The Colt new service border patrol revolver: an original 'fightin' sixgun

American Handgunner, March-April, 2004 by Gary Paul Johnston

As I remember, the year was 1949 and I was eight years old. My late stepfather was a U.S. Border Patrol Inspector working out of Chula Vista. One of his partners was a Mexican American. We'll call him Joe. It was a proud day for both men when they graduated from the U.S. Border Patrol Academy and were issued their gold Border Patrol Inspector's badges and guns.

The standard issue sidearm for the US Border Patrol back then was the Colt New Service .38 Special revolver. Based on the standard Colt New Service frame, this 6-shot revolver was offered in several barrel lengths including 2", 4", 4.5", 5", 5.5", 6", and 7.5", with a 6" barrel standard on the Shooting Master target model. Calibers ran from .38 Colt to .476 Eley with .45 Colt, .45 ACP, .38 Special, and .357 Magnum being the most common. Serial numbers ran from one through about 356,000, with production beginning in 1898 and ending in 1944.

Initially offered with black hard lubber grips, these were discontinued in about 1928 when, at around serial number range 333,000-350,000 checkered walnut grips with a Colt medallion became standard. It is within this range the U.S. Immigration Service adopted the gun for the Border Patrol. Finished in blue, this revolver had a 4" barrel and fixed sights, and came with the standard Colt New Service lanyard swivel on the butt. Next to the lanyard was stamped a uniqne U.S. Government four digit number.

Askins Gets Involved

The Coil New Service in .38 Special was personally selected for Border Patrol issue by the late Col. Charles Askins, renowned U.S. Border Patrolman and firearms instructor. Chosen for its robust, heavy duty qualities, the Colt New Service .38 Special was also adopted with fixed sights for the same reason. In fact, Col. Askins once reported he personally test fired and approved each and every Colt New Service revolver before it was issued to the Border Patrol. The standard .38 Special cartridge issued was the relatively under-powered version using a 158 gr. round nose lead bullet. Although I don't recall the brand, I remember they used nickeled cases.

One weekend, my step dad came home to L.A. with the news Joe had been attacked and severely injured by a Mexican illegal alien. Like most Border Patrol Inspectors of that era, Joe worked a one-man patrol car, and his Spanish was as good as his English. Although I don't recall the exact details of the incident, Joe stopped the suspect, and after determining that he was an illegal, he placed him under arrest.

After removing his handcuffs from his belt, Joe went to handcuff the prisoner's hands in front, which was common practice in those days. Suddenly the Mexican produced a switchblade knife, wrapped his arms around Joe, and grabbed the knife with both hands behind Joe. He then plunged the knife all the way into Joe's back with the blade glancing off his spine.

Retrieving his Colt New Service .38 Special revolver from his holster, Joe stuck the muzzle against his assailant's stomach and fired all six rounds of 158 gr. round nose lead .38 Special bullets into him. In spite of the .38 Special's relatively low stopping power, six of these rounds were enough in this case, as the Mexican died at the scene. After radioing for help, Joe was rushed to a hospital where the knife was removed. Although it took months for Joe to recover from his wound, he returned to duty and completed his career with the Border Patrol.

I met Joe in 1960 while living in the Virgin Islands, and dived with him off St. Thomas. The huge scar in the middle of his lower back was apparent, but Joe talked freely about the incident and said the wound didn't bother him much any more. At that time Joe was still on the job and had been promoted to Immigration Investigator. He was lucky.

Missing Colts

Nobody seems to know much about what happened to the hundreds of Colt New Service .38 Special revolvers issued to the U.S. Border Patrol more than 60 years ago, but they were apparently never traded in or sold to the public, as very few have survived. This is probably because they were all stamped "USIBP" on their backstraps. This stood for U.S. Immigration Border Patrol. The Border Patrol New Service revolver pictured bears serial number 3459xx, and was made in 1938.

Sometime in the early 1950s the U.S. Border Patrol replaced its Colt New Service revolvers with newer revolvers. As I recall, they were a Smith & Wesson 4" barrel revolver with fixed sights, and they too were chambered for the .38 Special. The few surviving specimens of original Colt New Service revolvers are extremely rare and are highly collectible.