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LOT 1138
Excellent Documented Colt First Generation Single Action Army Revolver in Extremely Rare .45 ACP with Factory Letter - Serial
no. 357674, 45 ACP cal., 5 1/2 inch round bbl., blue/casehardened finish, hard rubber grips. The included factory letter lists the revolver
with a 5 1/2 inch barrel in .45 Auto Cartridge, blue finish and stocks not listed when shipped to Ship’s Service Department U.S. Submarine Base, Coco Solo, Canal Zone on September 24, 1941. This was a single gun shipment on factory order #246. Located on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal Zone, Coco Solo was a U.S. Navy submarine base and naval air station active from 1918 to the 1960s. Based on research presented by author David Brown in “The 36 Calibers of
the Colt Single Action Army,” Colt manufactured only 44 first generation SAAs chambered in .45 ACP. .45 ACP was first made available in 1924 on special order. Per Brown, “Almost all made after 1924 were shipped to men in some branch of the Armed Forces. They could get all of the .45 Auto ammo they wanted but part of them wanted to
shoot the Colt Single Action Army instead of Colt Automatic so they would order the Colt SAA made up in the .45 ACP....The only revolvers made in
this caliber by Colt were Colt Single Action Armys, and they are extremely valuable to any Colt SAA collection” (page 62). The barrel has the one-
line Hartford address on top and “COLT SINGLE ACTION ARMY .45” on the left side. The frame has the standard two-line patent dates marking followed by a Rampant Colt. The cylinder is unserialized. Matching serial numbers appear on the frame, both grip panels, and right side of the trigger guard and back strap.
CONDITION: Excellent, retaining 90% original blue finish with mild holster type wear, some thinning on the grip straps and a light cylinder drag line. 95% plus of the original case colors remain on the frame. The grips are very fine with a few minor handling marks and a couple small worn spots in the overall crisp checkering.
Mechanically excellent.
Provenance: The Don and Carol Wilkerson Collection.
Estimate: 25,000 - 40,000
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"Almost all made after 1924 were shipped to men in some branch of the Armed Forces. They could get all the .45 Auto ammo they wanted but part of them wanted to shoot the Colt Single Action Army instead of Colt Automatic..."
-author David Brown, The 36 Calibers of the Colt Single Action Army