Gunfighter pistol

bakerb · Monday at 10:37 PM

Got this from an uncle today. Only word I can make out on the frame is “1876.” Not sure if that’s a year or a model.

The grips have been worn very smooth. Trigger guard is filed off. Front sight and the spring pin for removing empties are both removed. My guess is someone carried it under a belt. Not in a holster. Didn’t want anything to hang up.

The grips appear to be plastic. Which probably means it’s not as old as it appears. But the plastic is worn completely smooth.

It appears it’s a 44 magnum maybe. A 45 colt shell wouldn’t fit in the cylinder. But not by much

Kinda neat

Parkerpusher · Monday at 10:45 PM

Colt SAA 44-40?

roklok · Monday at 10:45 PM

My guess is its a 44 WCF aka 44-40 if a 45 Colt is close to fittting. Looks like a Colt 1873 "Peacemaker" to my non-expert eyes. Looks like not only the ejector rod was removed, the frame boss for the rod was ground off. Interesting piece for sure !

Mike53 · Friday at 4:44 AM

It is NOT a .44 Magnum! Do NOT attempt to fire such a round in it!

greyfox · Friday at 7:22 AM

Take it to a gunsmith to have it thoroughly checked out!
I'd guess 44-40 but the plastic grips have me thrown!

Replaced or what year did Colt start offering plastic grips?

Zinz · Friday at 7:39 AM

Those are original grips; made of hard rubber or Gutta-Percha.

Looks awesome. Probably.44-40 as others say. No reason not to shoot it once it’s been gone over by a competent pistol smith.

Ed Z

V.Veritas · Friday at 7:39 AM

It is a black powder frame Colt SAA.
The grips could be original.
Don't use it with modern 44-40 as you might blow it up.

Red Leg · Friday at 7:40 AM

From roughly 1881 until the Second world War Colt used a hard rubber material for grips on their basic Single Action Army models which this is (Model 1873). These would have been checkered with the rampant Colt logo or American Eagle depending upon when manufactured (this one has the rampant Colt logo). This is almost certainly a .44 Winchester Center Fire (WCF) or as it is more commonly known today, the classic 44-40. And yes, this one was tricked out as a fast draw barroom brawler.

LOL. And I see we all answered at the same time.

Red Leg · Friday at 7:48 AM

I would agree that this is a black powder era frame (pre-1896) without the cross pin. Both condition and original metallurgy (the steel alloy actually changed in 1900 to support smokeless loads) dictate it should never ever ever be fired with a smokeless load of any type. It is a great piece to have on display in the gun room.

Russ16 · Friday at 7:50 AM

40-50 years ago there was a big interest in truck shooting and quick draw competitions. A lot of guns were modified like this for those. That’s much more likely than it being modified for actual gunfighting. A lot of them had the hammer springs modified as well for “fanning”.

As others have said have a gunsmith look at it.

Red Leg · Friday at 7:58 AM

Russ16 said:
40-50 years ago there was a big interest in truck shooting and quick draw competitions. A lot of guns were modified like this for those. That’s much more likely than it being modified for actual gunfighting. A lot of them had the hammer springs modified as well for “fanning”.

As others have said have a gunsmith look at it.

Could be, but no one in their right mind would have chopped up a black powder era Colt even back in the seventies (I was there

). They were simply too valuable even back then. I suppose it is possible someone found a badly worn SSA for such a project, but I suspect it is more likely this is the real thing. Would have to have it in hand to be sure. That said, every sort of counterfeiting has been applied to Colts and Winchesters over the last few decades.

V.Veritas · Friday at 8:11 AM

I'm sure this is the real thing.
I remember I read about this exact modification in one of the Elemer Keith books, but I can't find it now in a hurry.

Another modification was to remove the trigger altogether and drop slip the hammer. The rear of the trigger guard was used just as a hook to hang it to the belt/ trousers.

Russ16 · Friday at 8:21 AM

Red Leg said:
Could be, but no one in their right mind would have chopped up a black powder era Colt even back in the seventies (I was there ). They were simply too valuable even back then. I suppose it is possible someone found a badly worn SSA for such a project, but I suspect it is more likely this is the real thing. Would have to have it in hand to be sure. That said, every sort of counterfeiting has been applied to Colts and Winchesters over the last few decades.

You wouldn't believe some of the things I've seen people do with nice guns. My favorite was a guy in college who had a really high condition LC Smith Ideal grade that he chopped the barrels down to 19 inches with a hacksaw. He thought it would be cool to shoot in Cowboy Action competitions.

cwickgo9 · Friday at 8:26 AM

Lord, if that gun could speak the stories it could tell . . . wow

Thanks for sharing such an interesting piece

bakerb · Friday at 9:36 AM

Thanks for all the responses. It’s a neat piece for sure. I don’t intend to fire it. I value my hands too much

But it is very cool.

analog_peninsula · Friday at 1:35 PM

It could also be a .38-40 or .38 WCF.

tomahawker · Friday at 1:43 PM

Look see what’s under those grips. Might be money, pic of sweetheart, or most likely nothing.

Gunfighter pistol

bakerb

Parkerpusher

roklok

Mike53

greyfox

Zinz

V.Veritas

Red Leg

Red Leg

Russ16

Red Leg

V.Veritas

Russ16

cwickgo9

bakerb

analog_peninsula

tomahawker

Members online

Forum statistics

Proudly sponsored by

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

Share this page