Original Item: Only One Available. This is every School boy's dream! A real Cowboy six gun! The Colt Single Action Army Revolver, often referred to as the SAA or M1873, was the first Colt cartridge revolver to see wide acceptance and use, having been developed to meet the needs of the U.S. Government. Dubbed the "Peacemaker", the design is a famous piece of Americana and the American Wild West era, due to its popularity with ranchers, lawmen, and outlaws alike. While Colt has fielded many other designs since its introduction, none have been able to capture the same type of romance, resulting in the design being reissued several times since originally being discontinued.

This great frontier used Colt SAA (Single Action Army) Revolver has an original "gunfighter friendly" 4 3/4" barrel and and lovely original American Black Walnut grips. Nickel-plated from the factory, it has seen long use and much cleaning, which has all but removed the plating, and left it with a lovely oxidized aged patina overall. There are no signs of major restoration, however repeated cleanings have caused some of the markings to be faint. 

The revolver's serial number is 87649, which dates production to very early 1883. It has the serial number on the frame, trigger guard, and grip frame, while the cylinder and barrel are unmarked. Colt had stopped marking the cylinders and barrels during 1883, mostly due to how often they wore away, and they did not start these markings again until 1912. That makes this a very nice "Mostly Matching" example, and we do not believe any parts have been swapped out over the years except for the cylinder bearing. There is also assembly number 6014 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.

The revolver came to us with an original Colt Factory letter from the office of the Colt Historian Kathleen J. Hoyt, which has her signature and correct raised seal applied in the lower left corner. The paper used is the correct Colt Letterhead and is dated January 15, 2004, indicating it is a COLT SINGLE ACTION ARMY REVOLVER, with the caliber listed as .45/c and finish listed as Nickel. The barrel is listed as 4 ¾", while the stocks are Not Listed. The standard grip material for this time period was walnut, so this revolver is still completely in the original configuration as shipped from Colt, though the plating is all but gone.. The gun was shipped on February 15, 1883 as part of a shipment of 50 similar guns to E.C. Meacham Arms Company in St. Louis, Missouri. This company operated from 1871-circa 1915, and initially sold inexpensive imported firearms and later transitioned to higher quality American firearms.

The top of the barrel has a Colt double line address marking, correct for the shorter length barrel, though it is a bit faintdue to cleaning and wear:-

The left side of the frame has the Colt patent dates present, which are also a bit worn from cleaning and past oxidation:-

These are the correct early pattern markings, used up until around 1891 when the "Prancing Pony" logo was introduced on the frame. The trigger guard is marked with 45CAL on the left side, and we have also checked the cylinder and barrel with real cartridges to confirm the chambering. 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, showing evidence of overall light oxidation and peppering on the exterior, now cleaned away, but no signs of major oxidation or pit rusting. There is still some of the original nickel plating present on the ejector rod housing, the rear right of the frame, the sight groove, and top of the grip frame. The walnut grip has a lovely aged look, with overall wear, but no major damage such as large chunks missing or large cracks. The bottom is a bit rounded over from wear, and it has a great aged look.

Mechanically, this revolver functions very well, with accurate indexing, a solid cylinder lock up, and a crisp dry fire. The action has all four clicks with a functional loading position, 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 very good service used condition, showing a partly bright finish with clear lands and grooves. There is overall oxidation staining present, and evidence of past fouling, now removed. It looks to have seen a good amount of use, but was relatively well cared for.  The ejector door swings open easily, and the ejector itself works great, with no sticking.

Pistols such as this are extremely difficult to find today at any reasonable price. This honest "frontier used" example is just ideal for any Wild West Collection, especially with the factory letter! A great collector's revolver, ready to display!

Specifications:

Year of Manufacture: 1883
Caliber: .45 "Long" Colt
Ammunition Type: Centerfire Cartridge
Barrel Length: 4 3/4 inches
Overall Length: 10 1/4 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.

IMA considers all of our antique guns as non-firing, inoperable and/or inert. Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 921(a)(16) defines antique firearms as all guns made prior to 1899. This law exempts antique firearms from any form of gun control or special engineering because they are not legally considered firearms. No FFL, C&R or any license is required to possess, transport, sell or trade Antique guns. All rifles and muskets sold by IMA that were manufactured prior to 1899 are considered Antiques by the US BATF (United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms). Therefore, all of IMA's Antique guns may be shipped to most US States and most U.S. territories.

These antique guns are not sold in "live" condition, and are not tested for the the ability to feed or load any type of cartridge. They are sold as collector's items or as "wall hangers" not for use, and we make no guarantees regarding functionality aside from what is stated in the description. Any attempt at restoring an antique gun to be operational is strongly discouraged and is done so at the risk of the customer. By purchasing an antique gun from IMA you thereby release IMA, its employees and corporate officers from any and all liability associated with use of our Antique guns.

Pre-1899 Manufacture, no licenses required, allowed to ship to most addresses within the United States.