Yes, certainly uncommon. Less than 1% of production in ".38 Colt", not differentiated between .38 Long Colt and .38 S & W.
But, talk about a most unexciting atypical clambering. In fact, its ineffectiveness during the Spanish American War in the Colt DA 1889/1892/1895 model led to the refurbishment of Cavalry Model revolvers into Artillery Model revolvers, in the far superior .45 Colt.
Common sense dictates the rarity should be worth a premium, but how much?
I have a percentage in mind, but I won't divulge it so as to alter the unbiased response.
It depends. I like to shoot my collection and at one time owned a .38 colt revolver. I found the gun less enjoyable to shoot than a regular. 38. I have no interest in .38 special or .38 colt SAAs. Now if you are doing it strictly from a collecting point of view and looking to add a caliber.....I would certainly listen to SC.
Here's one of my .38 Colt SAAs. I bought a couple of them, a 4 3/4" and a 5 1/2" as collectables in one of the more scarce calibers. I don't think I paid a premium though...
Being rare and being desired are two different things. In my area I don't see people lining up to buy single actions in 38 colt unless they are in really choice condition then they are buying them for the condition and not the caliber.
You can't ever beat a 45 or 44-40 from what I'm seeing.
Ian, as you know there is a reason a gun is "rare". In many cases they weren't popular and didn't sell. The gun is desireable, the caliber is not. Wonder how many of these in .38 Colt had a caliber change.
I have one and that I inherited and the only reasons i keep it around is because it's the only one (38 Colt) I have, the 5 1/2 bbl, and it's a decent condition gun.
I don't have one but sure am looking. They are "6" guns and I guess a guy should own 6 of each caliber. If somebody out there has one they want to part with-----just let me know.
PaleFace
Hammer price was $4,000. Sold to an internet bidder, so their premium was 15%, so they paid at least $4,600 for this one, and possibly sales tax on top of it and/or shipping.
I think it sold for a good 20-25% over what this one would have brought had it been a more common caliber, such as .44-40 or .45 Colt. I was willing to go to $3,000 and, as I was on-site, my premium would have been 10%, so my cost would have been $3,300 plus 6% sales tax, or $3598.
There was no factory letter, so the wild card was the grips. They fit poorly, so I doubt they are original. I am not familiar with what ivory or faux ivory grips would have looked like from this era, but they did not look like ivory to me and the auction house could not provide an answer. No real evidence of grain seems very suspicious. Had they been real ivory, perhaps the price would have been about right, IMHO. But, I'm not crazy about the caliber, rare or not.
Also, not sure why the firing pin on a revolver with limited use is conical instead of scalloped, as the revolver dates to 1927, and the firing pin is 1905 or before. Seems odd for a revolver that has seen little usage. However, despite this, overall, the condition looked good. A refinish seems unlikely.
Wrong hammer knurling type....earlier hammer from the 1905 to 1910 era. Grips were not factory nor vintage and can't tell from the pictures if they are actually ivory or resin but it doesn't matter either way for the price paid. Those medallions look like someone got them out of a gumball machine.
Internet bidder who either lives in an area where he can't do any better or he doesn't know any better.
Yes, you are correct about the hammer. I didn't look at it that closely after noting the firing pin was wrong. Given the overall condition of the gun, I never considered the hammer being a replacement. I wonder why...
With the questions I had and no factory letter, It's even possible this one did not start out as a .38 Colt, however unlikely.
I wasn't really ever seriously interested in this one. I was really at the auction for a Smith & Wesson Registered Magnum.
Here are pictures of a very nice one I own in 38 COLT. It is in 351XXX range:
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