$2,489
California Gold Rush Relic Colt U. S. Walker Replacement (Pre-First Model Dragoon), .44 caliber, six-shot percussion pistol manufactured by Colt in 1848, matching serial numbers 2375 appear on the butt strap, front of trigger guard, and on the iron frame ahead of the trigger guard, the cylinder is numbered 2722, stamped inspector marks 'P' are found on the left side of the frame above the wedge screw and on the left side of the loading level, verifying that the weapon was originally issued for U.S. military use. Provenance: This gun was deaccessioned from the collection of the California Historical Society, San Francisco, more than 20 years ago. It sold in Butterfield & Butterfield's November 1988 auction of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer Memorabilia and Western Artifacts as lot 7457, where it was misidentified as a Colt .44 cal First Model Dragoon frozen in a relic condition. The purchaser discovered the serial numbers obscured by light corrosion and determined that the gun was actually a Walker Replacement or 'Fluck' Pre-First Model Dragoon dating to the gold rush period. According to a Flayderman (9th ed., 2007, p. 85), only 300 of these guns (serial numbers 2216-2515) were made to replace Colt Walkers that had failed in U.S. service, making them one of the ultra-desirable variations in Colt's Dragoon series and among the first of Colt's revolvers produced at Hartford for U.S. military use.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2011-01-15
