Guns International #: 102726908
Seller's Inventory #: 240009

Category - Colt Revolvers - Antique - Antique Revolvers - Cartridge

Category
Colt Revolvers - Antique
Antique Revolvers - Cartridge

RARE Antique COLT M1860 ARMY “12-Stop” RICHARDS Conversion .44 CF Revolver VERY SMALL NUMBER MADE with “12-Stop” CYLINDER

Description:
RARE Antique COLT M1860 ARMY “12-Stop” RICHARDS Conversion .44 CF Revolver

VERY SMALL NUMBER MADE with “12-Stop” CYLINDER

Here we present an antique Period Engraved Colt Model 1860 Army Richards Conversion Revolver, manufactured in 1864 and converted sometime between 1873-78. Of the 9000 that were converted, only a very small number of the early production revolvers utilized the 12-Stop cylinders. Charles B. Richards was an engineer who worked for the Colt’s Patent Fire Arms Company and was awarded a patent for converting Colt percussion models to breech loading cartridge revolvers. After the onset of the American Civil War, Richards eventually became Superintendent of Engineering at the Colt factory in Hartford, Connecticut.

Richards' first major post-Civil War design was Colt's second attempt at metallic cartridge conversion known as the "Richards Conversion". Colt's revolvers to this point had been black powder percussion pistols. However, the U.S. Army wanted a revolver that held metallic cartridges, which Colt could not produce because the Rollin White patent was still held by rival Smith & Wesson. Colt's only solution would be to bore through the rear of their cylinders and devise a new method of ignition and case extraction.

The Richards Conversion was performed on this Colt 1860 Army revolver. The caliber was .44 Colt Centerfire. This conversion added a breechplate with a firing pin and a rear sight mounted on the breechplate. Colt manufactured 9,000 of these revolvers between 1873 and 1878. In 1873 Colt performed the same conversion on the Model 1851 and Model 1861 revolvers for the U.S. Navy in .38 rimfire. The Richards conversion was an instant success, all being done concurrently with the iconic Colt Single Action Army, which Richards was responsible for the development of!
The 1860 Army was the single most used pistol of the American Civil War. Over 200,000 were made from 1860 to 1873, and 156,000 of those were made by the end of the war in 1865.

The overall condition is good. Gray patina. The action is excellent. The bore is very good with strong rifling. The grip shows use and there is a small chip where the frame meets the left bottom corner. Numbers match except for the cylinder.

Own the original! This is a legitimate antique and not a reproduction.

Barrel is 8 inches.

Caliber: .44 Centerfire

Overall condition as seen in photos.

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Guaranteed AUTHENTIC & Includes CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY.

ancestryguns

$4000

#240009
 

SOLD

Antique: Yes