RARE PINCH FRAME COLT SINGLE ACTION ARMY REVOLVER.

RARE PINCH FRAME COLT SINGLE ACTION ARMY REVOLVER. SN 48. Cal. 45 Colt. Nickel finish with 7-1/2″ bbl, slightly altered German silver front sight and 1-line script letter address with serifs. Left side of frame has 2-line patent dates and left shoulder of trigger guard is marked “45 CAL”. Mounted with orig 1-pc walnut grip with SN in backstrap channel. Ejector housing is 1st type with bullseye ejector rod head. SN was observed on the bottom of frame, trigger guard, backstrap, rear face of cyl and bottom of bbl. Base pin is orig type with dimpled ends. These early Colt revolvers are somewhat an enigma as there are no Colt records available for authentication. The first few, up to possibly Serial Number 200, were manufactured in cal 44 Russian or 44 American with the majority subsequently converted to the “new” cal 45. The early bbls had 7-groove rifling but Army officials requested and Colt complied by changing the rifling to a more rapid twist and 6-grooves with narrow lands and wide grooves which remained the standard mostly throughout production. The bore in this revolver is the standard 6-grooves. The bbl address has no broken letters, signifying that it was rolled very early in the production before the die failed. Cyl has wide stop notches with tiny approaches, also an extremely early feature. The nickel finish is early style without the modern brighteners that were employed beginning in the late 19th century, indicating that this revolver was nickel plated by either the factory or one of Colt’s jobbers after it was converted from 44 cal. Several of these early Single Actions were sold on the Mexican market through Wexel & DeGress in Mexico City where nickel finish was preferred. Many early Single Actions recovered from Mexico are nickel finished. PROVENANCE: Jonathan Peck Collection; Eric Vaule/John Gangle; Wes Adams Estate Collection. CONDITION: Very fine, all matching including bbl, cyl and grip; overall retains virtually all of its fine early nickel finish with only some light surface dulling from handling; grip shows heavy edge wear with a few light nicks and scratches and retains about 75% orig varnish; hammer is not solid in safety notch, otherwise mechanics are fine; very bright shiny bore. 4-44699 JR274 (20,000-40,000)

Auction: Firearms - Spring 2012

Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

Image	Lot	Price	Description
	2173	$28,750.00	RARE PINCH FRAME COLT SINGLE ACTION ARMY REVOLVER. SN 48. Cal. 45 Colt. Nickel finish with 7-1/2″ bbl, slightly altered German silver front sight and 1-line script letter address with serifs. Left side of frame has 2-line patent dates and left shoulder of trigger guard is marked “45 CAL”. Mounted with orig 1-pc walnut grip with SN in backstrap channel. Ejector housing is 1st type with bullseye ejector rod head. SN was observed on the bottom of frame, trigger guard, backstrap, rear face of cyl and bottom of bbl. Base pin is orig type with dimpled ends. These early Colt revolvers are somewhat an enigma as there are no Colt records available for authentication. The first few, up to possibly Serial Number 200, were manufactured in cal 44 Russian or 44 American with the majority subsequently converted to the “new” cal 45. The early bbls had 7-groove rifling but Army officials requested and Colt complied by changing the rifling to a more rapid twist and 6-grooves with narrow lands and wide grooves which remained the standard mostly throughout production. The bore in this revolver is the standard 6-grooves. The bbl address has no broken letters, signifying that it was rolled very early in the production before the die failed. Cyl has wide stop notches with tiny approaches, also an extremely early feature. The nickel finish is early style without the modern brighteners that were employed beginning in the late 19th century, indicating that this revolver was nickel plated by either the factory or one of Colt’s jobbers after it was converted from 44 cal. Several of these early Single Actions were sold on the Mexican market through Wexel & DeGress in Mexico City where nickel finish was preferred. Many early Single Actions recovered from Mexico are nickel finished. PROVENANCE: Jonathan Peck Collection; Eric Vaule/John Gangle; Wes Adams Estate Collection. CONDITION: Very fine, all matching including bbl, cyl and grip; overall retains virtually all of its fine early nickel finish with only some light surface dulling from handling; grip shows heavy edge wear with a few light nicks and scratches and retains about 75% orig varnish; hammer is not solid in safety notch, otherwise mechanics are fine; very bright shiny bore. 4-44699 JR274 (20,000-40,000) Auction: Firearms - Spring 2012 Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

.red{fill:#B50938;} .white{fill:#FFFFFF;} .blue{fill:#005596;}