Iron six-cavity gang mold that cast .44 caliber New Model Colt revolver bullets.

Mold measures approximately 12” overall. Mold has two halves and a sprue cutter all held together with a hinge pin at the end. Iron shows heavy pitting overall.  Mold can be opened and the cavities remain in decent condition.

This Colt bullet mold was recovered from the Colt Cartridge Works in Hartford, Connecticut, where a disastrous fire broke out on the morning of February 4, 1864.

The first indications that something was amiss were noticed about 8:15 on February 4, 1864, when workers outside the armory spotted smoke wafting from an attic ventilation window near the southern end of the riverside wing. Employees within the works were immediately dispatched to the attic, and hoses were brought up to douse the fire. However, the company’s water reservoirs were dry, and the workers were forced to flee when the fire exploded from a room used to dry wood for pistol and rifle stocks and ignited the leather pulley belts that drove the machinery in the floors below. In all, more than a thousand lathes and milling machines were lost. The plant’s primary power sources, two 300- and 400-horsepower engines, were destroyed, as was the main boiler.

While rebuilding the factory, this large bullet mold was among many pieces recovered. A newspaper article relates the details:

“WORKMEN FIND MOLDS

Like archaeologists digging into the history of some long-buried village, workmen at Colt's Firearms unearthed tools and pieces of weapons from the company's early days. The workmen, digging into the floor to sink concrete footings, discovered percussion bullet molds, pistol grips, bottles, coins, furnace, and a crucible believed to be more than a century old.

A floor plan of the factory, as Colonel Colt himself knew indicates that the excavated area was part of the original hardening and tempering department. The presence of brick hearths and chimneys surrounded by charcoal substantiates this conclusion. A quantity of two-cavity and six-cavity bullet molds was found in what is believed to be the older of the two rooms which were un-covered. The molds, dating from the Civil War period, as well as charred bricks and timbers found with. them, lead company officials to believe that this room was buried after fire destroyed most of the original Colt factory in February 1864.

After Colt's amateur archaeologists at the scene had collected as many mementos as they could find, the excavated area was sealed off and covered with а cement floor. But for a brief time, an era that belonged to Sam Colt lived again in Hartford.”    [jet]  [ph:L]

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