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Listed by Serial Number in Colt Cavalry & Artillery Revolvers by Kopec & Fenn
Native American capture would explain why some of these revolvers would not have been altered to Artillery configuration near the end of the century and also explains why so few survive given the overall low survival rate of Native American
weapons broadly.
Since the publication of Kopec’s book, a limited number of additional examples
have come to light. The most notable of these was serial number 4552 sold by Rock Island Auction Co. on May 14, 2022. That revolver is the finest known Lot Five revolver extant and came with documentation identifying it as a battlefield pickup from the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and it also received a gold seal letter from Kopec and brought an impressive $763,750 at auction, clearly demonstrating the immense interest and value these Lot Five revolvers possess.
This historic revolver is in classic Cavalry Model configuration. It has a blade front sight, the top of the barrel is marked with the one-line address “+COLT PT. F. A. MFG. Co HARTFORD CT, U.S.A.+” showing the die breaks in the “o” in “Co” and partially broken “A” in “HARTFORD,” the bottom of the barrel has “P” and “A,” the ejector has
the early “bullseye” head, the “black powder” frame marked with the two-line patent marking on the left side, “A” inspection marks on the trigger guard and back strap just behind the hammer, “P” and “A” on the cylinder, grips without visible cartouches, and matching serial numbers on the cylinder, barrel, frame, trigger guard, and back strap. A copy of Nathaniel Philbrick’s “The Last Stand” is included.
CONDITION: Good as a Little Bighorn battlefield pickup that spent nearly 90 years with the same Oglala Lakota Nation family. This Ainsworth inspected Lot 5 7th Cavalry U.S. Colt Cavalry Model revolver is a true Indian Wars survivor marked by
its captors and displaying an overall gunmetal appearance with some original blue finish on and under the ejector rod housing. The worn grip also displays “frontier issued” character from spending generations in the hand. This revolver has a story
to tell! Few of these Lot 5 revolvers remain in original Cavalry Model configuration and even fewer are directly linked to Custer’s Last Stand with what John Kopec called “indisputable provenance.”
The proceeds from the sale of this item will go to funding scholarships and to the general fund for special projects at Highlands College, Birmingham AL.
Provenance: Jack Herman; The Kenneth Leonard Family;
Property of a Gentleman.
Estimate: 80,000 - 150,000
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