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LOT 3060
Extremely Rare L. D. Nimschke Engraved, Silver and
Gold Plated Colt Lightning Medium Frame Slide Action Saddle Ring
Baby Carbine - Serial no. 6208, 44 cal., 20 3/8 inch round bbl., silver/gold
finish, deluxe walnut stock. The included factory letter lists the gun as a
“Colt Lightning Magazine Slide Action Baby Carbine” and “Medium Frame”
in .44 CLMR (.44-40) with a 20 inch barrel, blue finish, and wood stock
and indicates it was one of ten Baby Carbines in an order shipped to A. G.
Spalding Brothers in Chicago, Illinois, on September 8, 1885. The carbine was
subsequently embellished by Master Engraver L. D. Nimschke and displays
highly attractive scroll engraving with beaded backgrounds. The Rampant
Colt trade mark relief engraved on the left side of the frame ahead of the
saddle ring, a silver plated primary finish, gold plated frame and small parts,
multi-point checkered slide handle, and a deluxe, highly figured, multi-point
checkered walnut buttstock. The barrel is equipped with a “barley corn” front
sight along with a notch and folding ladder rear sight, and is marked with
the Colt address and Elliott patent marking in two-lines on top and “44 Cal.”
in an oval panel on the left at the breech. The matching serial number is on
the lower tang and on the underside of the barrel at the breech.
This carbine’s engraving, finish, and stock are extremely similar to Colt
Lightning Baby Carbine 27981 sold by Rock Island Auction Co. in September
2015 and December 2022. That carbine was also finished in silver and gold
plating. The engraving patterns are very similar and in many areas, essentially
identical, with the main exception being the spectacular Rampant Colt relief
engraved on the left side of the frame on the current carbine and the more
complex entwining scrollwork on the right side of the frame. No. 27981,
lettered as fitted with a “fancy wood” stock and was shipped “soft” to Hartley
& Graham in New York, New York, on May 9, 1888, as part of a
three gun shipment.
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