[victorio1sw]

I have a Single Action Army from 1994, It is engraved "D" and on the grip frame is stamped "JC" could this be the initials of the engraver and if so who may it be? Colt custom shop, Black powder frame, Nickle plated, engraved "D" with the hammer and front site engraved, fitted with one piece ivory grip with Colt gold emblems. I have done a lot of searching and have not come up with the engravers during this period. any help would be appreciated.

Pictures, please.

 

[victorio1sw]

Master Engravers Steve Kamyk and Dennis Kies were both engraving for Colt in the 1990s. John Adams and Denise Thirion also. Tom Freyburger and John Pease are more recent and I am not familiar with their work but have seen guns factory engraved by them. I don't recall an engraver with the initials JC.
Do you have an Achive letter on the gun? An Archive letter will usually name the engraver if it was Master level engraved, but not always. Lesser levels of engraving are usually not named.
- - Bruce in Ohio

When was Ben Lane engraving for Colt?

 

[victorio1sw]

I do not have a photo of the stamped initials, and I don't plan on taking the gun apart. View attachment 703841 View attachment 703842

A beautiful engraved Colt SAA, with maybe 97% coverage.

 

[victorio1sw]

I don't know offhand when Ben Lane was engraving for Colt. The books I have are not clear on that.
Jan Gwinnell was another Colt engraver. I have one by him that was shipped in 1986. JG could be mistaken for JC, I suppose; however, my Jan Gwinnell engraved gun is signed with his full last name under the grips on the left side of the trigger guard at the bottom.
TriggerTripper - I am curious how you know that the grip frame is stamped "JC" if you are not willing to take the grips off. When I get a Colt with factory engraving, the first thing I do is to take the grips off to see if there are any stampings on the trigger guard/back strap (serial numbers and/or engraver's name) and, if the gun has ivory grips, to treat the ivories with mineral oil.

Second generation factory engraved Single Action Army revolvers were almost never signed by the engraver. Exceptions might be some of those engraved by William Mains who used a small "buffalo" figure on his guns. A factory Master engraved 3rd gen Single Action Army will usually, but not always, be signed under the grips and Archive letters on such guns will usually, but not always, name the engraver. Expert and lower level engraved guns will be marked "COLT ENG" on the left side of the trigger guard at the bottom, are not signed and not usually named in an Archive letter.
- - Bruce in Ohio

I have known Ben Lane since he lived in Amarillo, TX in 1970. At one point he moved to Estes Park, Colo and continued doing engraving work. What I recall, as he told me, was that Colt contacted him for engraving work and offered him a full-time job. Ben, not surprisingly, refused a move to Hartford. But eventually Colt did cave, and sent him work to Estes Park. The last time I saw Ben was five years ago, and he was back in Texas.

 

[victorio1sw]

Victorio - Thanks for the information about Mr. Lane. He is mentioned in many of my engraving books, but I haven't seen any statements as to when he was doing Colt factory engraving. I know from talking with the folks at Colt Archives that he did some but the dates are hazy.
- Bruce in Ohio

If I had Ben's phone number, would you call him and get this information - and post it on the ColtForum? Or maybe I should try to call Ben. My phone number for him will be at least five years old.