Original Item: Only One Available. This is every School boy's dream! A real Cowboy era six gun! This great U.S. Army Issued Colt SAA (Single Action Army) Cavalry Revolver still retains the original 7 ½" cavalry length barrel, as well as the original U.S. martially marked walnut grips. Originally issued with a blued finish, that has now faded to a lovely soft gray patina overall, with some evidence of past pitting and subsequent cleaning. Many of these were subsequently sold out of service and significantly altered, however this example looks to be entirely in the original issued configuration!

The revolver's serial number is 113899, which dates production to 1884. It has the serial number on the frame, trigger guard, grip frame, and even shortened number 3899 on the cylinder AND underside of the barrel! Around the 1883-1884 period, Colt would stop marking the cylinders until 1912, making this a very rare treat as a confirmed "ALL MATCHING" revolver! There is also assembly number 506 marked on the loading gate. It is in full working order and condition, showing a gorgeous worn patina of age, sure to delight any "Old West" Americana collector.

Research found an almost identical example, though in somewhat better condition, which sold at auction for over $40,000. It is serial number 114110, so it is possible that it was part of the same shipment from colt as this example. It can be seen here: DFC Inspected Single Action Army. Ours looks to have seen more service and definitely more cleaning, but still has passed the years in wonderful shape.

The top has the correct single line address marking for the full length barrel, which shows a bit of wear, but is still easily legible:-

The left side of the frame has the Colt patent dates mostly legible, with some fading due to wear:

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

These are the early 2nd pattern pattern markings, and this was made before the "Prancing Pony" logo began appearing on the frame. Next to them is a large U.S. surcharge, indicating U.S. Army acceptance, and P proofs are stamped on several components. There also are the initials D.F.C. stamped on the bottom of the barrel, on the frame by the serial number, and on the side of the cylinder. This is the marking of David F. Clark, who inspected a total of 13,000 Single Action Army revolvers from 8 government different contracts during his 8-year tenure at Colt from 1880 to 1887. The markings are all still mostly clear, though wear and oxidation have made them a bit faint.

The letter G is stamped under the Colt serial numbers on the grip and trigger guard, and close examination of the walnut grips shows a relatively clear 1884 date stamped into the left side, over a very faint oval script FH cartouche. As noted on page 77 of Colt Cavalry and Artillery Revolvers... a Continuing Study by John A. Kopec and H. Sterling Fenn, this revolver falls within the range for the series of revolvers inspected by Capt. Frank Heath (111656-116931), so this marking is completely correct. They also note that the "G" Colt inspection stamp under the serial numbers may indicate "Government". The right side of the grip has a faint oval script DFC, again for David F. Clark. The bottom of the grip also has a 20 rack number stamped.

There is no caliber marking stamped on the trigger guard, which appears to be standard for U.S. Army issued examples, as they were all in .45 long Colt. The previously mentioned example as well as others we have seen also did not have any caliber marking. However just to be safe we checked the cylinder and barrel with real cartridges to confirm. 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 a great matured look that only use in service can give, with the original finish showing the lovely soft gray patina from years of cleaning to remove dirt and oxidation. The grips are lovely showing no major damage, and still retaining most of the original markings, key to a U.S. service revolver such as this.Mechanically, this revolver really is "tight as a drum"! The action is smooth, with a solid cylinder lock up, crisp dry fire, and almost no slop in the mechanics. The action has all four clicks, and cycles correctly, without any of the finicky behavior we often see on revolvers of this age. As with all revolvers of this age we recommend being relatively gentle with cycling it, so we do not recommend "fanning" or "fan firing". 

The bore is in excellent condition, showing a bright finish with crisp lands and grooves. There is just a bit of wear and past fouling towards the muzzle, showing that this revolver saw very little use while in service, which probably explains why the action is so tight. The ejector door swings open easily, and the ejector itself works great. Overall this is a great pistol with some fantastic markings!

Pistols such as this are extremely difficult to find today at any reasonable price. This example is just ideal for any Single Action Army collection. A great collector's revolver, ready to research and display!

Specifications:

Year of Manufacture: 1884
Caliber: .45 "Long" Colt
Ammunition Type: Centerfire Cartridge
Barrel Length: 7 ½ inches
Overall Length: 13 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.