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LOT 3173
Historic, Rare, FRESH and Magnificent, Documented
ATF Exempted Factory Smoothbore Nickel Plated Colt
First Generation Single Action Army Revolver with
Pearl Grips and Factory Letter Shipped to Wild West
Showman and Western Artist Emil W. Lenders - Serial
no. 336874, 45 Long Colt cal., 7 1/2 inch round bbl., nickel
finish, pearl grips. Factory-original smoothbore Colt Single
Action Army revolvers are among the rarest caliber and
special-order variants produced during the legendary 1st
Generation SAA run (1873–1941), which totaled 357,859
total guns manufactured. In David Brown’s seminal work
“The 36 Calibers of the Colt Single Action Army” he indicates
that only FOUR .45 caliber smoothbore Colt SAA’s appear in
the records and while fifteen were produced in .44 caliber
smoothbore. All of these smoothbore Colt Single Actions are
closely tied to the famous Wild West shows of the late 19th
century and early 20th century. Brown noted regarding the
.45 caliber smoothbores: “These were made on special order
for Pawnee Bill and Buffalo Bill, and were used in their Wild
West Shows for the breaking of aerial targets (glass balls)
tossed into the air and smashed in flight when hit by the
tiny shot pellets with which these cartridges were loaded.
Smoothbore rifles were used in the same way.”
This revolver from 1919 is documented as shipped to a
friend of both Buffalo Bill Cody and Pawnee Bill as well as
the Miller Bros.: Emil W. Lenders, a talented painter who
continued the tradition of cowboy and western artists
before him like Frederic Remington, capturing beautiful
scenes of life and wildlife in the American West as it was
unfolding. While Lenders is most widely remembered today
for his art, he was also a Wild West performer for many
years even after his old friends’ shows ended. The revolver’s
smoothbore barrel is marked with the one-line Hartford
address on top and “45 COLT” on the left side. The left side
of the frame has the two-line patent date markings followed
by a Rampant Colt. The left side of the trigger guard has
the factory triangle proof and a “1” Colt inspection marking.
Matching visible serial numbers are on the frame, trigger
guard, and back strap. The assembly number “124” is on
the loading gate. The revolver has larger than standard
cylinder stop approaches. On pages 179-180 of “A Study of
the Colt Single Action Army Revolver” by Graham, Kopec,
and Moore, the authors identified two late manufacture
.44-40 WCF smoothbore Single Action Army revolvers that
left the Colt factory between 1923 and 1931, both with
blue/casehardened finishes, and 354096 had “the unusually
large cylinder stop approaches.” Number 354096 is also
mentioned as being “the finest condition .44-40 smoothbore
known.” That revolver was previously sold by Rock Island
Auction Company for $152,750 in August of 2022 (Auction
86, Lot 131), and this outstanding .45 caliber example is
even rarer and is arguably the finest known surviving nickel
plated smoothbore Colt Single Action Army revolver extant!
The included January 6, 2025, dated ATF letter confirms this
revolver has been exempted from the NFA and classified
as a curio or relic firearm. The factory letter states lists this
revolver in its current configuration: .45 caliber, 7 1/2 inch
barrel, nickel finish, and type of grips not listed, with the
further remark: “Records also indicate this revolver leaving
with a Smooth Bore.” It was shipped on May 13, 1919, to E.
W. Lenders, address unlisted. Another included Colt factory
archives letter indicates that unsuccessful searches were
made in an attempt to locate information on the shipping
destination, but the letter mentions that this individual
was identified as the western artist Emil William Lenders by
author Keith Cochran in “Colt Peacemaker Encyclopedia,
Volume 2”, and the revolver is listed by serial number on
page 414 of Cochran’s book where he states: “shipped in
1919 to E(mil) W(William) Lenders Western artist, wife was a
trick shot.”
Lenders’s revolver appears to have been one of his most
beloved mementos of his colorful life in the American West.
According to the article “Sentiment Enters Will of Collector
on Eve of Death” in the Wednesday, May 9, 1934, issue of
The McAlester News-Capital: “Emil W. Lenders, even in death,
would not part with the saddle given him by Buffalo Bill
(William F. Cody), the artist’s will disclosed today when it was
filed for probate in the county’s court. A phrase bequeathing
the saddle, with its accompanying spurs, bridle, quirt, rifle
and pearl handled revolver to Frank Phillips, Bartlesville
oil man, was crossed out shakily with an indelible pencil.
In the margin was written ‘Cancelled.’ The date was March
5, a month before death.” This revolver certainly matches
the description. The saddle referenced is inscribed “To E.W,
Lenders, the best painter of buffalo in the world. From
his admiring friend William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill),” and this
revolver may have also been purchased as a gift for Lenders,
perhaps from his old friend Pawnee Bill.
In 1919, Lenders was still performing and was also the
manager of “Princess Wenona’s Western Show” starring his
romantic partner Lillian Smith as Princess Wenona. Smith
was a rival of Annie Oakley and set many of her own records
shooting hundreds of glass target balls with .22 caliber rifles.
Like Lenders, Smith had also previously performed in the
Buffalo Bill, Pawnee Bill, and 101 Ranch Wild West shows.
Advertisements in August 1919 list “Princess Wenona’s Wild
West Show” with “Princess Wenona Herself” and “Col. Jack
Lenders (Buffalo Jack).” The Expositor of Brantford, Canada,
on August 6, 1919, stated that Col. Jack Lenders was “a life-
long friend and companion of the late Colonel W. F. Cody
(Buffalo Bill), and one of the few old-timers of the west, still
left. Buffalo Bill thought so much of Col. Lenders that he
bequeathed to him his old war horse ‘Cody,’ with saddle, the
same charger which Buffalo Jack still rides in the arena.”
Historic, Rare, FRESH and Magnificent Factory Smoothbore
Nickel Plated Colt First Generation Single Action Army Revolver
with Pearl Grips and Factory Letter Shipped to Wild West
Showman and Western Artist Emil W. Lenders -
One of Only Four Produced