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Extremely Rare and Historic U.S. Government Purchased Factory Engraved
Colt New Army Model 1903 Double Action Revolver, Sword, and Scabbard with Factory Letter Identified as Owned by General of the Armies John J. Pershing - Serial no. 219753, 38 Long Colt cal., 6 inch round bbl., blue finish, antique ivory grips. The included factory letter accompanying this revolver as well as the included family history has answered long held questions about a very small group of Colt New Army Model 1903 Revolvers featuring factory engraving and special order checkered grips. The letter states this revolver was part of a shipment of five Colt New Army Model 1903 Revolvers in .38 caliber with 6 inch barrels, blue finish, checkered grips, factory engraving, and a “Special” notation. They were sold to the U.S. government and sent to the commanding officer at Springfield Armory on October 19, 1903. Notably, Theodore Roosevelt was president at the time. These revolvers fall shortly after the accepted serial number range (200000-212500) of the 12,500 Model 1903s delivered to Springfield Armory for the U.S.
The other known factory engraved New Army Model 1903 revolvers, numbers 219750, 219751, and 219752, were clearly part of this order, but, when the first of these was sold by Rock Island Auction in May 2023, no factory record was available to shed light on their shared origins. Given the sequential revolvers, serial number 219754 is likely the remaining revolver from the special government order. All of these revolvers have very similar engraving and the same grips. Given the lack of factory records, we previously theorized that these may have been left over revolvers embellished as “factory display or shooting prizes,” but the letter with this revolver changes our perspective and clearly indicates this was a special government order. They may still have been initially ordered as awards given the Brett Revolver Matches took place between U.S. military officers and enlisted men in late October 1903 primarily using .38 caliber Colt’s Army & Navy revolvers, but this revolver’s recipient is further identified in the included provenance documentation as none other than John Pershing, then recently returned from leading American troops against the Moros in the Philippines.