COLT COLLECTOR:
PINNACLES & PITFALLS
If you have ever thought that you might want to begin a collection of Colt (or other) firearms, you are in for a challenging and entertaining learning experience. Surprisingly, you do not have to begin with thousands of dollars to devote to the hobby, either. Over time, you may want to extend your interests to the more fascinating (and expensive) corners of Colt collecting – the earliest models that generally become available seem to be the 1850s Dragoons and Walkers – but whatever you decide, you will want to start quietly and carefully, learning as you go, enjoying the trip.
INTERVIEW WITH A COLLECTOR
To learn more about the fun, fascinating and potentially lucrative hobby of collecting Colt firearms, we turned to an expert, Ed Cox of Fernley, Nevada. Ed is a member of the Colt Collector’s Association (www.coltcollectorsassoc.com) as well as the owner of www.antiquegunlist.com and other Internet sites.
RS: Good morning, Ed. How would you describe yourself as a Colt firearms collector?
Ed: I’m not a staunch collector like many people are. I kind of half-way collect and deal, buy and sell. I mean, some of these folks get a gun and just absolutely would not turn it loose for anything. I don’t look at it that way. When I’m ready to sell a gun, I put a price on it and if somebody gives me that price then they own it. It’s theirs. I think I’m more of a dealer than a collector, but they are all “my Colts” as long as I have them in my possession until I sell them.
RS: How long have you been involved in the gun collecting field?
Ed: Well, I really don’t know as far as collecting is concerned…. You know, you start out as a kid shooting and maybe owning a gun and I think at that time it’s kind of planted in you that there are a certain number of guns around, whether they are hunting guns or just pistols that you can take out and shoot. This interest and familiarity with guns just naturally leads into collecting.
These days most people don’t have the luxury of growing up with guns, though. It would be nice if people could start collecting a little earlier, but most have to wait until the kids are gone and all the school bills are paid.
RS: How many Colts do you own at the present time?
Ed: Counting the broken ones and the ones I’d never part with and the ones that are for sale, maybe a couple hundred.
RS: How would you describe the impulse to collect?
Ed: Well, I think that for each person it is different. For me, it is the nostalgia of the 1800s. I don’t collect anything much into the 1900s, but there are many collectors who specialize in Colt semi-automatics and machine guns and newer stuff. Some people collect only the commemorative issues. So for each person it is different. That kernel of itch and interest pushes us all in a little different direction.
With the antique guns, there is a lot of nostalgia connected to collecting them and they will consistently go up in value more than anything you can think of, including the stock market.
RS: So which of the old Colts do you collect? The Patersons? Percussion Era guns?
Ed: Well, I don’t go back that far. A real Paterson in good condition today would probably cost between $200,000 and $300,000. And in the single actions, some of those guns run to $40,000 or $50,000.
I am in the Percussion Era, though, and the Dragoons are a little bit more in my price range. For an authentic Dragoon, you’re probably talking about $5,000.
RS: Do you do any cowboy shooting, Ed? Are you a member of the Single Action Shooting Society?
Ed: I don’t do any cowboy shooting. Even though I could shoot some of the guns I own, I don’t. When you pay a certain amount of money – and some people will disagree with this – you don’t want to stick a bullet in it and risk blowing it up. Old guns are made of old steel and I know of people who have bought a single action gun from the 1880s and they just had to shoot it so they put a modern round through it and blew up the gun.
RS: A gun from the 1880s would have been built in the black powder era, wouldn’t it, so pressures and proof testing and what-not would be different.
Ed: Now, if you shot that 1880s gun with a light black powder load, you might not have any problem. I have the reloading knowledge and even have all the black powder components here, so I could go out and shoot, but I don’t want to. For me, it’s more about collecting. I just want to look at this piece. I’ve got a Burgess rifle sitting above the window here in my office and I look at it all the time and I want to think of what cowboy had this gun; what sheriff or bad guy had this. If the gun could only talk it would probably tell some great stories.1 But as far as taking that gun down and putting a bullet in it and shooting, well I could with no problem, but I don’t have the desire to do that.
RS: I understand that most dedicated collectors would never shoot the guns in their collection. In fact, with a commemorative gun a single shot would cause minor scratches and detract from its value, and with an antique gun … well, what’s the point?
Ed: That’s partially true. Parts just are not available for many of these old guns unless a collector can get something hand made and that would simply destroy the gun’s re-sale value. So you’re right on that account: what would be the point?
With commemoratives, some collectors like them because they want a mint gun in the box and they are certainly not going to run a round through it. They become valuable because Colt just doesn’t make these guns anymore.
I prefer the older stuff that I can cock, though, guns that I can oil and take care of short of firing a round through them.
RS: So your guns are mechanically in good condition, but you choose not to shoot them. Do most collectors do maintenance to this extent?
Ed: You still have a lot of people who think that if the gun came to them this way, it’s just a “leave it alone” proposition; they don’t do anything to it. But you’ve also got a number of the modern collectors who want the gun working, at least functional even though they won’t go out and shoot it. It gives them some satisfaction to know that they could go out and shoot it if they wanted to.
RS: Would you say that it takes several thousand dollars to begin serious collecting?
Ed: No, it doesn’t, because even a lot of the early Sturm-Rugers from the ‘50s are collectible today. A lot of other companies are becoming collectible, too. The Iver Johnsons, for instance, and lots of off the wall guns. Even the so-called “Saturday night specials” are becoming collectible and you can start out buying those guns for $150 to $200.
Colt collecting is like the Cadillac of gun collecting, the ultimate. Colt and Winchester. Not that some of the other guns aren’t reaching peaks on rarity and getting up there like Colt. But Colt and Winchester are still the top of the line of collecting, and it seems like everybody wants a Colt or a Winchester. Take Winchester. The old line company is gone now. The manufacturing factory is closed. They’re no longer in
