Colt 1860

[Lead Snowstorm]

Greetings all,

Another Civil War weapon just arrived at my door today, this time a Colt 1860. It was posted on the classifieds of a modern firearms forum, which may have given me a bit of an advantage as one of the relatively few antique hunters.

The original asking price was $2k, at which I balked when noting the mismatched cylinder; the wedge also proved to be mismatched. The seller and I eventually shooks hands digitally on $1k, and the gun came with the name of the seller's great great grandfather, to whom it was stated to have originally belonged - James Brennan, Co. A, 6th NY Cavalry. Suffice it to say, I now have a research project ahead of me - being new to this, any advice/suggestions are most welcome!

Pictures:

 

[UCVRelics]

Nice looking Colt. The SRS shows a few of them issued to the 6th NY Cav but your is not listed but there are other place you can look such as any regimental histories ordnance reports and the NY CW records.

Just an FYI. Buy the piece not the story but at the price you paid is was a good one.

 

[Cornpone and Molasses]

Nice Colt at a very good price. I could never understand how someone would part with something that their ancestor carried in battle. If I had solid proof it belonged to my GGGF I would never be able to sell it.

 

[Lead Snowstorm]

Agreed, it's always a bit of a surprise to me when I end up buying a 'family gun.' Yet they are often some of the better deals. Earlier this year I bought a P.38 with holster and 2 mags and a Beretta M1934, bringbacks being sold off after someone's WWII veteran father had recently passed.

My own grandfather's bringback T.99 Arisaka is the foundation of my own collection and is on the very short list of 'never sell' guns.

 

[bayonet]

Nice Colt at a very good price. I could never understand how someone would part with something that their ancestor carried in battle. If I had solid proof it belonged to my GGGF I would never be able to sell it.

Yeah can never tell what the next generation will do with our collections. So enjoy them while you can. Maybe it's me but I see this generation not showing the interest that following generations did. Point many items are now 1/2 to 2/3s down in value as far as selling.

 

[Cornpone and Molasses]

Yeah can never tell what the next generation will do with our collections. So enjoy them while you can. Maybe it's me but I see this generation not showing the interest that following generations did. Point many items are now 1/2 to 2/3s down in value as far as selling.

I agree with you that this generation is definitely not showing interest that ours and previous generations have. I think prices are still high as there remains enough people interested who have deep pockets. In 10-15 years this may not be the case as we are aging out. Every time I go to a Civil War show I see fewer younger people than the time before..

 

[bayonet]

I agree with you that this generation is definitely not showing interest that ours and previous generations have. I think prices are still high as there remains enough people interested who have deep pockets. In 10-15 years this may not be the case as we are aging out. Every time I go to a Civil War show I see fewer younger people than the time before..

Auction going on as I type in Gettysburg. I collect Rev War era weapons too. Many swords are going for 1/2 to 3/4 of what they would of went for 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago.

 

[Cornpone and Molasses]

Auction going on as I type in Gettysburg. I collect Rev War era weapons too. Many swords are going for 1/2 to 3/4 of what they would have went for 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago.

Well then there goes our retirement

 

[Lead Snowstorm]

There are definitely some market changes going on. I spent a long time looking for a nice trapdoor carbine and anything halfway decent was over $2k, often well over. This year I snagged one carbine upgraded with the '84 sights and 1890 band for $1350, and am closing a deal on another, seemingly an all-correct 1886 production except for the 1890 band upgrade and with the front sight protector for $1500.