Original Item: Only One Available. This is every School boy's dream! A real Cowboy six gun! This wonderful Colt SAA (Single Action Army) Revolver has a "gunfighter friendly" original 5 1/2" barrel with original Colt rubber grips. The revolver's serial number is 90668, which dates production to 1883. There is also assembly number 1852 marked on the loading gate. It is in full working order and condition, showing lots of blued finish, sure to delight any "Old West" Americana collector.

The markings on the top of the barrel are still clear:

the left side of the frame has the Colt patent dates all clearly legible:

This revolver was made before the "Prancing Pony" started to appear on the frame, and the markings are still clear. It is possible that the revolver was reblued, however the markings show little wear, so it was not buffed down if it was. The serial number is only present on the trigger guard and grip frame, as 1883 was the year that Colt stopped marking it on the cylinder. The left side of the barrel is marked 32 W.C.F., indicating that it is chambered for Winchester .32-20, a popular small game cartridge of the time.

Mechanically, the action is smooth, with a good cylinder lock up, and crisp dry fire. The action has all four clicks, with a functional loading position. The "safety" position does not hold, and is very close to the front of travel. We cycled the revolver and did not notice any of the usual finicky behavior we see from revolvers of this age. The bore is in excellent condition, with crisp lands and grooves and a bright finish. The revolver cylinder arbor pin removes easily, and is held in by the correct screw.

The ejector door swings open easily, and the ejector itself works great. The hard rubber grips are worn, but still clearly show the Colt "Rampant Stallion" logo at the top, with traces of checkering. There is some rounding of the corners at the bottom of the grip. as is often seen. Revolvers like this were marketed to the civilian frontier market, as the U.S. Cavalry issued the identical model finished in blue.

Pistols such as this are extremely difficult to find today at any reasonable price. This example is just ideal for any Wild West Collection. A great collector's revolver, ready to display.

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.

Specifications: 

Year of Manufacture: 1883
Caliber: .32-20 Winchester
Ammunition Type: Centerfire Cartridge
Barrel Length: 5 1/2 inches
Overall Length: 11 1/4 inches
Action: Single Action
Feed System: 6 Shot Revolver