GUN FALL 2015
The live portion of this session begins on Monday, October 5, 2015.
RARE CASED EARLY COL. COLT PRESENTATION COLT MODEL 1862 POLICE PERCUSSION REVOLVER.COLT18621336Cal. 36. This is one of the very first Model 1862s made in 1861 being SN 13. This gun has Colt factory inscription on backstrap "WM. W. MACFARLAND ESQ WITH COL. COLT'S COMPLIMENTS". Samuel Colt was known to give many guns to constituents and friends or anyone who could help him sell his guns. This is a very rare variant of the 1862 Police revolver as features noted below and this could quite possibly be the last or among the last "Col. Colt" presentations as Samuel Colt died January 1862! Wm. W. McFarland was a trusted Colt family and business Attorney working in Hartford at the time of the presentation. McFarland was witness to two Colt contracts between Elija Root and General James Ripley in June and August of 1862 for a total of 18,000 Army revolvers within months of presentation of this earliest of Model 1862 Police Revolver. This very early pocket police conforms closely to standard production guns with the addition of a SN on the loading arm on left side and lack of caliber markings on trigger guard and lack of Colts patent marking on fame and unusual Hartford address as these guns should have New York addresses. Otherwise this gun conforms to other model 1862 revolvers being blue & color case hardened with 4-5/8" rnd bbl, brass pin front sight and 1-line Hartford address. Brass trigger guard & backstrap contain a 1-pc varnished walnut grip with last four digits of matching SN in backstrap channel. Cylinder is typical half flutes rebated and has a patent date in one flute. Mr. Flayderman's tag on this gun, which he must have owned since the 1950s, simply states "V. Rare early 62 Colt". Accompanied by an orig burgundy velvet lined Colt casing, compartmented in the bottom for a single sided Eagle and Start "COLTS PATENT" flask, a blued steel bullet and ball mold with "COLT'S PATENT" marked sprue cutter and "36 P" on the side. Also accompanied by an "L" shaped nickel wrench. PROVENANCE: Norm Flayderman Estate Collection. CONDITION: Excellent overall, all matching including wedge. Gun was not disassembled but is no doubt all original and authentic in every regard. Bbl retains about 40-50% orig blue with minor scratches and stains; frame, loading assembly and hammer contain traces of original case colors, with balance silver/grey with staining; cylinder retains about 60% strong blue overall with light drag line. Trigger guard & backstrap retain 60-70% of their original silver plating. Grip is sound and solid and well-fit retaining about 95% of its orig bright varnish. Mechanics are fine, bright shiny bore with crisp rifling. Inscription is easily read with some bubbling of silver as can be seen in photos. Case is completely sound with light handling and storage, nicks and scratches and retains most of a lightly added finish. Interior is moderately faded with light soil and solid partitions. Flask is fine with a couple tiny dents and shows an even dark mustard patina. Mold is extremely fine, probably unused with some dings on the sides. Nipple wrench is fine. 49564-8 JS85 (25,000-35,000)