Original Item: Only One Available. This is every School boy's dream! A real Cowboy six gun! This great frontier-worn Colt SAA (Single Action Army) Revolver has a "gunfighter friendly" short 4 ¾" barrel and lovely worn Colt hard rubber grips, bearing the iconic Colt "Pony" on top and a Federal Eagle on the bottom. Due to the style and condition of the markings on the barrel, we believe it was replaced at some point in the late 19th or early 20th century after the original barrel was damaged or wore out. During this time the ejector rod bolster was removed from the right side of the frame, with some additional material removed on the left side by the arbor pin trunion.

These point to the revolver being modified to make it lighter and quicker on the draw. It even comes with a fantastic period tooled leather open top leather holster, which is fitted over a lovely leather ammo belt, which is marked R.T. FRAZIER / PUEBLO-COLO. on the adjustment strap. We assume this is from the early 20th century, and it really looks great and adds to the piece!

Originally blued at the factory, it now shows a worn plum and gray patina over most of the metalwork, with just a bit of past peppering in areas. The revolver's serial number is 93709, which dates production to 1883. It has the serial number on the frame, trigger guard, and grip frame, making this a very nice "Mostly Matching" example, with only the barrel having been replaced at some point. This revolver was made during 1883, when Colt stopped marking the cylinders, which they did not do again until 1912. There is also assembly number 906 marked on the loading gate. It is in full working order and condition, with a great patinated look, sure to delight any "Old West" Americana collector.

The barrel has the original "Single line" address on the top, which was used on all barrels after new shorter rolls stamps were made during the late 19th century:-

The left side of the frame has the Colt patent dates still mostly legible as well:

PAT. SEPT.19.1871.
 "  JULY.   2.  --72.
 "  JAN.   19. --75.

These are the early 2nd pattern markings, and this was made before the "Prancing Pony" logo began appearing on the frame. The markings are all relatively clear, so this revolver does not look to have been fully refinished at any time, which would have worn down the markings during refinishing. The caliber marking 44 C.F. is still present on the trigger guard, which would normally indicate that this is the "Frontier Six Shooter" variant of the S.A.A. in .44-40 Winchester. However, we have checked the cylinder and barrel with real cartridges to confirm that this revolver is definitely chambered for .45 Colt, also known as .45 "LONG" Colt, one of the most legendary handgun cartridges of the old west. When you hear people talk of a "Colt 45", this model gun is the reason why.

With this marking, and the other adjustments, it is very possible that this gun was actually made as a "Frontier Six Shooter" in 1883, but was later converted to take the .45 "Long Colt" in the early 20th century, which would involve boring out the cylinder when the barrel was changed. As the cylinder definitely fits .45 Colt brass, we assume this is exactly what happened, or possibly the cylinder was swapped out entirely. Definitely some very interesting history to this revolver!

The revolver has the great worn look that only use in service can give, and really has the look of a sidearm that was "really there" in the old west. The gray patina is lovely, showing much use, servicing, and cleaning during its life. The original Colt hard rubber grips have a fantastic "broken-in" look, with the original checkering and logos still clearly visible, but worn. There are a few scratches and small gouges, and the usual wear around the bottom of the grips.

Mechanically, the revolver cycles well, with accurate indexing, a strong cylinder lockup, and a crisp dry fire. The action has all four clicks, with a working loading position, however it does not hold well at the first "click" at all. The first "safety" click was never really secure to begin with, so this is only a minor deficiency. It is also why anyone with experience would never load all 6 chambers in a single action army. As with all revolvers of this age we recommend being very gentle with cycling it, so we do not recommend "fanning" or "fan firing".

The bore is in very good condition, showing clear lands and grooves with a mostly bright finish. There is some wear as well as fouling, but it's definitely better than many we see. The ejector door swings open easily, and the ejector itself works great. Overall this is a lovely "Frontier Worn" pistol, with some very interesting period modifications.

Pistols such as this are extremely difficult to find today at any reasonable price. This honest modified example is just ideal for any Wild West Collection, especially with the included holster and belt. A great collector's revolver, ready to research and display!

Specifications:

Year of Manufacture: 1883
Caliber: .45 "Long" Colt
Ammunition Type: Centerfire Cartridge
Barrel Length: 4 ¾ inches
Overall Length: 10 ¼ inches
Action: Single Action
Feed System: 6 Shot Revolver

History of the Colt Single Single Action Army

Bound by the Rollin White patent (#12,648, April 3, 1855) and not wanting to pay a royalty fee to Smith & Wesson, Colt could not begin development of bored-through revolver cylinders for metallic cartridge use until April 4, 1869. For the design, Colt turned to two of its best engineers: William Mason and Charles Brinckerhoff Richards who had developed a number of revolvers and black powder conversions for the company. Their effort was designed for the United States government service revolver trials of 1872 by Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company and adopted as the standard military service revolver. Production began in 1873 with the Single Action Army model 1873, also referred to as the "New Model Army Metallic Cartridge Revolving Pistol".

The very first production Single Action Army, serial number 1, thought lost for many years after its production, was found in a barn in Nashua, New Hampshire in the early 1900s. It was chambered in .45 Colt, a centerfire design containing charges of up to 40 grains (2.6 g) of fine-grained black powder and a 255-grain (16.5 g) blunt roundnosed bullet. Relative to period cartridges and most later handgun rounds, it was quite powerful in its full loading.

The Colt Single Action Army revolver, along with the 1870 and 1875 Smith & Wesson Model 3 "Schofield" revolver, replaced the Colt 1860 Army Percussion revolver. The Colt quickly gained favor over the S&W and remained the primary US military sidearm until 1892 when it was replaced by the .38 Long Colt caliber Colt Model 1892, a double-action revolver with swing-out cylinder. By the end of 1874, serial no. 16,000 was reached; 12,500 Colt Single Action Army revolvers chambered for the .45 Colt cartridge had entered service and the remaining revolvers were sold in the civilian market.

The Colt .45 is a famous piece of American history, known as "The Gun That Won the West". The Single Action army is a very popular firearm, even today, and it continues to be produced in various configurations.