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In February 1841, multiple U.S. Navy officers provided glowing
testimony concerning Colt’s patent carbines in revolvers, and the
carbine received especially favorable reviews after trials. Lieutenant
Cicero Price, for example, wrote, “I have only to say that the advantages
of Colt’s carbine and pistol over the ship’s musket and pistol are so manifest, and so great, that I hope soon to see them
adopted altogether in the service. . .” However, once actually in service, the Patersons did not receive favorable reviews, and
government orders ceased and thus brought about the termination of Colt’s first firearms business. The navy and army of the
Republic of Texas purchased and utilized Colt’s advanced carbines, and these purchases led to Colt’s use of the Naval Battle
of Campeche as the scene on the Model 1851 Navy and subsequent models. R. L. Wilson wrote this model was “The most
practical and popular of all Colts longarms from the Paterson period” and also indicated that Samuel Colt continued to sell and
display this model into the 1850s. The Model 1839 is featured in multiple paintings by famous frontier artist George Catlin that
were used to promote Colt’s early firearms. On top of being the best of the Paterson long guns, this model is also significant as one of the
first practical repeating long gun designs. There had been other repeating firearms in the past, but none of these were remotely as useful and many were unsuited to production on a large scale. This carbine is marked with matching serial number “761” on the inside of the loading lever, wedge, rear face of the barrel lug, back of the cylinder, cylinder arbor, hammer, hammer stirrup, trigger spring, rear face of the recoil shield, bottom of the upper tang, inside the upper stock channel, and inside of the saddle bar plate. Blade front and dovetail mounted notch rear sight. The right of the barrel is marked with the one-line legend “*Patent Arms M’g. Co. Paterson N.J.- Colt’s Pt.*” with snake terminals at either end of the marking. “COLT’S PATENT PATENT ARMS MAN’Y Patterson JERSEY” marked on the cylinder along with “W L ORMSBY”. The buttstock is fitted with a crescent iron buttplate.
CONDITION: Very good. The barrel exhibits a smooth brown patina with a crisp Patent Arms legend on the right. The cylinder shows a smooth gray patina with strong markings and mostly visible scenes. The recoil shield retains traces of original blue finish with mottled brown and gray patina on the balance of the remaining iron surfaces. The balance of the frame retains mostly dark silvered out patterns of case colors. The stock is also very good with a protective coat of varnish applied, scattered scratches and dings, and some minor cracks behind the upper and lower tangs. Mechanically excellent. This is a solid example of a highly desirable Colt Paterson Model 1839 carbine with a rare cavalry sling bar!
Estimate: 45,000 - 70,000
Approximately 950 Colt Model 1839 Carbines were produced, of which the U.S. Navy purchased 360 prior to the Mexican-American War
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THIS RARE COLT PATERSON CARBINE IS ONE OF THE FEW KNOWN EXAMPLES HAVING A MILITARY PATTERN SLING BAR