Any body own a Walter Tips Colt SAA

[Maddog1980]

Hey guys,
I just received a Colt letter on one of my SAA 1st gen. I was excited about this revolver from the beginning. It was found in a barn so it has not been seen in a while, upon futher review it has the remains of a Lanyard ring. It also had a Texas star scratched into the bottom of the grips along with the letter T. I was thinking Texas Rangers. The letter stated It was send to a single person "Walter Tips". Upon doing some research I learned that he owned a business a block away from the Ranger headquarters, but most everthing I have seen that has gone to his store has been sent to his store name, not him personally. Has anybody seen this or know if this is unusal or common to have it go directly to his name. Any info appreciated!

[coltsixguns]

Good find......Walter Tips (hardware) indeed had a store in Austin in the 1800's and 1900's.....here is a link to where the library at the U of Texas has some of his records.

Walter Tips Company Records An Inventory of the Collection

I've owned a few Walter Tips shipped single actions through the years. Walter Tips also served as a Texas state Senator during his life.

[Old-Colts]

Yes, I have one that was sent to Walter Tips in 1896. All letters that I've seen only state that they went to the name "Walter Tips", so I'm pretty sure all actually went to his Hardware Store. His store was in fact on Congress Street, about a block from the Capital as well as Rangers Headquarters.

[Roninrlm]

Walter Tips Store-----I have been in there MANY times as a kid buying everything from a 8mm LaBelle to Colt SA's

Ronin

[mswill]

How 'bout some pictures?

[Wyatt Burp]

I have a book called "Colts: From Texas And The Old West". Every page shows a Colt Single Action or two with descriptions and were owned and used by Texas Rangers or old time Texas lawmen. It's a fantastic book and many of the guns are lettered to Walter Tips.

[Maddog1980]

I thought it was alittle strange that the letter stated the shipment went to his single name instead of his business, but sounds like that was pretty common. I will post some pics as soon as I get home. I have been trying to do some research from the Ranger headquarters or Musem to see if I could tie it to anybody, unfortunatley they never kept any records of Serial numbers. I will keep trying that is part of the fun right?

[Maddog1980]

Wyatt, thanks for the book name. That sounds like excatly what I need I will definately check that out.

[Old-Colts]

I have been trying to do some research from the Ranger headquarters or Musem to see if I could tie it to anybody, unfortunatley they never kept any records of Serial numbers. I will keep trying that is part of the fun right?

Good luck with your research; it is fun, challenging, and it can be frustrating; but the potential rewards are worth it!!!!! Since Walter Tips Hardware was on Congress Street about a block from the Texas State Capitol as well as Texas Rangers Headquarters; it is conceivable that a gun shipped to him possibly ended up in the hands of a Texas Ranger, Texas Legislator, someone in the Judiciary, or just an 1890’s or early 1900's version of “Joe Six-pack”.

In case you're interested, here is a recent thread of mine about researching a Colt Single Action as well as a Walter Tips gun.

December Single Actions & Shipping Trends

[Maddog1980]

Old-Colts, that was interesting. I checked my date and it was shipped in Oct.