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LOT 182
Exceptionally Rare 9” Military Pattern Squareback Colt Model
No. 5 Texas Paterson Revolver - Serial no. 408, 36 cal., 9 inch octagon bbl., blue finish, walnut grips. The Texas Model Paterson revolver is the most sought-after of all Colt Paterson revolvers. Total production was approximately 1000 revolvers manufactured between 1838-1840. The Navy of the Republic of Texas purchased 180 Colt No. 5 Paterson revolvers in 1839; several of these revolvers were subsequently issued to the Texas Rangers led by Jack Hays. The U.S. Navy purchased 150 No. 5 revolvers
in 1841. An additional 50 revolvers were purchased by the Ordnance Department in 1845, inspected by William A. Thornton and stamped
with his “WAT” final inspection mark on the barrel lug. The No. 5 Paterson revolvers were a functional design that saw hard use on the frontier. An estimated 150 examples of the No. 5 Paterson revolvers exist today. This is an early unmodified type revolver with square shoulders on the cylinder and blued long barrel and frame. The top of the barrel flat is marked in script: - “Patent Arms M’g. Co. Paterson”. N.J.-Colt’s Pt. - “ reading toward the muzzle. The cylinder is decorated with the roll-engraved stagecoach holdup scene. The revolver serial number is visible on the bottom of the wedge, the breech end of the barrel, the breech end of the cylinder, the cylinder pin, trigger, bottom of the frame plate and the heel of the left grip. All of the visible serial numbers match.
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