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Extremely Scarce and Outstanding Russian Contract Colt Government Model Semi-Automatic Pistol
312
Tsar Nicolas II
LOT 439
Outstanding and Rare Russian Contract Colt Government Model Semi-Automatic Pistol - Serial no. C55191, 45 ACP cal., 5 inch round bbl., blue finish, walnut grips. Originally ordered in 1916 and 1917, the Russian Contract Colt Government Model pistols were ordered by the Imperial Russian government from Colt. When placing the order, the government of Great Britain acted as an intermediary, using a line of credit established by the Russians and backed by hard gold reserves held in Britain to cover the bill. Britain’s role as go-between is the source of the signature marking on the left side of the frame, “ANGL. ZAKAZIE”(transliterated) for “English Order”. The Russian Contract pistols as-issued otherwise bore only standard Colt markings like this example. By 1916, the situation on the Eastern Front was already getting well out of hand for Russia, and in 1917 they went through the February and October Revolutions, which brought about both the fall of the Imperial government and the successor Provisional Government, which led to the rise of the Soviet Union.