Original U.S. Colt Brass Frame "Cloverleaf" House Model .41 Rimfire Revolver made in 1871 - Matching Serial 726

Original Item: Only One Available. Here is something that we have only had once previously! This is a very nice brass-frame Colt "House Pistol" model revolver in .41 Rimfire, with a 4 round round cylinder and 3 inch barrel. While the revolver was available in 4 or 5 round variations, it was the 4 round deeply fluted cylinder that gave it the "Cloverleaf" nickname. The 5 round cylinder was straight without any flutes.

The revolver is stamped with serial number 726 on the bottom of the grip, the bottom of the barrel, the front of the cylinder, and written in pencil on the inside of the left grip scale. That makes this a great "ALL MATCHING" example, with no parts swapped out over the years! Colt records indicate this revolver was produced in 1871, the first year of production. The revolver still retains most of the original nickel plating on the brass frame, with areas of wear through on the sharp edges and on the sides of the action behind the trigger. The steel barrel and cylinder show less of the plating, which commonly wears away due to oxidation. 

The Barrel address marking is present and fully legible between the cross pattée dingbats:

COLT'S HOUSE PISTOL
HARTFORD. CT. U.S.A.

The revolver cycles well with a strong dry fire and good indexing, with a functional loading position. As with all revolvers of this age it can be finicky at times, so we recommend cycling it gently. The ejector rod is still present and functional. The bore shows clear rifling, with a partly bright finish, speckled over all with patches of oxidation and fouling. The walnut grips do show a bit of wear, but no repairs or major damage, and have a lovely color and grain.

A very nice example of a hard to find pistol. Ready to display!

Specifications:

Year of Manufacture: 1871
Caliber: .41cal
Ammunition Type: Rimfire Cartridge
Barrel Length: 3 inches
Overall Length: 6 3/4 inches
Action: Single
Feed System: 4 Shot Revolver

The Colt House Revolver (also called, in its alternate 4-round capacity model, the Cloverleaf) was one of the first metallic cartridge rear-loading revolvers to be produced by the Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company, back in 1871. The same year, Colt's also patented the Colt Open Top, another metallic cartridge rear-loader, but in fact the Open Top production didn't start until 1872, although a pocket version of the Open Top, a completely different design, went on sales as of 1871, the Colt Open Top Pocket Model Revolver.

The Colt House Revolver was manufactured from 1871 to 1876 in two different models: the Colt House Model itself and the Colt Cloverleaf Model, the latter being the most produced of both. The House Model is also known among collectors as the Jim Fisk model or the Jim Fisk pistol, since it attained the infamy of being the gun used in the murder of James Fisk in January 1872.

Both models, House and Cloverleaf, were built around a solid hidden spur-trigger frame, a weapon architecture also used by another Colt gun, the Colt Sidehammer (1855). The Sidehammer had a flat-ended grip, while the House and Cloverleaf models had all of them a recognizable "bird's-head" grip. These features (spur trigger, "birds-head" grips, etc.) were common on many small pistols and revolvers during that era, such as the classic 2-shot "derringer" pistol. Finally, both models, House and Cloverleaf, were chambered with .41 caliber rimfire cartridges, available in both long and short sizes.

The main differences between the two models were the following:

Cylinder

● The House Model, also called the Jim Fisk Model, had a five rounds straight non-fluted cylinder.
● The Cloverleaf Model had a four rounds fluted cylinder. When viewed from front or rear the cylinder seemed to resemble a four-leaf clover, hence the moniker.

Barrel

● The House Model was less produced of the two and had no variant development. It was produced in a single item product with a 2-5/8" barrel.
● The Cloverleaf Model was more produced by far, and had two different variants, depending on the barrel length: 1-1/2" and 3". The 1-1/2" barrel length variant had an ejector rod contained within the center pin of the cylinder, allowing to reload while keeping the cylinder in the gun. The 3" barrel length variant of the Cloverleaf had the ejector in the same axis of the cylinder center pin and, thus, the cylinder needed to be removed from the frame when loading.

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