Thanks for sharing this Judge! Very interesting information! Its puzzling how that one letter could be so wrong. Makes one wonder about some of the other letters we all have.
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The original Walkers ended at number 1100. When Colt reintroduced them in 1979, they gave a little "cushion" and started the 2nd Gen numbers at 1200. So basically, yes, any Walker above 1200 is a 2nd Generation. However....
After Whitney completed the Walker contract for Colt, Sam Colt then started his own factory in Hartford and had some remaining parts from Whitney for the Walkers. These Dragoon type revolvers are known variously as Whitneyville Walkers, Transition Walkers, and Colt Whitneyville Hartford Dragoons. The serial numbers on these are 1100-1340. There are also the Walker Replacement Dragoons, aka the Fluck Dragoons, which Colt supplied to the US Government for Walkers that had failed in service. These are serial numbered approximately 2200-2500.
So as you can see, Paul was being sure that there was no misunderstanding with a Walker number above 1200
John Gross
Thanks for the analysis, it is interesting, but not surprising that mistakes are made. Any time humans read something, then have to transcribe it somewhere else, there is room for error. Another post about the letter for a factory "Fitz Special" this morning got me wondering - are the ledgers written in standard language? In other words, would one clerk in 1931 write "Cutaway" under Special Notations, but another cleark in 1932 write "Modified Triggerguard?" What does the modern transcriptionist do when they find a word they don't understand or believe? Do they interpret, or write the Colt Letters verbatium?
I was involved with digitizing the 1800s factory ledgers from a major British lens manufacturer. The penmanship and consistency were amazing, but they did abbreviate in strange ways. The point is, ideally, we would be able to "see" the actual ledgers, not get a "summary and interpretation." from a number of modern record keepers. But I know, digitizing the ledgers would eliminate the major business or selling letters by Colt. And would be a huge job. But I wonder, have they ever scanned the ledgers for posterity? Does a clerk actually flip dusty pages looking up your gun, or open a computer application? It would be best for history if they were scanned, and therefore fireproof.
As an example, below is one of the captures from the Dallmeyer lens company ledgers, showing lens model and size "3 D", Date production started, craftsmen for most processes, and on the other page, date finished and who shipped to, lots, etc. Looking at the actual Colt records would provide more insight, and less transcription errors.
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I was involved with digitizing the 1800s factory ledgers from a major British lens manufacturer. The penmanship and consistency were amazing, but they did abbreviate in strange ways. The point is, ideally, we would be able to "see" the actual ledgers, not get a "summary and interpretation." from a number of modern record keepers. But I know, digitizing the ledgers would eliminate the major business or selling letters by Colt. And would be a huge job. But I wonder, have they ever scanned the ledgers for posterity? Does a clerk actually flip dusty pages looking up your gun, or open a computer application? It would be best for history if they were scanned, and therefore fireproof.
As an example, below is one of the captures from the Dallmeyer lens company ledgers, showing lens model and size "3 D", Date production started, craftsmen for most processes, and on the other page, date finished and who shipped to, lots, etc. Looking at the actual Colt records would provide more insight, and less transcription errors.
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