bug Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 A friend has a beautiful 12K Colt navy. He mentioned to me that it had a 1 pc actuator. I could hardly wait to inspect it and satisfy my longing to finally see and handle one of these things. The knurling looked great and surely Colt. What do I find on the back of it? Yep, the big Y. I checked the archives but it wasn't clear what the Y is for. I don't think Yale&Towne made actuators for AOC. This particular Y is oriented 90 degrees CCW from the one pictured in the archive. Anybody know what this is?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Fliegenheimer Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Need pics of the rest of the actuator to determine if it is indeed a Colt part from 1930's. Does it it resembles the two actuators with the "Y" stamp discussed here: http://www.machinegunboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=12142&hl=%2Bcolt+%2Bpiece+%2Bactuator&do=findComment&comment=101230 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCM Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 May help, all Colt navy here- No markings anywhere . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gijive Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Arthur, I just checked out the link to the previous thread on the Y marked actuators. The one pictured certainly looks like the Colt style knurling and ball shape. Could the Y be merely an inpector's stamp and not Yale? Yale was a WWII contractor and obviously had the "Y" contractor code assigned, but the Colt style actuators were made before WWII, so the Y doesn't necessarily have to represent Yale. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bug Posted February 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Need pics of the rest of the actuator to determine if it is indeed a Colt part from 1930's. Does it it resembles the two actuators with the "Y" stamp discussed here: http://www.machinegunboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=12142&hl=%2Bcolt+%2Bpiece+%2Bactuator&do=findComment&comment=101230To my untrained eye it looks a lot like the Gutter rat pictured one.I managed to get a few pics of the thing with my Savage unit for comparison but it was done quickly... #1 Unit in gun#2 Y unit above Savage#3 Same#4 Same#5 Sav left. Y unit right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Fliegenheimer Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 Arthur, I just checked out the link to the previous thread on the Y marked actuators. The one pictured certainly looks like the Colt style knurling and ball shape. Could the Y be merely an inpector's stamp and not Yale? Yale was a WWII contractor and obviously had the "Y" contractor code assigned, but the Colt style actuators were made before WWII, so the Y doesn't necessarily have to represent Yale. What do you think? It does seem that the "Y" that has now shown up on several possible 1935 era actuators for the Colt Navy has nothing to do with Yale or any Ivy League institution............. Perhaps it is an inspector's stamp. That we will ever know what the initial stands for may be as remote as discovering the names that are represented by the "D" "C" "Z" "F' "U" "O" "P" found inside Colt receivers/frames. What we do know about this 1-piece actuator is that it was blued, weighs 6 3/4 ounces, has a .49 inch cove width on the weight and the knob knurl width is .30 inches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCM Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 So, confused a bit, Colt DID make a one piece actuator in the 30s or it's a guessing game ? I thought/assumed the Colt parts had no markings on the bolt, actuators etc. I thought all Colt Navy's had the two piece actuator. Hmmm ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bug Posted February 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 So, confused a bit, Colt DID make a one piece actuator in the 30s or it's a guessing game ? I thought/assumed the Colt parts had no markings on the bolt, actuators etc. I thought all Colt Navy's had the two piece actuator. Hmmm ? All I have for your questions is, "I don't know". There is some good discussion in the archives starting with the link in post #2 of this thread. Be careful because sometimes the talk in these threads wanders back and forth between actuators and bolts which can get confusing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLansky Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 I believe I have a Navy that has the later Colt one piece Navy actuator. I will track it down and post some pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCM Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 That's kind of a major thing to know, if Colt actually made a one piece actuator for the 28N. When, why, etc. ? I'll head over to Tracie's book too. Thanks- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gijive Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 Sandy and Bug, Colt made, or subcontracted with someone to make, a one-piece actuator probably somewhere in the mid-1930's. Tracie Hill has drawings dated 1936, I believe, showing same. The early Colt 1928 actuators were made from the existing 1921 actuator because that is all they had at the time. The 1928 Models were pulled from storage as 1921 Models and converted as orders came in for a 1928 Model. I think the common wisdom is that in the 1930's the 1928 Navy Model was the best seller, so it only made sense to manufacture a one-piece weighted actuator that would be stronger and could also be used as spare parts in the event the earlier riveted and brazed two-piece type failed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Fliegenheimer Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 That's kind of a major thing to know, if Colt actually made a one piece actuator for the 28N. When, why, etc. ? I'll head over to Tracie's book too. Thanks- In 1935, the 1-piece actuator was made for the Colt 1928. Why? Because the original 2-piece riveted actuator for the U.S. NAVY used existing 1921 actuators as a stop gap solution to make a weighted actuator. The popularity of the MODEL 1928 NAVY probably encouraged AOC to develop the single unit type that was to be the type used by Savage/AOC. http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b56/Polythemus/IMAG16822_zps23240e41.jpg 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gijive Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 Good job Arthur, we must have been typing at the same time. Great minds think alike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCM Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 Chuck & Dutch- Thanks, I see it in Hill's book now, a Colt 1928 Over Stamp non-Navy I guess it would be. Bet that's a rare bird. That could cause some interesting confusion. so, how the hell we know it's a Colt one piece actuator ? I guess that's back to Bug's original question. No marking maybe ?No clue. See what David comes up with I guess. OCM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gijive Posted February 4, 2014 Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 Sandy, Don't confuse the picture in Hill's book of the 1928 Overstamp Model (sans U.S. Navy) with the exclusive use of the one-piece actuator. Not all the Overstamp 1928 Models had U.S. Navy retro-stamped on them. Several went to the Army for testing and others maye have been special order without the U.S. Navy addition. The Colt type one-piece actuator would be distinguished by no contractor code markings found in the usual spot on the WWII varieties plus the unique precision knurling, size of the charging handle or ball, and the shape of the recess milled into the charging ball. They appear very similar to the Remington made 1928 WWII actuators, with the exception that the knurlling on the Colt charging handle/ball covers more surface are than the Remington made actuators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCM Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 Sure gets confusing or can get confusing. Appreciate the info, Chuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bug Posted May 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 I didn't know how to bring this up other than posting. TD, this is one of the threads on 28 actuators... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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