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ON1312

Original U.S. Colt Nickel-Plated Single Action Army .44/40 Caliber Revolver Serial 79184 - Made in 1882

Item Description

Original Item: One Only. This is an Original Colt SAA (Single Action Army) Revolver Serial number 79184, which indicates it was manufactured in 1882. It has a 7 1/2" barrel marked with COLT'S PT. F. A. MFG Co. HARTFORD. CT. U.S.A. which is still legible. The finish is nickel plated with much of it remaining. The patent dates on the left side show dates of 1871, 1872 and 1875, and it is marked .44CF above the trigger, which indicates that it was made to fire Winchester .44-40, and not the standard .45 "Long Colt". There is also a 44 on the barrel by the cylinder pin. The trigger and frame have matching serial numbers. Due to wear the back strap (underside of the grip) there is the trace of the serial number with a visible partial 7 above a 1. This is the correct position for the serial number 79184, as 79 would be above 184.

Although it was manufactured in 1882 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. This gun, serial number 79184, was made at the very end of 1882.

Revolvers like this were marketed to the civilian frontier market: the U.S. Cavalry issued the identical model finished in blue. The Revolver still has its original wood grips, though they are worn and the right grip scale is chipped on the corner.


These are extremely difficult to find today at any reasonable price this example is just ideal for any Wild West Collection.

In Fully working order in good condition and 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.

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