Page 116 - 87-BOOK1

LOT 110
1875 Production Antique Black Powder Colt Single
Action Army Revolver with Factory Letter - Serial no. 19604,
45 LC cal., 7 1/2 inch round bbl., blue/casehardened finish, antique
ivory grips. Offered here is an early example of the legendary Peacemaker
in .45 LC with an interesting shipping history that makes it a must have for
the serious SAA collector. The revolver was manufactured in 1875 and as noted in
the factory letter, this SAA was shipped to B. Kittredge & Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio and
sold to Hodgkins & Haigh of New York City with a June 30, 1875 date of shipment. This
shipment was for 45 units. In 1875 and 1876 a group of Colt distributors known as the
“Colt Allies” which included Benjamin Kittredge, organized to buy 12,000 SAAs from Colt
at a discounted price at $10.50 each. As noted in “The Official Record of the Colt Single Action
Army Revolver, 1873-1895”, “[$10.50] was considerably less than the $13.50 the U.S. Government was
paying and generated a great deal of correspondence between the company and the government. The
controversy was finally settled by convincing the government that the discount was due to the fact that the
Allies agreed to handle most of Colt’s advertising” (page 51). The purchasing of such a large quality of SAAs
by the Allies allowed Colt to pre-package the units in crates of fifty and some of these crates remained in
storage for several months or even years. Kittredge was known to “drop-ship” some of his purchased revolvers
to Hodgkins & Haigh of New York City and to J.P. Lovell of Boston. This SAA was one of those Kittredge “drop-
shipped” to Hodgkins & Haigh. The grip was likely added by the New York retailer. Matching full or partial serial
numbers appear on the frame, trigger guard, back strap, cylinder (“9604”), and barrel (“9604”).
CONDITION: Good, showing authentic working gun character, proudly displaying a pleasing smooth brown-gray patina
formed over decades of authentic use. Traces of the period retailer applied nickel remain, the balance mostly a brown patina. The
grip shows similar character with an aged mellow appearance and an added personal modification by a previous owner who shaved the lower front of the left side to better fit his pinkie figure. Mechanically fine. This documented 1875 Colt Ally purchased SAA will bring added dimension to any Peacekeeper or 19th century American firearms collection.
Estimate: 3,000 - 5,000
LOT 111
Very Scarce Forehand & Wadsworth New Model Army Single Action Revolver - Serial no. 65, 44 S&W Russian cal., 6 5/8 inch round bbl.,
nickel finish, antique ivory grips. Sullivan Forehand and Henry Wadsworth each married one of Ethan Allen’s daughters and were part of E. Allen
& Co. until they restructured the business as Forehand & Wadsworth upon Allen’s death in 1871. As with Allen’s firearms, their guns were high
quality weapons as is made clear by this example which is still a solid firearm after nearly a century and a half. These New Model Army revolvers
were improved versions of the mid-1870s “Old Model.” Less than 1,000 of these rare revolvers were manufactured in the late 1870s to early
1880s making them very hard to find and high condition examples with special features like the grips on this revolver even more desirable. The
consignor indicated this revolver came from an individual in Idaho who was not a gun collector. The revolver has a custom tall blade front sight,
opened notch rear sight, and the two-digit serial number on the cylinder and toe ahead of the lanyard ring.
CONDITION: Excellent with 95% plus original nickel plating remaining, some slight flaking and scattered specks of light pitting, and minor overall
wear. The grips are very fine and have attractive natural cream tones, grain, and some thin age cracks. The trigger and hammer engagement is
weak but holds, and the revolver is otherwise mechanically fine. These revolver are very hard to find, especially with so much original finish, special grips, and a very low serial number. This revolver will make an excellent addition to any antique American firearms collection.
Provenance: The Gary Burghoff Collection.
Estimate: 4,500 - 6,500
114