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LOT 1195
Rare and Desirable Early Production Serial Number 113 Patent Arms
Manufacturing Co. Colt “Texas” Paterson No. 5 Holster Model Percussion
Revolver with Ivory Grip - Serial no. 113, 36 cal., 7 1/2 inch octagon bbl., blue/
casehardened finish, antique ivory grips. The Texas Model Paterson revolver is
the most sought-after of all Colt Paterson revolvers, and its use on the Texas
frontier in the 1840s proved that Colt’s revolvers were well-suited for mounted
combat. Total production was approximately 1,000 revolvers manufactured
between 1838-1840 per “The Paterson Colt Book” by Wilson. Of these, the U.S.
Navy purchased 150 in 1841, and an additional 50 revolvers were purchased by
the Ordnance Department in 1845 from John Ehlers and inspected by William
A. Thornton and stamped with his “WAT” final inspection mark on the barrel
lug. The most important of these revolvers were arguably the 180 No. 5 pistols
purchased for use by the Navy of the Republic of Texas. The order was filled in
April 1839 alongside the Texas Navy’s 180 Model 1839 Carbines. Several of these
No. 5 revolvers were subsequently issued to Texas Rangers under Captain John
Coffee Hays, and it was the use of these revolvers by Hays and the Rangers that
proved that in the hands of brave and determined men, a small force armed
with Colt revolvers could go toe to toe against a larger force of Comanche,
famously known as the “Lords of the Southern Plains” and widely regarded as
among the greatest horse warriors in the world.
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