Mystery Colt

[Leadeye]

This 1862 Colt Police has always puzzled me, not a mark on it which made me think it was a defarb until I got it home and disassembled it. It has all flat head screws except the charging handle. The rifeling in the barrel is old style, not repro so at least that much of the gun is old but there is no address. Under the best magnifiers I've got I can't pick up a trace of a mark in either Colt or Italian positions.

 

[pmbiker]

1862 Colt police info.

The above link is from a older auction/sale. A little further down in the paragraphs in stating the condition they tell where the markings should be.

Not sure if you were looking for assistance but I love a good mystery.

 

[Jaybird1980]

This 1862 Colt Police has always puzzled me, not a mark on it which made me think it was a defarb until I got it home and disassembled it. It has all flat head screws except the charging handle. The rifeling in the barrel is old style, not repro so at least that much of the gun is old but there is no address. Under the best magnifiers I've got I can't pick up a trace of a mark in either Colt or Italian positions.

View attachment 220572

That is a mystery.

No markings on the brass either? Is it 36 cal.

 

[Walking Bear]

If guns could only talk

 

[Leadeye]

1872 Colt police info.

The above link is from a older auction/sale. A little further down in the paragraphs in stating the condition they tell where the markings should be.

Not sure if you were looking for assistance but I love a good mystery.

Always looking for opinions, it never hurts to ask.

 

[Leadeye]

That is a mystery.

No markings on the brass either? Is it 36 cal.

It's 36 caliber and no marking at all, almost as if nothing was applied. I bought it as a defarb, but the longer I've messed with it, the less I think it's a repro. I've worked with a lot of old revolvers and repros, people good at defarbing can make a new gun look old, but there's usually something that gives it away. Replacing the round head screws with flat head ones was a mystery and they are replacements, cut to length on the right side, but solid fitting on the right as you can see from the picture.

 

[Jaybird1980]

It's 36 caliber and no marking at all, almost as if nothing was applied. I bought it as a defarb, but the longer I've messed with it, the less I think it's a repro. I've worked with a lot of old revolvers and repros, people good at defarbing can make a new gun look old, but there's usually something that gives it away. Replacing the round head screws with flat head ones was a mystery and they are replacements, cut to length on the right side, but solid fitting on the right as you can see from the picture.

It's strange, especially the old barrel not having any address. Maybe a mix? What does it look like in the hidden parts when it's taken apart?

 

[BigRed]

Must be one of the ghost guns I keep hearing about

 

[Timjoebillybob]

Prototype maybe?

 

[Leadeye]

It's strange, especially the old barrel not having any address. Maybe a mix? What does it look like in the hidden parts when it's taken apart?

Everything inside looked old, including the dirt and old gunk. I figured it wasn't a defarb when I took it apart. The gun works very well though.

 

[Leadeye]

My best guess was a gunsmith rebuild long ago where they removed the serial numbers and replaced the screws. Somebody did a good job on the screws, they fit flush with the frame. The only cap and ball guns I've ever seen with flush fit flat screws are Bacons.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Everything inside looked old, including the dirt and old gunk. I figured it wasn't a defarb when I took it apart. The gun works very well though.

The thing that stands out to me is the grip frame. The section by the hammer doesn't look curved right and the back of the trigger guard doesn't have a bevel. It could be just the picture angle though.

 

[Leadeye]

You are right about the bevel on trigger guard, I've got another 1862 in pieces and compared them. The backstrap part looks the same though.

 

[Slow Hand]

Southern made copy, maybe?

 

[BigRed]

I would love to be a student of Leadeye.

 

[TJ Kackowski]

I would love to be a student of Leadeye.

Perhaps if you stop tilting at the Moderator windmill, he'd accept you as his padawan?

 

[Dog1]

The brass grip frame could have been a local gunsmith replacement part. Possibly the original one cracked or broke somehow and they cast a new one out of a mold that wasn't quite like the original.

Or as somebody else posted it could be a southern copy. There were a lot of places in the south making guns for the Confederacy, big and small, and not all of them had the time or the wear for all to serial number or put markings on weapons

 

[warren5421]

More likely it is a Colt "Brevete" copy made in Europe