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MODEL 1909 MOUNTED CARTRIDGE BELT-RIMLESS EAGLE
SNAP – FIELD MODIFIED VERSIONS: Arguably one of
the rarest of the early 20th Century
cartridge belts, the Model 1909 Mounted Cartridge Belt
is key not only to the story of the development of the
pocketed cartridge belt, but it is intimately associated
with one of the most evocative periods of US Army
history – the Punitive Expedition into Mexico in 1916.
Originally designed to be issued concurrent with the .38
caliber revolvers, by the time these belts were
delivered to the troops, the Model 1911 Automatic Colt
Pistol had been issued to replace the revolvers. In
order to make room on the belt to carry the magazine
pouch to support the automatic pistol, it was necessary
to remove the now useless revolver cartridge pockets.
There does not appear to have been a standard convention
on which set of revolver pockets to remove – left or
right, or often both, but based the relatively few
surviving examples of the Model 1909 Mounted belts,
there is no doubt that the majority of these belts were
modified, probably at the unit level and likely by the
soldiers who wore them.
Offered here are two very solid and respectable
specimens of these modified Model 1909 Mounted Cartridge
Belts. Both belts have had both sets of revolver
cartridge pockets removed from the front of the belt,
and both belts still retain the sabre hanger chape
identifying them as belts issued to mounted troops.
Each belt is described in detail below with accompanying
photographs. While some would dismiss these belts as
incomplete, wiser students of the history of the period
will give them due consideration as belts that exhibit a
well documented field modification, indicating they were
used by soldiers in service and did not survive on a
storage shelf.
In view of the extensive and harsh service to which
these belts were exposed during the Punitive Expedition
into Mexico, World War One, and quite likely in the
early days of World War Two, they are quite rare today,
and are normally missing from most collections in any
condition.
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Model 1909
Mounted Cartridge Belt (013) – Cavalry Unit ID’d:
This belt shows evidence of use, however besides the
above described modification, this belt is in remarkably
very nice condition. The web retains the desirable
strong green color, and the snaps and metal fittings
retain most of the original dark finish. All of the
rimless eagle snaps are intact with no tearing or wear
around the snaps, and all the pocket flaps are present.
The top corner of one of the flaps exhibits wear from
the cartridges, with the balance of the pockets and
flaps showing only minor evidence of use. The sabre
chape is present and intact - the leather loop is still
live and complete. In addition to the legible Mills
Company “Bullet” stencil, there is a Cavalry unit
identification stencil on the reverse of the belt, which
includes the crossed sabres with what appears to be a
“1” above the sabres. There is also a soldier’s name,
“Ron Hively” written in ink on the reverse. This is a
very nice respectable example with the added value of a
desirable unit identification. $625
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Model 1909
Mounted Cartridge Belt (013a): Although this
belt shows some use, besides the above described
modification, this belt is in nice condition. All of
the rimless eagle snaps are intact with no tearing or
wear around the snaps, and all the pocket flaps are
present. Two of the flaps exhibit wear from the
cartridge bases and these wear points have been
reinforced by the soldier during the period of the
belt’s use. The sabre chape is present and intact, with
the leather still a live, bright russet color. The
Mills Company “Bullet” stencil is present and legible on
the reverse of the belt. This is a nice solid specimen,
$575
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