Original Items: Only One Set Available. This is it! Every young "Old West" fans dream: A real Colt Cowboy Six-shooter! This very nice Colt Frontier Six Shooter SAA (Single Action Army) Revolver has a full length 7 1/2" barrel, with a lovely worn patina on the metalwork and lovely walnut grips.

The revolver's serial number is 117240, which dates production to 1886. 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. This revolver was made a few years after 1883, when Colt stopped marking the cylinders, which they did not do again until 1912. There is also assembly number 231 marked on the loading gate. It is in full working order and condition, with a great lightly patinated look, sure to delight any "Old West" Americana collector.

The revolver came to us with a printed copy of a Colt Factory letter from the office of the Colt Historian Beverly Jean Haynes. It is dated August 17, 2022, and indicates it is a COLT SINGLE ACTION ARMY REVOLVER in .45/c, or .45 "Long" Colt. However, this revolver is definitely in .44-40, and would often be called a "Frontier Six Shooter". The serial number matched trigger guard is marked 44CAL. We measured the barrel, the cylinder, and even test fit live rounds. We are not sure if this is a typographical error in the factory letter, or whether the original factory records themselves have an error. Being written by hand over 140 years ago, it is definitely possible that the records may have some errors. The other parts about the revolver all seem to be correct, with the barrel listed as 7 1/2", and the finish as Blue. The stock are listed as "Rubber", so it looks like over the years the grips were replaced.

The gun was shipped on May 25, 1886 as part of a shipment of 25 similar guns to the Simmons Hardware Company in St. Louis, Missouri. This was a well-known retailer and hardware manufacturer founded in 1874, which at its peak had 6 locations. They often would buy up their suppliers to ensure the best quality merchandise, and purchased the Walden Knife company based in Walden New York. The company actually merged with Winchester Repeating Arms Co. in the early 20th century for a time.

The revolver is in full working Order and Condition, showing a gorgeous worn patina. The original single line Colt address marking on the top of the barrel is still fully present and legible:

COLT'S PT. F. A. MFG. CO. HARTFORD. CT. U.S.A.

The left side of the frame has the Colt patent dates still mostly legible:

There is no "Prancing Pony" logo on the frame, as the marking was not introduced by Colt until 1891, the following year. The "Frontier Six Shooter" model was almost identical to the .45 "Long Colt" chambered Single Action Army model, except that it was designed for Winchester .44-40 ammunition, also called .44 W.C.F., which was and is a popular "cowboy" ammunition. While some may question why colt made guns chambered for a competitor's cartridge, having a repeating rifle and revolver that took the same ammunition was a big selling point. We have also confirmed with real cartridges that it is in .44-40.

As this revolver was manufactured in 1886, it never had an etched panel that read "Colt Frontier Six Shooter", as the serial number range for such marked revolvers was between 45000 and 65000. Revolvers like this were marketed to the civilian frontier market, as the U.S. Cavalry issued the identical model finished in blue.

The revolver presents beautifully, and really has the look of a sidearm that was "really there" in the old west. The gray oxidized patina is lovely, showing much use, servicing, and cleaning during its life. There is a bit of light pitting in areas such as the muzzle, probably from contact with a holster. The walnut grips are in very good condition, and look to have been varnished at some point, some of which is still retained.

Mechanically, the action is smooth, with a strong cylinder lock up, and strong main spring. The action has all four clicks, and we did not notice any finicky behavior during cycling, as we often would on a revolver from this time period. 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 very good condition. showing clear lands and grooves with a partly bright finish. There is some oxidation and fouling in the grooves, but for a black powder era bore, this is definitely a prime example. The ejector door swings open easily, and the ejector itself works great. Overall this is a great pistol with loads of patina and history.

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, complete with a factory letter and ready to display!

Specifications:

Year of Manufacture: 1886
Caliber: .44-40 Winchester
Ammunition Type: Centerfire Cartridge
Barrel Length: 7 1/2 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.

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 posses, 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 all US States and most nations around the world.

These antique guns are not sold in live condition. They are sold as collector’s items or as wall hangers. 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.

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