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 Single Action Army Revolver in .38-40 Winchester has an original "gunfighter friendly" 4 3/4" barrel and and lovely worn Colt hard rubber grips, bearing the iconic Colt "Prancing Pony" on top. Blued from the factory, it has seen decades of use and cleaning, and now displays a lovely dark gray patina on the frame, with scattered past oxidation peppering on the barrel and other components. The revolver's serial number is 141387, which dates production to 1891. It has the serial number on the frame, trigger guard, and grip frame, making this a very nice "ALL MATCHING" example, without any parts swapped out over the years. As this revolver was made after 1883, the cylinder and barrel on this example were never marked with a serial number. There is also assembly number 1309 marked on the loading gate. It is in full working order and condition, with a lightly patinated look, sure to delight any "Old West" Americana collector.

The original double line Colt address marking on the top of the barrel is still partly legible, correct for the shorter length barrel:

It can be hard to read due to there being some past pitting on areas, but it is definitely there. The left side of the frame has the Colt patent dates still fully legible:

PAT. SEPT. 19. 1871.
JULY. 2.72. JAN. 19.75

These are the correct later pattern markings, and to the right is the correct faint Colt "Prancing Pony in a Circle" logo on the frame, introduced in 1891. The markings are all relatively clear, so this revolver does not look to have been refurbished at any time, which would have worn down the markings during refinishing, though cleaning has definitely made them a bit faint. We were not able to find any chambering markings on the left side of the barrel due to wear, nor under the barrel or on the trigger guard. However measuring the bore comes out to right around .40", as does the front of the cylinder, which with the bottlenecked shape chamber is a clear indicator for .38-40 Winchester Center Fire. We also checked it with a dummy cartridge as well, and it fits perfectly. This was a very popular rifle and handgun cartridge of the time, only surpassed by .44-40. While some may question why Colt would make a revolver chambered for a competitor's cartridge, having a rifle and revolver that took the same ammunition was a big selling point. .38-40 was the third most popular chambering for the Single Action Army, behind the .44-40 "Frontier Six Shooter" and .45 "Long" Colt.

The revolver has the great worn look that only use in service can give. It has an overall dark gray patina, with areas of peppering and past pitting on the barrel and sides of the cylinder. There is also a good amount of powder burn on the front of the cylinder as well. The original Colt hard rubber "gutta percha" grips have a fantastic lightly "broken-in" look, with the original checkering and logo still clearly visible, but worn in areas, and there is a bit of the brown color that the grips acquire over long periods of time. There are a few scratches and the usual wear around the bottom of the grips, but no cracks or major damage.

Mechanically, the action has all four clicks, and cycles correctly, with a strong cylinder lockup. It has a functional loading position at the second click, and we did not notice any of the finicky behavior we often see with these revolvers. Really a nice functioning action with just a bit of slop, though 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 a partly bright finish with clear lands and grooves. There is definitely wear to the lands, and evidence of overall past oxidation and fouling, now cleaned away, so it does look to have seen a good amount of use while in service. The ejector door swings open easily, and the ejector itself works great.

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

Specifications:

Year of Manufacture: 1891
Caliber: .38-40 W.C.F.
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.