Original Item: Only One Available. This is every School boy's dream! A real Cowboy six gun! This Colt SAA (Single Action Army) Revolver definitely has had an interesting history, and features a "gunfighter friendly" factory-replaced 5 ½" barrel and lovely Colt hard rubber grips, the iconic Colt "Prancing Pony" logo at the top. We also believe that the gun was entirely refit at the factory, with the blued finish on the rips and the case hardened finish on the frame restored. After that it looks to have seen only light use, though it shows signs of having been carried for a good amount of time, giving it a lovely worn look.

The Colt Single action army's "First Generation" of production spanned over 65 years, from 1873 to 1941. During this time, the revolver continued to see updates to the chamberings offered, as new cartridges continued to be developed, especially after the advent of smokeless powder. One of these new popular cartridges was the Smith & Wesson ".38 Special", meant to give improved stopping power over the .38 "Long Colt". This would become the standard service cartridge for the majority of United States police departments from the 1920s to the 1990s. It was also a common sidearm cartridge used by United States military personnel in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

As such, Colt began to produce revolvers in the popular chambering, and as they did at the time also offered factory conversions, which was cheaper than buying an entirely new revolver. This is one such example, returned to the factory, reconditioned and fitted with a new barrel and cylinder for the .38 special. We assume that this happened during the early 20th Century, probably somewhere around 1910-1920. The barrel has the correct lower profile front sight used during the first production run. It also looks like the original ejector with a copper spring was re-installed with the new barrel.

The revolver's serial number is 147197, which dates production to 1892. It has the serial number on the frame, trigger guard, and grip frame, so the major parts aside from the barrel and cylinder are original to the revolver. There is also assembly number 292 marked on the loading gate. It is in full working order and condition with a great lightly worn look, sure to delight any "Old West" Americana collector.

The original single line Colt address marking on the right of the replacement barrel is still crisp:

The left side of the barrel has the roll stamped caliber marking fully legible as well:

COLT SINGLE ACTION ARMY .38 SPECIAL

The left side of the frame has the Colt patent dates, which are a bit worn:

These are the correct later pattern markings, however due to wear during factory refinishing, the original Colt "Prancing Pony" logo is no longer present on the frame. The original factory refinish on the revolver is actually still quite well retained in many areas. The replacement barrel has strong bluing, except on the sides of the muzzle, where the holster wore away the finish The grip frame shows strong bluing as well, with wear on the right side from the trigger finger, while the cylinder shows overall wear from a holster. The frame shows an aged gray patina, however we can still see areas that retain the original case hardened finish.  The grips look to be original, and have a great lightly worn look, with the "Prancing Pony" at the top still visible. Originally black, the rubber has aged to a lovely dark brown color on the exterior, and there is just a bit of chipping along the bottom.

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. The bore is in excellent condition, showing crisp lands and grooves with a bright finish. It does not look to have seen any major use after the conversion to .38 special, making it a prime example of a factory converted Single action army. The ejector door swings open easily, and the ejector itself works great. Overall this is a great pistol!

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, factory converted to .38 Special in the early 20th century and in great shape, ready to display!

Specifications:

Year of Manufacture: 1892
Caliber: .38 Special
Ammunition Type: Centerfire Cartridge
Barrel Length: 5 ½ inches
Overall Length: 11 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.