Going up soon 1897 Colt SAA Pic HEAVY input?

Locust Fork

I was hoping to get some input from Old Colts or you guys on this one. I have sent off for a factory letter and I won this auction so the cylinder pin will be replaced with one that is the right age.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=263336450

Tell me what you think....

tsr1965

LF,

It looks like a real beauty with a lot of character. Not the greatest condition, but not the worst either. How does the bore look? Could it have potntial as a shooter? It surely has potential to do a complete purdying up job, and Doug Turnbull is just around the corner from me.

Hmmmmmm.....I might have an idea[:D][:D][:D][:D]

Locust Fork

The bore is in good shape. This thing is sooooo smooth too!!!

v35

Looks crisp and unmonkeyed around with. Lettering is deep enough and machined corners and joints are nice and sharp so not much metal will need to be removed in the restoration.
I believe it was power cleaned in the past to remove a uniform fine rust from careless storage.
Very nice piece.
While the gun has the transverse cylinder catch, it is not the so called smokeless frame.Actually in mid 1883 frames formerly iron were made of steel. The Iron frames were stretching. Beginning at s/n 175000, Colt had precaution against smokeless powder. All shipped after 180,000 bear precaution against smokeless (1898).
In 1900 s/n 192,000 and thereafter Colt guaranteed against smokeless powder.
I believe the weak link is cylinder material and would change it for shooting.
Note the two notches in the grips.

CSI21

Very nice looking Colt, I agree that it appears to have been scrubbed to clean a light coat of rust, its very even with the finish.

perry shooter

Hello Nice old colt. With that said it is a great candidate for a shooter . this is not the so called BLACK POWDER frame , as it has the spring loaded type cylinder pin retainer. This equates to a smokeless frame and strong enough to shoot. Secondly the finis has character but the grip frame screws show this gun has been taken apart a number of times.The roll stamp of the first line of barrel address looks like it slipped in making . I would not restore this pistol but may refurbish the screws.IMHO once it is RESTORED it is just another SAFE Queen . I would much rather have a original gun I can shoot and enjoy

EDIT "Black - Powder Model are usually considered to be those with Diagonal-screw base pin retainer until about serial 165100 when Colt converted to the transverse-pin the transverse-pin base pin retainer ARE considered the "GRAY-Powder" or "Smokeless-Powder Model the head space was also changed for the Smokeless Powder models. The VP proof did not come about to 1902.

CSI21

I guess I should have said I would love to have this gun also. Make sure its mechanically safe and probably fixing up those buggered up screws would be all I would do to it also. I do have a love for nice wood stocks, so maybe some of those. Well heck, you already got the perfect gun, run with it.

givette

Well, at .01c start with no reserve, our input, although nice, is un-necessary.

Now, with that said, the wear is consistant for a 'gun in service' for 100+ years.

Your photos will say more than any text supplied.

One thing: the timing is off*. Notice where the cylinder bolt
snaps onto the cylinder prematurely? It's apparent in the
closeups of the cylinder. The cylinder bolt (in an unworn Colt)
should snap home when aligned with the lead notches of the cylinder.

What I'm talking about is the 'L' in the C-O-L-T cocking sequence.

It has little, or no effect on the cylinder locking in place...
just when the bolt snaps out of the frame do do the locking.
An annoyance, but no real biggie. It's a symptom of the action
being used over the years..no abuse.

Joe
EDIT
*The [item in blue, above] will have no effect on the functionality of the firearm.
It's an indicator that the mileage is high,
and the parts are at the limit of, but still within,
acceptable limits.