Pair of SAA relics

I bet those SAA's could tell some stories! Loaded and hammer cocked ... Getting them lettered will be interesting. Keep us posted!

A little WD-40, and they'll be ready to shoot again!

that is world-class cool!

Boy, trying to get the long barreld version a letter is a real pain. The gun is in the 41,XXX range and has 3's and 8's in the serial, with all the wear it is hard to tell an 8 from a 3. The trigger bow is also marked 44 C.F. so it would be a very early 44-40. Hopefully, it will work out, I will keep you posted

vytautus said:

Boy, trying to get the long barreld version a letter is a real pain. The gun is in the 41,XXX range and has 3's and 8's in the serial, with all the wear it is hard to tell an 8 from a 3. The trigger bow is also marked 44 C.F. so it would be a very early 44-40. Hopefully, it will work out, I will keep you posted

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3's and 8's can sometimes be hard to tell apart anyway. A 41xxx would be an early .444-40 indeed.

Well my initial inspection of the number was off by a couple thousand. The gun is still an 1878 44-40 but the number is 44,XXX range, colt confirmed it. Now I am just waiting on the letter.

For Sale: Two LNIB First Generation Colt Single Action Army revolvers. Free period ammo comes with the high condition revolvers.


LOL, this could be on Gunbroker!

Collects, For the GB listing, You forgot to mention, cylinder never turned, lock up is extremely tight and desert patern factory engraving! Lol

I wonder how their being left there like that, had came about?

May have been a nice Gunbelt and other stuff too, which Time and the Elements have turned to dust.

It does look like the shorter Barrel one was in the process of being Loaded when it was set down for keeps.

vytautus said:

Boy, trying to get the long barreld version a letter is a real pain.

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Nice....what about the short barrel, year caliber?
OK

The short barreled gun is a roll stamped "Frontier Six Shooter" in 44-40, 1666XX range, so 1896. The last two digits are completely lost due to some bad erosion on that side of the gun. The ammo in it is standard Winchester 44-40. The ammo in the long barrel gun has no head stamp, strange primers and a line around the perimeter of the shell head. Based on length, it looks more like 44 Russian, or some home brew stuff using excessively shortened cases.

Turnbull could maybe make those look new again.

Have to ask, are they loaded the way we do it today with a chamber skipped or is there 6 chambers full?

On the long barrel gun, the hammer is sitting on an empty hole. The short barrel was partially cocked but is also sitting on an empty. It must be true real cowboys only packed 5 at a time.

vytautus said:

On the long barrel gun, the hammer is sitting on an empty hole. The short barrel was partially cocked but is also sitting on an empty. It must be true real cowboys only packed 5 at a time.

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That alone is pretty amazing, many thanks for the fast response!

..... as in the original posters message, "Both guns are still loaded 5 chambers."

"Also, the way we do it today" is the way they did it back in the 1870's.

Bud

Hollywood said:

Have to ask, are they loaded the way we do it today with a chamber skipped or is there 6 chambers full?

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I recieved the letter back on the long barrel gun. It was shipped to J.P. Moore's and sons, New York, New York April 20, 1878. It is right on the border of the etched panel guns, can't tell if it was etched or not. It is to bad I can't because if it was it would definitely be one of the first. It does still have the 44 CF marked trigger guard. Not the most interesting shipping destination but still pretty cool to find out it is a second year 44-40 loaded with period ammo. Now I only need the J.P. Moore records to find out where it ended up.

vytautus said:

On the long barrel gun, the hammer is sitting on an empty hole. The short barrel was partially cocked but is also sitting on an empty. It must be true real cowboys only packed 5 at a time.

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Thanks for the update vytautus, 3 months for the letter...not too bad!
I still wonder what is the story with those guns. Do you have any more infos besides what you wrote in your OP.
They had to be in the dirt for a long time since both grips are completely gone.
If it was me who had found them, I would have dug 3 feet deep all around the tree. There could have been something else there.

Could be a sack of money there somewhere, or some silver coins, seen this happen before.............I think a nice set of carved ivory on both would look nice....LOL.........M