Where were you in ‘63??

[Noble Sniper]

That’s 1863!!! Picked this up recently…. Advertised as an Italian repro 1861 Army. Well I knew there was no such thing but clicked on it anyways. Looked thru the pics and as I was doing so the first thing that hit me was the illegible serial numbers. Something you don’t see on Italian repro….. but something you see on wartime Colts as I have been made to understand each number was hand stamped individually. Then I got to the pic of the barrel address….. that belongs to no other than Colonel Colt and no one has ever gotten away with using it!! I shared the images with our very own Leadeye as I was having a hard time believing what I was looking at….. a genuine Colt 1860 Army…. Made in 1863 and later engraved and nickel plated as well as adorned with hand carved one piece elephant ivory grips!!! Lovely Lady Liberty on one side and an Eagle on the other. It arrived today and I gave it a good once over. I will spend some time and carefully disassemble and lubricate it… the clockwork has an issue but don’t foresee any problems there. Clean and lubricate everything. Fix and reinstall the one piece ivory grips and enjoy this 161 yr old weapon……

 

[Skullglide]

That is a great find.

 

[Leo]

WOW!!!

 

[daddyusmaximus]

Where was I in '63?

Laying in a bassinet... pooping my cloth diapers.

While my mom was folding clothes and crying because our last good democrat president got killed.

 

[BigRed]

Holy crap!!!

Somebody made a good find!

 

[El Conquistador]

Nice find there. I like it a lot. You probably should go buy a lottery ticket also.

 

[Noble Sniper]

Yeah I agree…. But I already kinda won that lottery again…. Details in a few days

 

[88E30M50]

Congrats on that find.

 

[MrSmitty]

Did you pay repro prices? That is a beautiful gun, wonder who engraved it? Gustav Young? or would that be too late for him?

 

[Noble Sniper]

Let’s just say I paid much less than you’d imagine…. As the gentleman thought it was an Italian repro…. I’m going to look it over thoroughly and see if ai can find who to attribute the work to

 

[MrSmitty]

I agree with (I think Phil Schreirer) the 1860 Colt is the most beautiful, graceful, revolver ever made, OP yours certainly is. I wasn't asking for a price, just wondering...

 

[Noble Sniper]

I agree with (I think Phil Schreirer) the 1860 Colt is the most beautiful, graceful, revolver ever made, OP yours certainly is. I wasn't asking for a price, just wondering...

Yes Sir the 1860 has beautiful lines….. it’s a toss up between it and the 1873.

 

[Slow Hand]

Very nice! Glad you were in the right place and right time with the knowledge needed! I love 1860’s. They are beauty’s. That longer grip frame fits my hand very nicely. Are you planning to shoot it?

 

[Noble Sniper]

Very nice! Glad you were in the right place and right time with the knowledge needed! I love 1860’s. They are beauty’s. That longer grip frame fits my hand very nicely. Are you planning to shoot it?

Thank you!! There’s a part of me that would love to shoot it…. And another part that says no!!! LOL!!! I have a second generation Colt 1860 with the fluted cylinder as a companion gun to my 1860 Henry I have no qualms about shooting it but that the first generation may be worth a stupid amount of money… I’ve been looking.

 

[wildcatfan]

Exceptional!

 

[Noble Sniper]

Thank you

 

[warren5421]

It isn't a 4 screw so I would think it was a Mexican done gun. Unless it is a trick of the camera the lines down the top of the barrel looks like it is not straight. It still is a very nice engraving job. You can always get a Colt letter.

 

[Noble Sniper]

It was made in 1863 so didn’t have the screw for the attachable stock if I understand correctly. Thanks

 

[Mij]

At first thought, I was thinking in Mr. Dilts’s Civics Class, listening to Mr. Mc‘sherry announcing that school was closed due to the death of our president.

Now I realize the title was click bait……. Well you got this one. Nice gun, mite should have went with that. (Hoosier Speak) .

 

[Noble Sniper]

Thank you gentleman. This one is a big learning curve for me as it’s quite outside my station per se….. I will be end up getting a Colt letter. Did some reading tonight about engravers of the past. Gustave Young was “the” engraver for years at Colt. And he signed his work with a wolf’s head on the hammer….. like in my pics. My pics suck I know and apologize I’ll blame it on a 16hr day lol !! I read about this and just got home and took it out of the safe to look and there are the wolf or dogs heads ….. his signature. This keeps getting more and more interesting!!