This 1860 Colt Army revolver has matching serial number 14806 throughout, with the exception of the wedge, and the “BH” inspector cartouche of Benjamin Hannis who was assigned as inspector at the Colt factory from mid-August to late September 1861 and whose initials appear on these pistols in the 8946-15532 range. The pistol rates Excellent or near Fine for condition overall, with some wear to the right grip, but with lots of thin blue on the barrel, good color on the loading assembly, blue turning plum on the cylinder, vibrant case colors on the frame and hammer, thinning blue with some silver gray on the backstrap from handling, but strong blue on the buttstrap and screw. The four frame screws show silver, but the case colors around them more than make up for it.

The markings are crisp throughout, including the barrel address, “Colts Patent” frame stamp, the serial numbers, and a wickedly sharp cylinder scene with fully legible “Engaged 16 May 1843” legend on the front edge of the cylinder, captioning the Republic of Texas and Mexican Navy battle scene with ships, waves and smoke of battle visible. In addition to the great cylinder scene, the cylinder stamps, “COLTS PATENT No. 4806 / PAT SEPT. 10^th 1850” are fully legible, sharp and visible from a distance. Nipples, cylinder stops and small subinspector stamps all indicate an unfired gun. The only handling marks we see are two small dings on the left of the barrel an inch or so from the front sight, and a couple of small points on the right near the wedge from when it was tapped out in a barracks or around a campfire  to clean the pistol and inadvertently switched with one from a fellow soldier’s pistol. Action works properly.

The grips have excellent color, surface, and edges. The fit to the metal is tight. The small subinspector “M” stamp on the bottom of the grip is sharp. There is a little wear on each side of the buttstrap at the toe. On the left only marks we see are three small nicks on the lower edge and small scrape on the cartouche. The right grip shows more wear, with some unevenness to the surface, a depression midway down and faint signs of what may have been initials or unit designation at top and some dark scratches at bottom. A quick search of the serial number shows some 14000 range Colts in the hands of the 1^st New Jersey Cavalry in early 1862. A narrower range is provided in some September 1864 records showing some Colt Armies in the 14800 range in the hands of the 4^th Kentucky Cavalry and the very faint markings at the top right grip might be interpreted as a “4^th.”

The Colt 1860 Army .44 is the classic Civil War cavalry pistol, purchased by the U.S. army in numbers rivalled only by Remington and Starr revolvers beginning in 1864 and purchased in significant numbers by the south in the months before the war, with many more making their way into Confederate hands by capture. This would make a great addition to a cavalry collection and would be an upgrade for many specifically Colt collectors as well.  [sr] [ph:L]

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