December 6-8, 2023 Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/6/2023
Manufactured in 1897 with 5 - 1/2" barrel, blade front sight, and frame notch rear. Color case hardened frame with sides of hammer polished bright. Mounted with a 1 piece pair of Mother of Pearl grips carved with an eagle on the right grip panel. Barrel is marked .41 caliber underneath cylinder pin. Barrel caliber marking has been restamped to read "45 COLT", likely from when the barrel was bored out and re-rifled for .45 caliber. Factory engraved with scroll on a punchdot background, with accenting wrigglework and starbursts in Cuno Helfricht's style. Accompanied by 3 factory letters as well as letters of provenance. The first factory letter is dated July 19, 1984, and lists this gun as factory engraved, 5 - 1/2" barrel in .41 Colt with blue finish, rubber stocks, and shipment to Hartley & Graham in New York on January 26, 1897. The second factory letter is dated June 28, 1984, and lists this gun as nickel finish, rubber stocks, 5 - 1/2" barrel in .45 Colt, and shipment to Walter Tips in Austin, Texas on August 10, 1897. There is an additional letter from the Colt factory dated July 19, 1984, stating that there were 2 entries in the records regarding serial number 169126, 1 nickel and 1 blue gun as noted above. Additionally, in this letter, it is noted that no records are available on firearms returned to the Colt factory for remodeling. Further accompanied by a letter dated June 1, 1984, from A.T. (Tom) Seymour III stating that his assumption was that the gun was originally chambered in .41 Colt, and then factory rechambered to .45, however, the gun does not show typical Colt factory rework markings, and he could not get verbal or written confirmation by Colt of the factory rework. The third factory letter is dated May 23, 1979, and is addressed to Tom Seymour and lists the gun as 5 - 1/2" barrel chambered in .41 Colt with blue finish, rubber stocks, factory engraved, and shipment to Hartley & Graham on January 26, 1897. The final piece of paperwork accompanying this revolver is a letter dated June 8, 1983, from Ronald A. Ogan of Ogan Antique, Ltd., stating his opinion that this gun is original in every respect to the Colt factory. CONDITION: Excellent, with a majority of the original bluing remaining with carry and usage wear in normally handled areas such as front and backstraps and ejector rod housing. Frame shows bright case colors in protected areas. Mechanically fine with all 4 hammer stops present. Bore is bright with sharp rifling. Grips show no major signs of distress. PROVENANCE: Richard "Dick" Burdick collection.
Paperwork
Factory Letters, Information