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LOT 3134
Incredibly Rare Factory Presentation Account
Shipped Black Powder Colt Sheriff’s Model Single Action
Army Revolver with 4 1/4 Inch Ejectorless Barrel and
Factory Letter - Serial no. 123309, 38 Colt cal., 4 1/4 inch round
bbl., nickel finish, hard rubber grips. Offered here is a very unusual
black powder Colt Sheriff’s Model SAA revolver with a 4 1/4 inch barrel manufactured in 1887 but listed in the
factory until 1914. The accompanying factory letter indicates the revolver was shipped to Presentation Account,
Colt Factory Superintendent M.L. Bristol, Hartford, Connecticut, on February 25, 1914. This was the solo gun in the
shipment. Shipping nearly 30 years after it was manufactured suggests that this SAA was kept at the factory as a sample
gun. The records list the revolver as originally having a 5 1/2 inch barrel at the time it was shipped, suggesting that Bristol had the
barrel length changed to 4 1/4 inches either before or after the presentation. The barrel is crowned and has the one-line Hartford
address as commonly encountered on 5 1/2 inch or longer barrels. Unfortunately, there is no listing of the person who was the recipient
and there is the possibility that the gun may have been for Bristol himself. Additional features presented in the factory letter show the
revolver was chambered in .38 Colt and had a nickel finish with type of stocks not listed at the time of the 1914 shipment.
The ejectorless Colt “Sheriff’s Model” Single Action Army Revolver is one of the rarest and most sought after variations of the legendary
Peacemaker. In “The Official Record of the Colt Single Action Army Revolver, 1873-1895” the authors stressed the rarity of the ejectorless SAAs as a whole
(barrel lengths ranged from 2 1/2 to 7 1/2 inches in the study) and state that “just under 600 ejectorless Single Action Army revolvers were produced in all calibers from 1882 to the 1930s.”
The authors recorded no SAA examples with a 4 1/4 inch .38 Colt caliber ejectorless barrel manufactured from 1873-1895. Speaking to the rarity of the barrel length, only a single 4 1/4
inch ejectorless barreled Single Action Army was recorded, and it was chambered in .41 caliber (page 350). The “black powder frame” lacks provisions for an ejector rod, making this gun a
genuine ejectorless Sheriff’s Model. The left side of the frame has the three-line patent marking. As noted, the barrel carries the one-line Hartford address along with “38 COLT” on the left
side. Colt introduced the .38 Long Colt caliber to its line of SAAs in 1886, and it is a highly sought after chambering for today’s collectors. As explained by Colt historian and author David
Brown, “The comparatively small production of this caliber makes these guns hard to find, and they are prized by collectors. Specimens in mint condition are
extremely rare.” Before 1914 Colt produced only 1,011 standard Single Action Armies chambered in .38 LC (“The 36 Calibers of the Colt Single Action
Army,” page 170). The revolver wears a set of checkered hard rubber grips featuring embossed Rampant Colts and American eagles. Matching serial
numbers appear on the frame, trigger guard, and back strap.
CONDITION: Exceptionally fine, retaining 90% plus of the Colt
factory nickel finish with some scattered flaking. The grips are
very fine with a slightly long screw, minimal handling marks, and
overall crisp checkering. Mechanically excellent. A highly sought
after, one-of-a-kind ejectorless Sheriff’s Model SAA revolver with
very intriguing shipping record that will bring added dimension to
any SAA collection.
Provenance: The Charles Marx Collection.
Estimate: 20,000 - 35,000
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