Original Spanish Made Relic Condition Colt Brevete M-1873 Single Action Army Revolver with 7 1/2 Barrel - Serial 24

Original Item: Only One Available. The Colt Single Action Army Revolver, often referred to as the SAA or M1873, was the first Colt cartridge revolver to see wide acceptance and use, having been developed to meet the needs of the U.S. Government. Dubbed the "Peacemaker", the design is a famous piece of Americana and the American Wild West era, due to its popularity with ranchers, lawmen, and outlaws alike. While Colt has fielded many other designs since its introduction, none have been able to capture the same type of romance, resulting in the design being reissued several times since originally being discontinued.

During this time the popularity was not limited to the United States, and many makers in Europe began producing Colt clones, both with and without licensing any patents from the company. Colt moved to stop this, and spent much time going to individual countries to fight these, as well as to officially license the patents. Many of these were Belgian in Manufacture, where the word for patent is "Breveté", so these would be marked "COLT BREVETÉ", which then became the generic way to refer to any European made clone of a Colt design.

This "relic condition" example is unmarked except for 24 on trigger and grip frame, and shows all the characteristics we would expect from a Colt Brevete made in Spain. It looks to have seen long use, repeated cleaning, and then was probably stored in an attic or shed, which resulted in overall oxidation and loss of the grips. The action does cycle but is very sloppy.

If you were looking for a great wall hanger / conversation piece, this is it!

Specifications:

Year of Manufacture: 1897
Caliber: .45 "Long" Colt
Ammunition Type: Centerfire Cartridge
Barrel Length: 7 3/8 inches
Overall Length: 12 3/4 inches
Action: Single Action
Feed System: 6 Shot Revolver

History of the Colt Single Single Action Army

Bound by the Rollin White patent (#12,648, April 3, 1855) and not wanting to pay a royalty fee to Smith & Wesson, Colt could not begin development of bored-through revolver cylinders for metallic cartridge use until April 4, 1869. For the design, Colt turned to two of its best engineers: William Mason and Charles Brinckerhoff Richards who had developed a number of revolvers and black powder conversions for the company. Their effort was designed for the United States government service revolver trials of 1872 by Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company and adopted as the standard military service revolver. Production began in 1873 with the Single Action Army model 1873, also referred to as the "New Model Army Metallic Cartridge Revolving Pistol".

The very first production Single Action Army, serial number 1, thought lost for many years after its production, was found in a barn in Nashua, New Hampshire in the early 1900s. It was chambered in .45 Colt, a centerfire design containing charges of up to 40 grains (2.6 g) of fine-grained black powder and a 255-grain (16.5 g) blunt roundnosed bullet. Relative to period cartridges and most later handgun rounds, it was quite powerful in its full loading.

The Colt Single Action Army revolver, along with the 1870 and 1875 Smith & Wesson Model 3 "Schofield" revolver, replaced the Colt 1860 Army Percussion revolver. The Colt quickly gained favor over the S&W and remained the primary US military sidearm until 1892 when it was replaced by the .38 Long Colt caliber Colt Model 1892, a double-action revolver with swing-out cylinder. By the end of 1874, serial no. 16,000 was reached; 12,500 Colt Single Action Army revolvers chambered for the .45 Colt cartridge had entered service and the remaining revolvers were sold in the civilian market.

The Colt .45 is a famous piece of American history, known as "The Gun That Won the West". The Single Action army is a very popular firearm, even today, and it continues to be produced in various configurations.