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This pointed grip-spacer was used by Colt’s up into the 10,000 serial range.” He also notes that a small hole was drilled into this spacer for unknown reasons, the muzzle was modified, and the hammer roller-pin was broken in half (something he had never seen before).
The revolver’s history is also discussed in the accompanying letter from William Leo Jr. stating he had inherited this revolver upon the death of his father, Dr. William Leo Sr. (1922-1995), and that it had been his father’s
prized possession. Dr. Leo was a veteran of the U.S. Army in the Pacific during World War II and returned and completed medical school and became a gun collector and the president of the Missouri Valley Arms Collector Association. He purchased this revolver in 1965. The discovery of the back strap of revolver 6048 at the Little Bighorn battlefield in 1985 solidified Dr. Leo’s belief that this revolver was truly special. Then, in 2012, a revolver renumbered 6055 turned up at auction. In a April 4, 2012, letter, Kopec writes: “Amoskeag Auctions: Gentlemen: Regarding Lot #101, March 24, 2012 Catalog- Please do not pay the Consignee as this revolver #6055 is a total fake!” While that revolver was faked, it was accompanied by documentation that Kopec in subsequent letters states was “totally legitimate.” Copies of that documentation are included. Kopec logically concluded that the fake had been created to match the documentation and also indicated that he suspected 13801 from the same sale and identified in the documentation as owned by Tom Custer was also fabricated to match the legitimate documentation. The main piece of period documentation is a copy of a letter from “Ruth B.” dated June 15, 1887, to “Capt. J.W. Dimmick/Clerk U.S. Courts/Montgomery/Ala.” discussing Captain Benteen’s collection and it being loaned to Dimmick for an Indian Wars display at his bank. The letter notes that she had run “into our old friend Major Benteen” and discusses him potentially retiring from the Army and moving to Atlanta and also notes
that she believed “the bottle has gotten the best of him.” She notes that his collection included “war bonnets, clubs, shields, spears, muskets and pistols” all with identified owners and that “The Colt revolver number 6055 belonged to Myles Moylan. Recall him?...and #13801 is the one that belonged to Tom Custer and is yours to keep!! He said it was re-captured at the Slim Buttes fight.” Slim Buttes was the first U.S. victory following the Battle of Little Bighorn. Ruth’s identity is not clear, but Joseph W. Dimmick was a veteran of the Civil War and was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Montgomery and clerk of the U.S. Circuit Court. After
this documentation surfaced in 2012, Kopec reached back out to Leo Jr. to discuss his revolver given the new information (discussed in another included letter) and wanted to purchase it, but the family was not yet ready to let it go; now they finally are after almost 60 years. The serial number attribution to Moylan and comments of the revolver having Moylan’s initials are also discussed in “History Corner: Custer’s Last Stand and the Alabama Connection” by Jerry L. Fortner which also indicates that 13801 later turned up in the wall of a house in Selma, Alabama, and was found when the house was being torn down.