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LOT 204
Rare Documented Manila, Philippines, Shipped Colt
Model 1877 Thunderer Double Action Army Revolver with
Factory Letter and U.S. Holster Rig - Serial no. 131564, 41
Long Colt cal., 6 inch round bbl., blue/casehardened finish,
hard rubber grips. The accompanying factory letter lists serial
numbers “131341-131564” and states these “Colt Double Action
Army Revolvers” were shipped in a 250 gun shipment on
February 26, 1902, to E.G. Shields, Insular Purchasing Agent, in
Manila, Philippine Islands, with a further note, “Marked: E.G.S.
Manila % J. H. Threw New York,” in .41 caliber, with a 6 inch
barrel, blue finish, and type of stocks not listed, and a remark
at the end of the letter that states, “As noted above, both
firearms were included in the same shipment.” The mentioned
revolver with serial number 131341 was previously sold by
Rock Island Auction (December 2014 Auction 63, Lot 1318).
According to information in an included scan of a letter from
noted author Don Wilkerson, this is one of 600 total Colt Model
1877 revolvers in .41 caliber with 6 inch barrels shipped to the
Philippines in 1902, with the first shipment of 350 being on
February 10, 1902, and this revolver being included as part of
the second shipment of 250 on February 26, 1902. They were
sent to the Insular Purchasing Agent E.G. Shields in Manila as
the U.S. was working to shift control of the Philippine Islands
from Army to civilian control. The unit or organization that was
issued these revolvers was unable to be identified, but they
were reportedly still in service as late as 1904. Don Wilkerson
had only seen four of these revolvers during his study of Colt
revolvers, and states that these are seldom seen in the United
States. Two-line Hartford address marked on top of the barrel,
with “COLT. D.A. 41” on the left. The left of the frame has the
three-line patent date markings and the circled Rampant Colt.
LOT 203
Historic U.S. Military Trials
Attributed Prototype Serial
Number 1 Colt New Army
and Navy Single Action
Revolver - Serial no. 1, 41
Long Colt cal., 6 inch round
bbl., blue finish, walnut grips.
Manufactured c. 1895-1896, this single action
prototype New Army and Navy revolver is a very
significant piece of Colt heritage, bearing serial
number 1 and having features differing from any
other known example of a Colt revolver witnessed.
With this prototype, Colt may have been devising a
way to offer a simplified model of the New Army and
Navy revolvers with the tried and true single action design.
If it had gone into production, it would have been Colt’s first and to this
date, the only Colt single action revolver known with a swing out cylinder.
The Models 1892, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1901, and 1903 New Army and Navy
revolvers represented Colt’s development and improvement of the Model
1889 Navy, Colt’s first double action revolver
with swing out cylinder secured by a sliding
latch. The New Army and Navy revolvers were
manufactured from 1892 to 1907. Like all the
New Army and Navy production models, the
cylinder rotates counter-clockwise and is fluted;
however, the special single action cylinder has
a single set of stops resembling those seen on
Single Action Army revolvers, and does not
have the rear grooves seen on the standard double
action New Army and Navy revolvers of this
time frame.
On pages 533-538 of “A Study of the Colt Single Action Army Revolver” (2006
publication) by Graham, Kopec, and Moore, a whole chapter is devoted to
the description of a Colt single action prototype revolver known to have
been used in U.S. military trials that lines up nearly spot on with the features
witnessed in this example, leading this writer to strongly believe it is the
exact gun in question. The authors were unaware of the whereabouts of the
gun in question at the time of publication.
Serial
Number 1