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LOT 3103
Highly Desirable Colt Paterson Model 1839 Military Pattern Percussion Revolving Carbine with Extremely Rare Cavalry Sling Bar - Serial no. 761, 525 cal., 24 1/4 inch half octagon bbl., blue finish, walnut stock. Only around 950 of these important early Colt Model 1839 carbines are estimated to have been manufactured in total by Samuel Colt’s Paterson, New Jersey, factory c. 1838-1841. Of those, the U.S. Navy purchased 360, and they are known to have been used during the Mexican-American War. This Colt Paterson Model 1839 “Saddle Ring” or “Slide Bar” carbine certainly fits the description of a military pattern carbine that was adapted for a sling bar, secured to the plate on the left of the wrist. At the time of writing, this carbine is one of only three known examples of this type with the saddle bar, with the only other known examples, serial numbers 766 and 770 previously sold by Rock Island Auction, close to this example offered. In “Paterson Colt Pistol Variations” by Philip R. Phillips with James E. Severn and R.L. Wilson, 100 Model 1839 Carbines are noted as ordered in March of 1841 by the U.S. Ordnance Department (see page 93), and on March 29, 1841, a letter from Pliny Lawton, Superintendent of the Patent Arms Manufacturing Co., wrote, “If these Carbines are to have slides put on them for the belt I would advise that the inspection be deferred until that is done say one week hence when all will be ready or say by Tuesday week Let me hear from you immediately.” (sic on page 177). The authors also note, “No Paterson Colt arms have come to the attention of the authors equipped with belt hook or slide devices.” The option of a carbine with a sling bar would help Colt compete with its main competitor for innovative cavalry arms at the time: the breech loading Hall carbines which featured sling rings on the early models, including a ring mounted on the left side of the wrist on the Model 1836 which was manufactured up to 1840, and then sling bars and rings on the left sides starting with the Model 1842. Pages 108 and 176 of “Paterson Colt Pistol Variations” specifically discuss the fact that Colt’s revolving carbines were up against the Hall carbines in government trials.
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ACCORDING TO THE BOOK PATERSON COLT PISTOL VARIATIONS BY PHILLIPS, SEVERN & WILSON, 100 OF THESE 1839 CARBINES WERE ORDERED BY THE U.S. ORDANCE DEPARTMENT IN MARCH 1841