Page 214 - 89-FLIPBOOK2

This revolver is one of only 19 Flattop Target Models chambered for the .38-40 WCF cartridge and one of the very few Flattop Target Models fitted with “Extra Long” target grips.
LOT 1227
Rare Documented .38-40 WCF Colt Single Action Flattop Target Model Revolver Shipped to Albert Foster with “Extra Long” Target Grips - Serial no. 158911, 38 WCF cal., 7 1/2 inch round bbl., blue finish, elongated checkered walnut grips. This Colt Single Action Army Flattop Target Model revolver has “Extra Long” walnut target grips and includes a Colt factory letter. The letter describes the pistol as: “Colt Single Action Flattop Target Revolver”, caliber .38-40 with blue finish and states that
it was shipped to Albert Foster Jr., New York, New York, on December 1, 1909. (no mention of the elongated target grip, possibly a factory error.) Albert Foster Jr. was Colt’s factory representative in New York and a famous
212 Colt collector. In the early 1900s, he acquired some of the finest known
examples of the Single Action
Army revolver. Many of these
pistols were rare variations
and calibers. This revolver is
one of those guns. Mr. Foster’s
collection of rare Colt revolvers is
discussed on page 122 of “A STUDY OF THE COLT SINGLE ACTION ARMY REVOLVER” by Graham, Kopec and Moore. The revolver is one of only 19 Flattop Target Models chambered for the .38-40 WCF cartridge and one of the very few Flattop Target Models fitted with special order “Extra Long” target grips. The “Extra Long” target grips were a predecessor to the Bisley Model grips. The grips are described by R.L. Wilson on page 261 of “THE BOOK OF COLT FIREARMS”. Wilson describes the “Extra Long” target grips as “an extreme rarity”. The revolver has a blue finish with color casehardened hammer and niter blue frame screws and trigger. The revolver has the distinctive flat top strap and sides, dovetail mounted target rear sight, block-mounted and adjustable target front sight with steel blade and bead. The hammer has borderless knurling on the spur. The “Extra Long” two piece factory walnut target grips are fully checkered and have two
Albert Foster, Jr.
grip screws. What appears to be the
partial serial number “911” is written in pencil on the inside of both grips but the markings are very faint and not fully legible. The top of the barrel is roll-stamped: “COLT’S PT. F.A. MFG. Co. HARTFORD CT. U.S.A.” in a single- line. The caliber, “38 W.C.F.” is roll-stamped on the left side of the barrel. “41” is stamped on the underside of the barrel in front of the frame. The left side of the frame is roll-stamped with the Colt three-date/two-line patent markings followed by the circled Rampant Colt trademark. The Colt “Triangle/VP” proofmark is stamped on the left front trigger guard bow. A “W” assembly mark is stamped on the left rear trigger guard bow. “O” is stamped in the hammer well above the firing pin hole. The inside of the loading gate is stamped with the assembly number “6”. The full serial number is stamped on the bottom of the frame, trigger guard and back strap.