A very rare Colt SAA

[swamprat]

I recently acquired a Colt Single Action Army that may very well be one of only two made by Colt. If so, this is truly a very rare gun!

The Colt Single Action Army was first produced by Colt in 1873 in 44 Russian and 45 Colt calibers. Here is a recent find that appears to be one of only two SAA's made in 1875 in 38 Colt caliber, and this particular gun was evidently unknown to the experts because it has never been mentioned in any of the books.

In his book "Colt Revolvers and the US Navy 1865-1889", C. Kenneth Moore devotes 10 pages including detailed close up pictures of Colt SAA serial number 16737, which was shipped to the US Navy in 1875 as a test gun. The gun I have is serial number 16829, and is identical to the Navy test gun.

Concerning the Navy gun sn 16737 Moore states in his book: "Fortunately, this arm was located during the course of research in a private collection. The Colt Factory has no shipping nor any other record of it. However, sufficient proof has been found to determine it is the first .38 caliber Colt Single Action Army revolver shipped. The Colt Factory may have retained another revolver in this caliber for its own use, but there was no evidence located to this effect. As will be seen, it was shipped from the Colt Factory on July 7, 1875, to the "Bureau of Ordinance, Navy" for testing." (Emphasis added by me)


My gun has all matching numbers; frame, trigger guard, backstrap, cylinder, barrel and grips, the assembly number on the frame and loading gate match. All the numbers are identical and of the "early style" configuration. The barrel is 6 1/2" long and the address lettering on the top is of the early "script" style. It is chambered in 38 Colt, the chambers are drilled straight through; the rear of the chambers are .382" and the fronts are .379". It chambers 38 Short & Long Colt, 38 Special and 357 Magnum. It will not chamber 38 Colt New Police or 38 S&W. Interesting to note that the rifling is not the early "narrow lands" type, and not the later "wide lands" type, but different from any I have seen before. It has 6 lands & grooves, but the lands are wider than the grooves!.

It is in excellent condition, retaining some of the original case colors and bluing, with no pitting. The bore is in excellent condition, with no pitting. The overall appearance of the gun is one that was carried or handled a lot, but not fired very much and/or was cleaned thoroughly afterward, with no corrosion from black powder evident.

I contacted the Colt Archives Dept, and they have no shipment record of either sn16829 or sn 16737. The Archivist said that this is not unusual with the early guns, as records are incomplete for this period.

[klhill]

Fabulous find & excellent photos. Was 16737 also 6&1/2"? Does anyone know why the Navy would test a 38 rather than the "standard" 45?Very interesting Colt!

[TERRY MURBACH]

HOW TRULY interesting this is to gaze upon. Why in the wold anyone would want or desire the new Colt SAA in a 38 caliber goes well beyong my understanding, but then the U.S. gummit not only did it then, they did it again with introducing the 9MM beretta to replace the more proven 1911A1 45caliber pistols.

[tgc]

Swamprat, nice. It certainly has been around, too bad it can't talk.
I see it has the solid grips, not the panels.

I'm most intrested to know, where did you acquire such a true antique such as this? What was the price?

[chutch]

A great piece of American History no matter the back story.

[towboater]

Cool old colt.

[maxcactus]

May 4, 2014 17:10:51 GMT -5 tgc said:

Swamprat, nice. It certainly has been around, too bad it can't talk.
I see it has the solid grips, not the panels.

I'm most intrested to know, where did you acquire such a true antique such as this? What was the price?

TGC, I'm sure you meant no harm, so please don't misunderstand my comments here. Others are free to correct me if I'm wrong, but in general, I think gentlemanly decorum dictates the price was negotiated and agreed up between buyer and seller, not buyer, seller and Single Actions forum (or Internet). Also, the OP gave no indication that the piece in question was a purchase, but was instead an "acquisition" - it may have well been willed to him by family or a friend. My thinking is our generous OP would have shared such details had he been willing. I'm not sure if we should put him on the spot, here.

Now, as to the Colt itself.... how often do we get to see something so rare or even truly unique, especially of such age and mystery?! That is just a remarkable piece of history. How such things escape any documentation or historical mention and still live to see their 140th birthday is a small miracle!

Much thanks for sharing, Swamprat!!

[swamprat]

Believe it or not, I bought it on Gun Broker from a pawnshop in Billings, Montana. Only had two other serious bidders, and I got it cheap! Other Colt collectors must have thought it wasn't real, or just overlooked it. As the saying goes down south: "the old blind hog found an acorn!"

[swamprat]

May 4, 2014 11:14:15 GMT -5 klhill said:

Fabulous find & excellent photos. Was 16737 also 6&1/2"? Does anyone know why the Navy would test a 38 rather than the "standard" 45?Very interesting Colt!

Yes 16737 had a 6 1/2" bbl, the two guns are identical. At that time the preferred caliber by the Navy was 38 even tho the Army had adopted the 45. The Navy was in the process on having Colt convert their 36 Cal cap & ball Navy pistols to 38 cal rimfire and was exploring the possibility of purchasing the "new" Army cartridge revolver in their preferred caliber.

[kmcmichael]

What dimension prevents the clambering of 38S&W? I do not have one to measure, but I remember the being the same as 38 Special, only shorter.

[spillway]

Congratulations, Swamprat. Wow talk about great finds it just doesn't get better than that.

[cubrock]

Even has some color case left. Very nice, Swamprat! You are a very deserving home for that gun.

[jayhawker]

I would have it checked by a pro. Cylinder pin is correct early type, but the hammer is a much later replacement judging from the ceheckering on the spur. A great deal of finish wear on the barrel yet lots of CC still on the frame. I am not raining on your parade, just a Colt that may be worth many thousands of $ should be professionally evaluated.

[zeus]

I remember this gun up on Gunbroker. I was a bit confused when the seller stated that he had contacted Colt and was told that it was originally shipped in 75 and was chambered in 45 Colt but was rechambered at the factory years later. Seems there is usually a cloud of mystery over some of these old ones. I figured that statement in his description had the collectors a little leary of it. If you have verified it otherwise, sounds like the seller was given some bad info from Colt that really worked out well for the buyer

[bobwright]

As to the caliber, .38 Colt, during that era, the caliber for the Army revovlers was .44, while the Navy caliber was .36. There were cartridge conversions of the Colt 1851 Navy, the cartridge usually being referred to as .38 Navy.

I have heard rumours that .36/.38 calibers were used by the Navy as sidearms were more often issued to the more delicate Marines.



Bob Wright


P.S. Swamprat, I sure hope you are sitting on a gold mine!