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LOT 1183
Very Scarce and Highly Desirable Documented San Francisco Agency Shipped Black Powder Colt Frontier Six Shooter Sheriff’s Model Single Action Revolver with Factory Letter - Serial no. 122386, 44-40 WCF cal., 3 1/2 inch round bbl., blue/casehardened finish, hard rubber grips. The ejectorless black powder Colt Sheriff’s Model Single Action Army Revolver is one of the rarest and most sought after variations of the legendary Peacemaker.
In “A Study of the Colt Single Action Army Revolver,” approximately 1,000 of these “ejectorless” revolvers were estimated to have been manufactured with the majority of the production occurring before 1900 (page 69). Per Keith Cochran in “Colt Peacemaker Encyclopedia, Volume 1,” only 305 out of a grand total of 1,000 “ejectorless” SAAs were manufactured with a 3 1/2 inch barrel. Based on Cochran’s estimates only 180 SAAs out of the total Sheriff’s Model production run were chambered in the always desirable .44 WCF caliber (page 370). The accompanying factory letter confirms the 3 1/2 inch barrel in .44-40 caliber, blue finish and hard rubber stocks as well as being shipped to Colt’s San Francisco Agency, San Francisco, California, on April
3, 1890. This was a two gun shipment. The barrel has the correct two-line Hartford address on top and the caliber designation “44” in small font on the underside. The left side of the frame has the three-line patent dates marking. Matching serial number appears on the frame, trigger guard, and back strap.
CONDITION: Very good plus as a survivor of rare Colt heritage linked to America’s westward expansion. Generous amounts of original blue finish remain in the protected areas of the back strap and trigger guard and strong traces of the mostly silvered out original case color patterns remain on the hammer and frame, otherwise a smooth gray patina and pitting accumulated with decades of exposure to the salt air of the Pacific Ocean. The acid etched panel
on the barrel is lightly visible. Grips are in equal condition for a working gun of the period. Mechanically fine. This is a rare black powder frame Colt San Francisco Agency shipped Frontier Six Shooter Sheriff’s Model Single Action Army Revolver showing authentic use along the West Coast. It is a true piece of Americana!
Estimate: 8,500 - 13,000
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