MODEL
Serial numbered #2001 to #42000, steel grip frame, and large round trigger guard.
HARTFORD MANUFACTURED VARIATION
Serial numbers in the #42000 range.
SIDE HAMMER HANDGUNS
Sometimes a practical and farsighted innovation makes the grade and sometimes it does not, for no special reason other than it does not catch the eye or the imagination of the public. Although they featured a uniquely new solid frame with screw-in barrel, spur trigger, hammer on the right side and E.K. Root’s new creeping loading lever, Sam Colt’s percussion Side Hammer Pocket Revolvers, manufactured from 1855 to 1870, were never extremely popular.
Although the civilian market was apparently becoming saturated with handguns, when Colt’s extended patent expired manufacturers such as Remington quickly entered the market. Smith and Wesson, a true competitive thorn in Colt’s paw since its inception in the mid-1800s, was not far behind.
Development of the Side Hammers – there were both pistols and long guns – is often linked in time to the dramatic expansion of the Colt factory in Hartford. (The famous blue dome with its inlay of gold stars, rebuilt after the disastrous 1864 fire, can still be seen today.)
Model 1855 Colt-Root pocket revolver.
MODEL 1855 “ROOT” POCKET
The “Root,” as it is popularly known because of the “creeping loading lever” patented by long time Colt engineer and friend E.K. Root, was the only solid frame revolver ever produced during Colt’s lifetime. It has a spur trigger, walnut grips and the hammer is mounted on the right side of the frame. The standard finish is a case colored frame, hammer and loading lever, with the barrel and cylinder blued. It is chambered for both .28 cal. and .31 cal. percussion. Each caliber has its own serial number range: #1 to #30000 for the .28 cal. and #1 to #14000 for the .31 cal. Although only 40,000 of these pistols was produced, the model nevertheless consists of seven basic variations, and the serious student should avail himself of publications that deal with this particular model in depth. Colt produced the Side Hammer Root from 1855 to 1870.
MODELS 1 AND 1A SERIAL #1 TO #384
3.5-inch octagonal barrel, .28-cal., roll engraved cylinder, Hartford barrel address without pointing hand.
MODEL 2 SERIAL #476 TO #25000
Same as Model 1 with pointing hand barrel address.
MODEL 3 SERIAL #25001 TO #30000
Same as the Model 2 with a full fluted cylinder.
MODEL 3A AND 4 SERIAL #1 TO #2400
.31 cal., 3.5 inch barrel, Hartford address, full fluted cylinder.
MODEL 5 SERIAL #2401 TO #8000
No trigger guard. A .31 cal. pistol with 3.5 inch round barrel, address “COL. COLT NEW YORK.”
MODEL 5A SERIAL #2401 TO #8000
Same .31 cal. as Model 5 with a 4.5 inch barrel.
MODELS 6 AND 6A SERIAL #8001 TO #11074
Same as Model 5 and 5A with roll engraved cylinder scene.
MODELS 7 AND 7A SERIAL #11075 TO #14000
Same as Models 6 and 6A with a screw holding in the cylinder pin.
Model 1860 Army .44.
1860 MODELS ARMY, NAVY AND POLICE PERCUSSION PISTOLS
It would be an understatement to maintain that the Civil War was a boon to firearms manufacturers such as Colt’s Patent Fire Arms Mfg. Co. Indeed, Colt’s thrived during the conflict, employing two ten-hour shifts and as many as 1,500 men, while more than a half million Americans died on the battlefield and more than a million were disabled for life. That is an inescapable, if terrible and unfortunate, condition of war. Colt also thrived in spite of a disastrous 1864 fire, probably the result of sabotage by Confederate sympathizers, and the subsequent rebuilding.
Lt. Colonel Samuel Colt, who would perhaps today be described as a workaholic, and was certainly the most energetic genius, died on January 10, 1862, having directed the design and manufacture of his final series of handguns. His 1860 Series – many adaptable for attachable shoulder stocks – sold more than 280,000 between 1860 and 1873, and were the last new percussion introductions in the Colt line.
MODEL 1860 ARMY REVOLVER
This model was the third most produced of the Colt percussion handguns and, with 127,156 delivered, was the primary revolver used by the Union Army during the Civil War. The 1860 Army is a six shot .44 caliber percussion revolver weighing 2 lb., 10 oz. It has either a 7.5- or an 8-inch round barrel with an integral loading lever. The frame, hammer and loading lever are case colored; the barrel and cylinder (either fluted, which is scarce, or round, which have the roll-engraved naval combat scene) are blued. The trigger guard and front strap are brass, and the backstrap is blued steel. Grips are the characteristic Colt one piece walnut. Early models have barrels stamped “ADDRESS SAML. COLT HARTFORD CT.” Later models are stamped “ADDRESS COL. SAML. COLT NEW-YORK U.S. AMERICA.” And “COLT’S/PATENT” is stamped on the left side of the frame; “.44 CAL.,” on the trigger guard. The cylinder is roll engraved with a naval battle scene. Between 1860 and 1873, Colt manufactured 200,500 of these 1860 Army Revolvers. Serial numbers began at #1.
NOTE: This advertisement appeared in the Spring of 2007 at AntiqueGunList.com:
