marine embassy security and was used around the world. This includes Vietnam, where Marines quickly found themselves outgunned but made good use of the Model 10 when it was needed.
A Big Snake – Colt Python
Yep, believe it or not, the Marines carried Colt Pythons! Well, kind of. Like the Model 10, these were state department issued to the Personal Security Unit of Embassy guards. These Marines carried the big Colt Python, a .357 Magnum revolver. In fact, the Colt Python revolvers were carried alongside Beretta SMGs and were trusty sidearms indeed.
The famed Python occupied the hands of very few Marines, but it does deserve a mention. The Python was a full-sized revolver on a large frame that was famed for its accuracy and above-average quality. The vent rib across the top made it a stirring weapon, and the name Colt meant quality.
The Marine Corps and Revolvers
Today, the Marine Corps no longer keeps revolvers in its inventory. Instead, Marines primarily use the Beretta M9 and M9A1, but are slowly transitioning to the Sig Sauer M17/M18. Photos from a Force Recon training mission displayed the M17 and M18 in play with the Recon community. I guess it’s time the Marine Corps modernizes its inventory a bit, but it’s fun to take a look at their somewhat special relationship with revolvers over the years!
