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LOT 78
Documented J.P. Lower Denver, Colorado Shipped
Deluxe Factory Engraved Nickel and Gold Plated
Colt Sheriff’s Model 1877 Thunderer Double Action
Revolver with Checkered Ivory Grips, Book Case,
Shelton Payne Arms Co. Holster, and Factory Letter
- Serial no. 16868, 41 Long Colt cal., 2 1/2 inch round bbl.,
nickel/gold finish, antique checkered ivory grips. The included
factory letter states this revolver was shipped on April 11, 1879,
to famed Denver, Colorado, retailer J.P. Lower & Sons and confirms
the 2 ½ inch barrel in .41 caliber, two-tone nickel and gold finish, factory
engraving, checkered grip, and grip material. This was a two gun shipment. The
revolver is pictured and identified in R.L. Wilson’s “The Colt Engraving Book,
Volume One” on pages 370-371. Unfortunately, Wilson incorrectly incorporated
the revolver in “Chapter Nine: Non-Factory Engraved Colts”. The aforementioned
included factory letter from 1989 and addressed to prominent Colt collector Brig
Pemberton clearly confirmed the factory engraving. This Colt Model 1877 DA
Revolver is factory engraved.
This is a highly engraved example with patterns that do not follow typical Colt
factory motifs such as those established by Master Engraver Cuno A. Helfricht
and his shop. When this revolver shipped in 1879, Helfricht had been employed
at Colt for less than ten years. A comparable scroll pattern is found in the smoke
pulls from a Model 1860 Army Thuer conversion revolver attributed to Helfricht
showcased on page 391 in “The Colt Engraving Book” and noted by Wilson as
having “several features of Gustave Young.” The revolver is decorated in a very
distinctive leafy scroll pattern on beaded background along with fan motifs
and starbursts. A very uncommon riband caliber inscription is featured on the
left side of the barrel. Note that Model 1877 Lightning serial no. 18661, which is
also pictured on page 370 of “The Colt Engraving Book,” has an identical caliber
inscription. The top of the barrel is stamped with the two-line Colt Hartford
address. The left side of the trigger guard is marked “41 CAL.” The left side of the
frame has the three-line patent dates marking. The cylinder would have been
gold plated. The remaining surfaces are plated in nickel with the exception of the
nitre blue screws. Matching serial numbers appear on the frame, trigger guard,
and back strap. Wilson estimated that only 475 Model Thunderers (.41 caliber)
were factory engraved with most following standard patterns (see “The Book of
Colt Engraving,” page 327). This is certainly a rare piece of Colt history made even
more sought after due to its unusual engrave patterns.
The open top leather holster is marked “SHELTON-PAYNE-ARMS/MAKERS/EL PASO
TEXAS.” Shelton Payne Arms Co. was a well-known Texas supplier of firearms,
ammunition, sporting goods, and leather goods, and notoriously sold arms to
both sides in the Mexican Revolution. As a very important historical footnote
General George S. Patton ordered his very iconic Cuno Helfricht engraved and
silver plated 4-3/4 inch Single Action Army, serial number 332088 from Shelton
Payne when he was stationed at Fort Bliss, and it was delivered in early 1916.
As pictured & described in The Colt
Engraving Book, Vol. I by Wilson
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