Recent Find 1860 Colt

[qdup1]

Hi CWT members,

I am new to CWT and I wanted to thank the people who are responsible for starting up this very interesting and important site where people can learn and share about everything related to the Civil War.

I will start my first thread about recently purchasing a decent (I think) 1860 Colt. I bought it from a neighbor who told me he can trace the can at least back 4 generations. The owner did shoot it and said all is good with it. All the numbers match as far as I can tell and most all the inspector marks are visible I believe. It has a serial number of 87233, so 1863 production date. The bore looks very good, it has light pitting towards the muzzle more but the rifling still looks fairly sharp. the cartouche marks on the grips are very faint.

I had a Colt collector look at it and he said it had a weird looking reblue and that the lettering and numbers show that it was buffed then blued. I don't know, I think the numbers and lettering look pretty good. The bluing looks like a sort of plum blue and under a strong LED light it looks more brown. He told me he would take it off my hands for the right price. I said I don't want to sell it, but out of curiosity I asked him the guns value. He said $500 tops. I thought that I can't buy a nice clone new for that price and this gun has real history and character. Oh well, I still like it and will shoot it soon.

What do you make of the next to last picture of the bottom of the butt? Here are some pictures.

Thanks.

 

[UCVRelics]

Nice looking Colt. So all 7 serial # match? It has been re-blued and the grips refinished. Could you post a photo of the cartouche?

 

[scooter748driver]

Welcome from the Fort Sumter and the Fredericksburg forums. Yes, it's a nice looking Colt despite the refinishing work that was done to it. In my opinion it's worth more that $500.

 

[JOHN42768]

Welcome, enjoy. Looks like somewhere in it;s life there was a lanyard put on it

 

[Bonedaddy]

I agree that it has been reblued but is still a nice looking weapon. That bore is amazing. Even though refinished

, it is still a genuine Civil War era martially marked Colt revolver, which is a great collectible. Confederate troopers were known to make the lanyard modification on captured Union revolvers, and yours might be one of those. You evidently bought it because you liked it and not with a thought of what you could sell it for 5 years from now and make a big profit. I am the same way. I don't buy civil war weapons with the view towards later selling them for a profit; I get an item because I like it, regardless of it's condition. Enjoy your new toy in good health.

 

[qdup1]

I appreciate your reply's and thoughts on it. I find that it is well built and seems very functional. I was surprised just how well its held up all these years. Maybe someday I can afford a real nice unmolested example. I have an older Navy Arms 1858 Remington which I like and the 1860 is every bit as tight. The cartouche is faint.

View attachment 464607

 

[qdup1]

I agree that it has been reblued but is still a nice looking weapon. That bore is amazing. Even though refinishedView attachment 464598View attachment 464599View attachment 464600View attachment 464601View attachment 464602View attachment 464603View attachment 464604View attachment 464605View attachment 464606, it is still a genuine Civil War era martially marked Colt revolver, which is a great collectible. Confederate troopers were known to make the lanyard modification on captured Union revolvers, and yours might be one of those. You evidently bought it because you liked it and not with a thought of what you could sell it for 5 years from now and make a big profit. I am the same way. I don't buy civil war weapons with the view towards later selling them for a profit; I get an item because I like it, regardless of it's condition. Enjoy your new toy in good health.

Thank you for the kind words, I know collectors around my parts that unless it is a perfect specimen would turn their noses up at it. Like a so called expert did on mine. My feeling aren't hurt at all. I bought it to enjoy and shoot and admire, and it is still a beautiful piece of history. I really love your 1860 by the way and its original looking to me. Someday I may be fortunate enough to find on. I bought mine local so I like that aspect of it also.

 

[qdup1]

Nice looking Colt. So all 7 serial # match? It has been re-blued and the grips refinished. Could you post a photo of the cartouche?

I found 2 marks at the rear of the barrel on both sides, a T. I found 2 on the cylinder marked c, One on the brass trigger frame with a D and one in the rear of the hammer marked D. I read there is one on the bottom butt metal, I can't find that one. So that is 6 inspectors marks I can see so far. About the serial numbers I found 4. Where would the other 2 be located? The cartouche looks to have initials CSL, but that is really hard to make out. I mean I had to use my imagination on that one.

 

[qdup1]

Welcome, enjoy. Looks like somewhere in it;s life there was a lanyard put on it

Thank you for that bit of information. I thought as much and you confirmed it. I would think someone did not want to lose it while riding on his horse.

 

[qdup1]

Nice looking Colt. So all 7 serial # match? It has been re-blued and the grips refinished. Could you post a photo of the cartouche?

I cheated on trying to figure out the cartouche letters. I read on another search of mine that CSL was stamped on ones in my guns production. I could read the C & L but not the S.

 

[UCVRelics]

I found 2 marks at the rear of the barrel on both sides, a T. I found 2 on the cylinder marked c, One on the brass trigger frame with a D and one in the rear of the hammer marked D. I read there is one on the bottom butt metal, I can't find that one. So that is 6 inspectors marks I can see so far. About the serial numbers I found 4. Where would the other 2 be located? The cartouche looks to have initials CSL, but that is really hard to make out. I mean I had to use my imagination on that one.

Serial numbers appear seven times, underneath on both sections of frame, trigger guard, backstrap, cylinder, wedge, and inside on cylinder pin.

 

[Jeff in Ohio]

Serial numbers appear seven times, underneath on both sections of frame, trigger guard, backstrap, cylinder, wedge, and inside on cylinder pin.

Well, there is an eighth place where you should be able to find the serial, or the last four or five numerals of the serial, which is on the wood stocks, in the groove where the buttsrap fits, written in india ink. Since the grips fit well, and match the rest of the gun, I would leave them on - if you start unscrewing the grip frame to get to that, you risk various bad things happening to it - screw heads buggered up, screws fall down into a crack on the floorboards, or pulling that tight fitting wood loose from the metal might crack it!

 

[Bonedaddy]

Good advice. I wouldn't try to take it apart either just to see the number inside the wooden grip. On a 160 year old gun, you don't won't to mess with it and take a chance on ruining something. As Jeff said, bad things could happen.

 

[UCVRelics]

if you start unscrewing the grip frame to get to that, you risk various bad things happening to it - screw heads buggered up, screws fall down into a crack on the floorboards, or pulling that tight fitting wood loose from the metal might crack it!

That is why I never mention it to most folks.

 

[Jeff in Ohio]

That is why I never mention it to most folks.

Similar to the confidential information kept from the public in crime investigation, eh? The info is there is case it is needed for verification, but not public!

 

[qdup1]

Well, there is an eighth place where you should be able to find the serial, or the last four or five numerals of the serial, which is on the wood stocks, in the groove where the buttsrap fits, written in india ink. Since the grips fit well, and match the rest of the gun, I would leave them on - if you start unscrewing the grip frame to get to that, you risk various bad things happening to it - screw heads buggered up, screws fall down into a crack on the floorboards, or pulling that tight fitting wood loose from the metal might crack it!

Thanks for the help. Yes, I can relate to loosing special screws. I have had the grips off just because I wanted to see what was under them. No issues with that one yet. I didn't know where to look, now I do.

 

[qdup1]

Similar to the confidential information kept from the public in crime investigation, eh? The info is there is case it is needed for verification, but not public!

Oh, I see. I didn't know that.

 

[qdup1]

Good advice. I wouldn't try to take it apart either just to see the number inside the wooden grip. On a 160 year old gun, you don't won't to mess with it and take a chance on ruining something. As Jeff said, bad things could happen.

It did happen to me once on a Colt Pocket revolver. The grips had been cracked once by another owner and glued and I guess the glue was weak with age because it fell apart.

 

[qdup1]

Serial numbers appear seven times, underneath on both sections of frame, trigger guard, backstrap, cylinder, wedge, and inside on cylinder pin.

Yes, the wedge matches and I didn't know about the cylinder pin. I will take a look see.

 

[qdup1]

Here is a picture of the cylinder pin. I am going to leave the serial number on the grips alone. I would venture to say they match also. And anyway, curiosity killed the cat.

I read that there is a serial number on the bottom of the grip strap. I do see a hash mark I think, but I am not show if I am just seeing things that mean nothing.