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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."
LOT 3128
Rare and FRESH First Generation Colt Single Action Army Revolver in Desirable .45 ACP -
Serial no. 354848, 45 ACP cal., 5 1/2 inch round bbl., blue/casehardened finish, hard rubber grips. Offered here is a first generation Colt SAA revolver chambered in rare .45 ACP. Unfortunately, there is no information in the Colt archives for this revolver. 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 revolver was manufactured in 1933. 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. Matching serial numbers appear on the frame, both grip panels, and right side of the trigger guard and back strap under the grip.
CONDITION: Very fine, retaining 90% original blue finish with cylinder drag lines, grip straps thinning to a brown and some mild holster type wear. 85% original case colors remain on the hammer and frame. The faded grips are also very fine with overall crisp checkering. Mechanically functions, clicks 1 and 4 engage properly; however, 2 and 3 are absent and need work. This is a solid example of a first generation Colt SAA revolver in incredibly rare and desirable .45 ACP. Provenance: The Don and Carol Wilkerson Collection.
Estimate: 11,000 - 16,000
-author David Brown
Collector's Fact
According to "The 36 Calibers of the Colt Single Action Army" by David Brown, only 44 Colt Single Action Revolvers were produced in .45 ACP.
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