Bev
21st June 2006, 12:57
I'm hoping someone can help me in understanding this passage from PLOTS TO RESCUE THE CZAR by Shay McNeal.
In the book she claims that she tracked down the weapon used by Jacob Yurovsky to kill Nicholas II. Here is the particular passage:
"the gun was a Colt .45. - it's serial number was 71905. In tracking down the the weapon I obtained additional information from the Colt Company historian Kathleen Holt. 'If the serial number 71905 was followed by a letter then the gun would have been part of a shipment to Russia, possibly through France. ' But if the there was no serial number followed by a letter, then the history of Yurovsky's gun woud be quite different. Colt's archives indicate that the gun model 1911 s/n 71905 (without any letter tagged on at the end) was manufactured in 1914 and was sold to the U.S. government. It was delivered to the ordnance officer at Ft. Thomas Kentucky on 30,April 1914, one of 150 weapons received." (p.164.)
Now, in my opinion, this borders on the ridiculous, and adds a sinister, conspiracy spin to this gun. How could a gun issued to an officer in Ft. Thomas, KY, in 1914, end up in Ekaterinburg, RU in 1918? I asked Sam Lisker of Coltautos.com who was kind enough to answer my e-mail, (and with the fact in mind that his site is a business site, I didn't want to bust his chops wth more questions) in which he told me that the Colt .45 1911 S/N 71905 (with a "C" prefix, not a suffix) was part of a government shipment to Russia from 1914. This seems to be a more likely and reasonable explanation, but others insist that this particular gun with this particular S/N was issued to a particular officer at Ft. Thomas. My question is this; did every single gun manufactured at that time have its own serial number - e.g., would the next gun manufactured have s/n 71906? I would really appreciate the help, thanks!
In the book she claims that she tracked down the weapon used by Jacob Yurovsky to kill Nicholas II. Here is the particular passage:
"the gun was a Colt .45. - it's serial number was 71905. In tracking down the the weapon I obtained additional information from the Colt Company historian Kathleen Holt. 'If the serial number 71905 was followed by a letter then the gun would have been part of a shipment to Russia, possibly through France. ' But if the there was no serial number followed by a letter, then the history of Yurovsky's gun woud be quite different. Colt's archives indicate that the gun model 1911 s/n 71905 (without any letter tagged on at the end) was manufactured in 1914 and was sold to the U.S. government. It was delivered to the ordnance officer at Ft. Thomas Kentucky on 30,April 1914, one of 150 weapons received." (p.164.)
Now, in my opinion, this borders on the ridiculous, and adds a sinister, conspiracy spin to this gun. How could a gun issued to an officer in Ft. Thomas, KY, in 1914, end up in Ekaterinburg, RU in 1918? I asked Sam Lisker of Coltautos.com who was kind enough to answer my e-mail, (and with the fact in mind that his site is a business site, I didn't want to bust his chops wth more questions) in which he told me that the Colt .45 1911 S/N 71905 (with a "C" prefix, not a suffix) was part of a government shipment to Russia from 1914. This seems to be a more likely and reasonable explanation, but others insist that this particular gun with this particular S/N was issued to a particular officer at Ft. Thomas. My question is this; did every single gun manufactured at that time have its own serial number - e.g., would the next gun manufactured have s/n 71906? I would really appreciate the help, thanks!