Page 67 - 4093-BOOK1

George
Armstrong
Custer
65
The revolver #4865 had been issued to Co. H. 2nd Cavalry as of June 121, 1874. The revolver
#4878 had been ‘turned-in’ by the Indian ‘Fool-Bear’ as of September 5th 1876 just some three
months after the famous Custer Battle. So, actually we have choice, a Second Cavalry issue or
this Seventh Cavalry captured reference.” Kopec addressed other areas worth noting: The barrel
and ejector head show tool-like marks, ejector spring is a modern replacement, has an old
style mainspring which are thought to have been left from Model 1860 Army production.
In the table on page 260, Custer’s command (companies C, E, F, I, and L plus ten staff and three
scouts) are listed as having revolvers in the Lot Five and Lot Six range. The 212 revolvers from
Custer’s men are presumed to have all been looted by Native American warriors. After the
battle, 302 of the 632 revolvers carried into the battle by the 7th Cavalry were reported lost,
and “At the minimum 252 and probably closer to 280 Colt Army revolvers were recovered by
the warriors during the two day battle at the Little Bighorn” as noted on page 261. Many of the
revolvers captured during the battle would have been employed by the warriors later in the
battle as the warriors finished their rout of Custer’s men and then reformed and engaged Reno
and Benteen’s men in the south. 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. See, for instance, no. 4729 sold by Rock Island Auction Co. in August 2024
(lot 3318) and cited in “Cavalry & Artillery Revolvers” on page 280. 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 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 and certainly has the look of an
Indian Wars survivor. 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 have traces of cartouche on the left side, and
matching serial numbers on the barrel, frame, trigger guard, and back strap.
CONDITION: Very good as a Lot Five Cavalry Model revolver that is a true Indian Wars survivor
displaying a mixed gray patina typical of spending a lifetime in a challenging environment
with traces of original blue finish on the barrel under the ejector rod housing. The re-oiled
grip also displays frontier issued character with high edge wear, repaired on the right side, and
chipped toes. Mechanically fine. This revolver has a story to tell! Few of these Lot 5 revolvers
remain in original Cavalry Model configuration.
Estimate: 75,000 - 150,000