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LOT 1092
Attractive Salt Lake City, Utah Shipped Retailer Engraved Silver and Gold Antique Colt Single Action Army Revolver with Relief Mexican Eagle Pearl Grips and Factory Letter - Serial no. 179875, 38 WCF cal., 7 1/2 inch round bbl., silver/gold finish, pearl grips. The Colt SAA found itself almost immediately popular as a sidearm upon its release in the mid-late 1800s, and that popularity continued well into the 20th century among those with a desire for unwaveringly reliable firepower. This documented factory engraved example was manufactured in 1898 and certainly shows a certain frontier flair that is often associated with SAAs that spent time at the Southern border. The included factory letter states the revolver was shipped to The Salt Lake Hardware Co. of Salt Lake City, Utah, on September 14, 1898 with a 7 1/2 inch barrel in .38 WCF, blue finish, and hard rubber stocks. The period decorative work on the revolver bears well executed foliate scroll pattern on punch dot background along with fan patterns on the loading gate and behind the hammer, bordering on the ejector rod housing, and leaf pattern on the top strap. The revolver wears a set of pearl grips featuring a relief carved Mexican eagle on the right panel. The engraving and carving are certainly of the finest quality reserved for the wealthy and affluent. The barrel and frame are plated in silver, the screws and cylinder pin are nitre blue, and the remaining surfaces are plated in gold. The two-tone finish alone makes for a dramatic showing. The barrel has the standard two-line Hartford address on top and “38 W.C.F.” in a banner on the left side. The left side of the frame has the two-line patent dates marking. Matching serial numbers appear on the frame, trigger guard, and back strap. CONDITION: Very fine as period retailer embellished with the barrel and frame retaining 95% of the silver plating darkening with age, 70% of the gold plating on the ejector rod, cylinder, and hammer, and 40% of the gold plating on the trigger guard and back strap. The engraving is crisp. The grips are also very fine with slight chipping at the top (right panel), crisp carving, and attractive colors. Mechanically fine. A Western shipped Colt SAA revolver with a whole lotta frontier flair! Estimate: 8,500 - 13,000
LOT 1093
Documented Highly Desirable Moran Bros. Miles City,
Montana Tooled “Mexican Loop” Colt Single Action Army
Holster with Matching Moran Bros. Cartridge/Money Belt as
Pictured in “Packing Iron: Gunleather of the Frontier West”
by Rattenbury - Established in 1879, the Moran Bros. firm was one
of the first saddlery and gun leather firms founded in Miles City,
Montana Territory. The brothers operated a two-man shop until 1895, when they
sold the business to Charles E. Coggshall, whose business eventually became the
famous Miles City Saddlery. Moran Bros. is one of the few Western saddlery and gun
leather firms where all of their legitimate examples can be truly dated to the 19th
century Western Frontier. Due to their limited production capacity and short time of
operation, surviving examples are incredibly scarce, making them highly desirable
on the collectors market. This specific example is pictured and described on p. 116
of “Packing Iron: Gunleather of the Frontier West” by Richard Rattenbury. This example is marked on both the body of the holster and the billet of the cartridge belt with the iconic oval “MORAN BRO’S/MILES CITY.M.T.” maker’s mark. The holster
itself is of the single “Mexican loop” variety with a large skirt. The body of the holster and loop have attractive border tooling incorporating rope and scalloped patterns. The holster will accommodate a 7 1/2 inch barrel Colt Single Action Army revolver and is in cross-draw configuration for a right handed shooter. The wide belt has a single row of approximately .44-.45 caliber sized cartridge loops, a nickeled buckle with clipped corners, and a “money” opening in the belt near the buckle. The belt is 3 3/4 inches wide and measures approximately 44 inches long including the billet.