Page 185 - 4095-BOOK2

LOT 1183
Rare Well-Documented Colt Sheriff’s Model Bisley Single Action Army Revolver with
Factory Letter, Featured in “The Book of Colt Firearms” - Serial no. 259336, 45 Long
Colt cal., 4 inch round bbl., blue/casehardened finish, hard rubber grips. Manufactured in
1904, per Colt factory serial number records. The accompanying factory letter states this
revolver was originally shipped from the factory as a “Sheriff’s Model” on October 3, 1911, to
Zimmerman Hardware & Supply Company (address unlisted), as billed to Wyeth Hardware
& Manufacturing Company of St. Joseph, Missouri, in .45 caliber, with a 4 inch barrel, blue
finish, and hard rubber stocks. Offered here is a true rarity in Colt collecting: a factory
documented Sheriff’s Model Bisley revolver with an ejectorless 4 inch barrel. This exact
revolver is featured at the top of page 266 in “The Book of Colt Firearms” (1971 publication)
by Sutherland and Wilson. According to page 265 of the aforementioned book, “Less than
a dozen Sheriff’s Models were made” in reference to the Bisley Models. An accompanying
March 8, 1981, dated handwritten letter addressed from noted Colt author Ron Graham
agrees in stating that there are “no more than ten or twelve Bisley Sheriff’s Models” ever
made, and further states in relation to this revolvers factory shipping date, “This 1911 date,
in conjunction with its frame and triggerguard inspection marks, indicates a storage period
of approximately seven years for the finished, or partially finished, frame and that final
assembly of this Bisley Sheriff’s Model was near to its date of shipment.” In “The Official
Record of the Colt Single Action Army Revolver, 1873-1895” (published 2008) by Wilkerson
and Hoyt, the authors stressed the rarity of the ejectorless Sheriff’s Model Single Action
Army 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 ejectorless Colt Sheriff’s Model Single Action Army revolver
is one of the rarest and most sought after variations of the legendary Peacemaker, and
a Sheriff’s Model Bisley is especially rare. As noted on page 142 of the 30th Anniversary
Edition of “A Study of the Colt Single Action Army Revolver” (published 2006) by Graham,
Kopec, and Moore, “Still rarer than factory engraved Bisleys are the smoothbores and
Sheriff’s Models... As of this updated revision, there are now nine known original, ejectorless,
short barreled Bisley Model revolvers.” When the aforementioned publication was first
published in 1976 the authors had yet to encounter an original Sheriff’s Model Bisley:
“We will now review one of the rarest classifications of the ejectorless single actions, the
short barreled Bisley Model…The opportunity to examine an original ejectorless Bisley
Model has never been afforded” (page 76 of the 1976 publication). The revolver has
the distinctive Bisley Model features which include the higher frame, humpback grip
area, curved hammer with wide knurled spur, and wide trigger. The top of the barrel
is roll-stamped with the two-line Hartford legend, with “(BISLEY MODEL) 45 COLT” on
the left of the barrel. The left side of the frame is roll-stamped with the
two-line, three-date patent markings followed by the
encircled Rampant Colt trademark. Fitted with two-
piece checkered hard rubber humpback grips with
the Rampant Colt medallion embossed in an oval
at the tops. Matching visible serial numbers on the
frame, trigger guard, and back strap, with assembly
number “1486” on the loading gate.
CONDITION: Very good with a fresh appearance,
retains 25% original blue finish strongest in the
protected areas of the cylinder flutes, with smooth
gray and brown patina on the balance, some patches
of light pitting, and some scattered frontier surface
freckling. Grips are fair, with wear. Timing very slightly
off; otherwise, mechanically functions. As one of the
ultimate rarities in Colt collecting, opportunities to
acquire a Colt Sheriff’s Model Bisley Single Action
Army revolver do not readily present themselves!
Provenance: The Robert Q. Sutherland Collection;
The Charles Marx Collection.
Estimate: 10,000 - 16,000
As pictured & described in
The Book of Colt Firearms by Wilson
183