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 shortened "cowboy friendly" 5 ¼" barrel and lovely worn walnut grips. Original blued from the factory, it now shows a worn blued patina overall, with traces of past peppering in areas. This definitely looks to be an example that saw long use on the frontier, giving it an impossible to duplicate look!

It even comes with a fantastic period tooled leather open top leather holster, which is fitted over a lovely leather ammo belt that still has 14 .45 Colt dummy rounds in the loops. The leather is well worn, and the holster and belt look to be bespoke, marked with S. T. BUTLER / MAKER / SOCORRO N.M., a maker that we have not been able to find any information on. Definitely a fantastic set that really adds to the revolver!

Originally blued at the factory, it now shows a worn gray patina on the metalwork, with some past peppering in areas. It also ha been cleaned numerous times, which has unfortunately removed a lot of the original markings, and made those that remain faint. The revolver's serial number is 71172, which dates production to 1881. It has the serial number on the frame, trigger guard, and grip frame, while the serial numbers on the cylinder and barrel (if present) are now long gone. In 1883, Colt would stop marking the cylinders until 1912, so this definitely did originally have a cylinder marking. The assembly number on the loading gat is worn away as well. That makes this a very nice "Partly Matching" example, and due to the matching condition we believe that all the parts are original. It is in full working order and condition, with a great patinated look, sure to delight any "Old West" Americana collector.

Due to wear and cleaning, the barrel no longer retains any of the original address markings on top. The front sight is not original, and we assume that the barrel was originally the full 7 ½" long, which is why the ejector is so long. The left side of the frame has the Colt patent dates present, but they are definitely faint:-

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 caliber markings on the grip frame are gone, 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.

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 walnut grips have a fantastic "broken-in" look, with some chunks missing at the corners, and the sides worn flat in places.

Mechanically, the revolver cycles well, with accurate indexing, a strong cylinder lockup, and a crisp dry fire. The action has all four clicks, and cycles correctly, without any of the finicky behavior we often see on revolvers of this age, though there is just a bit of slop in the mechanics. 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 good condition, showing clear lands and grooves with a dull finish. There is wear as well as past 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 the barrel shortened long ago to make it easier to use.

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: 1881
Caliber: .45 "Long" Colt
Ammunition Type: Centerfire Cartridge
Barrel Length: 5 ¼ inches
Overall Length: 10 ¾ 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.