A VERY RARE .44 (COLT CENTRE FIRE) 12-SLOT RICHARDS CONVERSION SIX-SHOT SINGLE-ACTION ARMY REVOLVER

COLT, NEW-YORK, SERIAL NO. 152, CONVERSION NO. 133, CIRCA 1871

Details

A VERY RARE .44 (COLT CENTRE FIRE) 12-SLOT RICHARDS CONVERSION SIX-SHOT SINGLE-ACTION ARMY REVOLVER
COLT, NEW-YORK, SERIAL NO. 152, CONVERSION NO. 133, CIRCA 1871
With nickel-plated sighted barrel with single line 'ADDRESS COL. SAML. COLT NEW-YORK U.S. AMERICA', sprung cartridge extractor with cylinderical housing to the right side, rebated cylinder with clear naval engagement scene and twelve notches for the cylinder-stop, conversion breech-plate with firing-pin, loading-gate and integral rear-sight, frame marked 'COLTS PATENT', nickel-plated iron grip-strap and brass trigger-guard, the latter marked '44 CAL' on the left shoulder, and one-piece walnut grips, retaining much apparently original nickel-plated finish throughout (some holster-rub to muzzle, extractor-rod housing, cylinder, breech-plate and trigger-guard)
8in. (20.3cm.) barrel

Literature

R. Bruce McDowell, The Mystery of the 12-Stop Richards Conversions, The Gun Report, Vol. 47, No. 12, May 2002, p. 45 and illus. on front cover

Lot Essay

A quantity of correspondence accompanies this revolver between a former UK owner and R. Bruce McDowell, author of A Study of Colt Conversions and Other Percussion Revolvers, dating from the late 1990s. Included amongst these letters is the revelation that since the publication of his book where McDowell states that all 12-stops were blued, three nickel-plated examples (including the present Lot) have come to light. There are also copies of a proposed Addendum to Chapter 5 discussing the present Lot

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