Page 236 - 4092-BOOK1-FLIPBOOK

234
serial numbers only, resulting in the known range 2016-3014. It is known that Colt assigned a block of 1,000 serial numbers for the Second Contract, and, although the number is higher than the commercial production numbers, the focus of production was on the more critical sale to the government creating a situation where the lower numbered commercial models are more evolved in their production than the Second Contract production. There are at least two surviving examples with serial numbers that precede the known range, including serial number 1921, that appear to have been pulled from commercial production to complete the fourth shipment of the Second Contract. A comprehensive article written by advanced Colt collector G. Maxwell Longfield confirming Povah’s opinion that the fourth shipment of Second Contract Dragoons included two or more evolved lower serial numbered Dragoons were included to meet the one-thousand pistol contract. The last surviving Patch grip cartouche on the Povah list is no. 2705, and from serial no. 2772 the dominant cartouche is Bragg. In addition, serial no. 1921 has the later placement of the “COLTS/PATENT” and “U.S.” As is well known, Colt had the U.S. stamped on the frame of far more Dragoons than he sold to the U.S. Government. Patch inspected pre-assembly parts appear on guns sold to the U.S. well-beyond the last observed cartouche.
These revolvers were issued primarily to the Regiment of Mounted Riflemen commanded by General Persifor Smith who served on the armistice commission that ended hostilities with Mexico and was appointed military governor of Mexico City. Later, as commanding general at Vera Cruz, he oversaw the evacuation of the last United States forces from Mexico. After the war, Smith became the first commander of the Pacific Division, and, subsequently, from 1850 to 1856 commanded the Department of Texas. Many of the pistols saw service in the West prior to the Civil War. during the antebellum era. During the war, these revolvers were likely re-issued to various units.
LOT 226
Historic Documented U.S. Colt “Second Contract” First Model Dragoon Percussion Revolver Identified as Used by Brevet First Lieutenant Jonathan V. Morgan of Pennsylvania During the Civil War with Canteen - Serial no. 2626, 44 cal., 7 1/2 inch part round bbl., blue/casehardened finish, walnut grips. This variation was first researched and nicknamed the “Walker Replacement Dragoons” when identified by researcher John J. Fluck in 1956. He estimated 300 were made to replace the Walker revolvers that had failed and indicated they were made for the U.S. military using original Walker parts and reworked parts. More recent research has changed our understanding of this model and shown that they were not replacements for broken Walkers or made from recycled or repaired Walker components as Fluck had theorized but were instead actually the first Dragoon revolvers sold to the U.S. government. These are among the rarest of the roughly 19,000 Colt Dragoon revolvers.
This revolver is featured and discussed in the fall 2005 issue of “The Rampant Colt” in the article “’Fluck’ or Colt ‘Second Contract’ Dragoon?” by Derek Povah and where it is noted as one of the revolvers on the “Revised ‘Second Contract’ List” of 1,000 guns in the known serial number range used by Colt for the U.S. contract for Dragoon revolvers. In the Povah record of serial numbers, an effort was made to inventory credible frame