This excerpt is from Chapter Two of John Potocki's new book about Model 1905 and Model 1907 pistols. In this chapter, the author discusses some of the reasons why the Army changed its standard pistol caliber from .38 to .45 in the years following the Spanish-American War. This exciting new book is now available! Check out our online catalog for more information.

Events in the Philippines during the Insurrection, specifically the dismal performance of the .38 D.A. Colt, were to cause the military to rethink the issue of caliber (i.e. stopping power) in a handgun. This fact and the resultant caliber studies (Thompson - LaGarde) ordered by the War Department dictated the direction of continuing automatic pistol development at Colt's.

Just how bad were the Colt .38 D.A.s? To be direct, they were very bad. In order to illustrate this fact, we will cite some references from the period. We will also comment on the soldiers' feelings about the .38, as well as the stamina of the Moros that they encountered in the Philippines.

One of the most graphic references about lack of stopping power comes from Colonel Louis A. LaGarde, M.D. in his classic text, Gunshot Injuries, published in 1916.

LaGarde writes the following:
Antonio Caspi a prisoner on the Island of Samar, P.I. attempted to escape on Oct. 26, 1905. He was shot four times at close range in a hand-to-hand encounter by a .38 Colt's revolver loaded with U.S. Army regulation ammunition. He was finally stunned by a blow on the forehead from the butt end of a Springfield carbine. 1. Bullet entered chest near right nipple, passed upward, backwards and outwards, perforated lung and escaped through back passing through edge of right scapula. 2. Bullet entered chest through left nipple, passed upwards, backwards and inwards, perforating lung and lodging in subcutaneous tissues. 3. Bullet entered chest near left shoulder, passing downwards and backwards, perforating lung and lodged in back. 4. Bullet entered through palm of left hand and passed through subcutaneous tissues and escaped through wound on anterior surface of forearm. Treated at military hospital, Borongan, Samar. Turned over to civil authorities cured, Nov. 23, 1905.

This exacting, clinical description by Col. LaGarde, is chilling in its implicit condemnation of the .38 Colt.

Perhaps our adversaries in the Philippines were of an unusual nature. That is, perhaps they were of extreme size. One would think so after reading LaGarde's account. Well, not so. As a matter of fact, they were small by our standards. Consider the following from Russel Roth's Muddy Glory: American Indian Wars in the Philippines. As to the size of the Moros:

The individual Moro is, on the average from five-feet-five to five-feet-seven inches tall, solidly built erect of carriage. The Moros are a proud, haughty, war like people ... and one rarely found a Moro man who did not bear the scars of hand to hand fighting with Kris, Barong (Bolo) or spear. ...Moro men, unwilling that their families shall survive them, charge, holding their children as shields before them.

While not large by our standards, they were never-the-less quite fierce and determined. This is evidenced by the following comment from Gen.John "Black Jack" Pershing:
 
He [the Moro warrior] is absolutely fearless, and once committed to combat he counts death as a mere incident.

It did not take American combatants long to figure out that the .38 was a problem. Again, from Muddy Glory:
 
The Americans had become acquainted with the Juramentado. "A Moro who had worked himself up to religious fanaticism and goes forth to kill all unbelievers in Mohammadanism until he himself is killed." It took some killing (Capt.) Wood watched as - A Moro rushed out of the tall grass ... and made a beeline for one of our flankers. The man emptied his rifle into the Moro, but he came bounding on and did not stop... That was why the war Dept. recalled its .38 caliber Colt and Smith and Wesson revolvers from the Philippines and substituted the heavier Colt .45.
 
Another account of Moro determination:
 
...he was finally felled by a .45 slug through both ears... He had thirty-two Krag balls through him and was only stopped by the Colt .45 - the thirty-third bullet.
 
As a result of these experiences, the Army wisely shipped new .45s to the Philippine Constabulary in 1902. These guns were basically Colt M1878 D.A. Army revolvers with a large trigger guard. Often called the "Alaskan" model in error, the "Philippine" utilized the large trigger guard for increased leverage to allow for a stiffer mainspring necessary to fire Frankford Arsenal ammunition.

We now have an image of the Moro warrior and his determination. The SAA .45s were working for the Army and the M1902s were being issued to the Philippine Constabulary. But what of the future. The Army couldn't use the present .45 revolvers, and for some unexplained reason they seemed to be ignoring the newly available New Service revolvers in .45 caliber. Then there was the automatic pistol issue. These new weapons had gone through two Army contracts and they appeared to be promising - but the issue of caliber was still there.

Fortunately, the Army had a very competent Chief of Ordnance, Gen. William Crozier, and he knew that the caliber issue had to be solved, and solved once and for all. In October of 1903, Gen. Crozier sent letters to two Army officers, ordering them to address this issue. The officers were Capt. John T. Thompson and Maj. Louis A. La Garde, M.D. What follows is one of the letters sent to Major LaGarde.
 
October 8, 1903
Major Louis A. LaGarde
Surgeon, U.S. Army<
Hotel Stratford
Washington, D.C.
 
Sir,
1. Referring to the letter from Adjutant General, of the 6th instant, designating yourself and Capt. Jno. T. Thompson of the Ordnance Department as members of a Board for the purpose of determining upon a bullet for a military service pistol, under such instructions as you may receive from the Chief of Ordnance, the following is communicated for the guidance of the Board in its proceedings.
2. It is desired that the board convene at the Springfield Armory on October the 15th instant, at 10 o'clock a.m. or as soon thereafter as practable, and that it then proceed to draw up for submission to this office a program of experiments and tests which it shall desire to make, and of visits which may be necessary in the performance of its duty.
3. The Commanding Officer of the Springfield Armory will provide the Board with such pistols, and ammunition therefore, as he may have on hand and which it may be the desire of the Board to examine or experiment with. Additional ammunition will be procured by the Board from the Commanding Officer of the Frankford Arsenal, who is authorized to manufacture, or purchase, any which the Board may need and which may not be on hand, including bullets of any special form or other characteristic which it may seem desirable to try.
4. The Board is authorized to make use of any of the facilities of establishments of the Ordnance Department, and commanding officers are instructed to furnish it all the facilities under their control. The board will make application for any of the material, other than ammunition, which it may be necessary to purchase, in order that instructions may be given for its procurement.
5. In preparing its program, both for experiments and visits, due regard will be had for economy, and only such expenditures will be contemplated as are considered necessary in order to enable the Board to reach a conclusion.
6. It is noted from the instructions from the Chief of Staff, above referred to, that the object in view is the determination of a bullet which will have the stopping power and shock effect at short ranges necessary for a pistol for the military service. It is possible that the proceedings of the Board may lead it to the conclusion that the object sought can be accomplished either by a small bullet of special construction,or by a larger bullet of ordinary construction; in this case the report of the Board will carefully explain what different bullets will meet the requirement; in order that all the suitable varieties may be taken into consideration in the selection of a pistol, subsequently to be made.

Very respectfully,
WILLIAM CROZIER,
Brig. Gen., Chief of Ordnance
 
Briefly, Thompson-LaGarde used both cadavers and livestock to test the efficacy of various calibers. We must remember that there were no computer models to work with nor were there any forensic pathologist reports dealing with the subject. This was no small test; this was an attempt to solve a serious problem...a problem that had caused many of our soldiers to die.

In March of 1904, Thompson-LaGarde reported their findings. In short, the minimum acceptable caliber was to be .45. This played perfectly into the hands of Colt's, which was still perfecting the automatic pistol.

To our knowledge, the entire Thompson-LaGarde report has never before been published in a Colt-related work. It will be found in Appendix A near the end of this book.