Brass grip-frame Colt SAA

[Silver Creek Slim]

Were there any brass grip-frame Colt SAA's pre-1900 like the bottom one in this pic?

Slim

[St. George]

No.

See "The Book of Colt Firearms" by Sutherland - and "A Study of the Colt Single Action Army" - by Graham, Kopec and Moore - as well as Wilkerson's various books.
These are the premier publications dealing with "real" Colts.

This can devolve into one of those "woulda if they coulda" arguments that go nowhere and delight the Devil's Advocates - but the truth of the matter is that steel frames were common by late Civil War - and were judged to be stronger than brass.

Men of that time wanted strong, reliable revolvers - not something pretty for their SASS matches...

Scouts Out!

[Silver Creek Slim]

Thanks for the quick and knowledgable response, St. George.

Slim

[Advertising]

[Steel Horse Bailey]

I have heard that a handful were made on a strictly custom basis, but that's not said by knowledge, only speculation.

[St. George]

For the hell of it - I re-checked Colt reference books by:
Wilson
Sutherland
Graham, Kopec and Moore
Wilkerson
Rywell

Plus - some material from both "The Gun Report" and "Arms Gazette" dealing with Colts and provenance and rarities.

Nothing whatsoever indictates that Colt ever put brass triggerguards and backstraps on any of their Model P revolvers.
Had that been done - they'd've qualified as rarities.
Locating one would have made the two major collector's magazines immediately - as all of the big-money boys wanted their guns to be featured and their prices to rise.

"Custom" work - during the time frame - generally involved engraving and plating - and not the substitution of an inferior metal component.

Scouts Out!

[Curley Cole]

In an issue of guns of the old west, the writer stated that Bass Outlaw had a cutdown 44/40 that had a brass backstrap/triggerguard. The article continued to have the writer build one from an EMF Hartford and the brass from a c/b.

I spent 22 years trying to get rid of the brass on my old EMF Dakota, so if now you find a real one with it on it , well, just think i would cry. (except that my Dakota looks so good now.)
curey

[St. George]

What one man does to a revolver doesn't make it a Colt factory product - a shame, in some cases - but for the best in others.

As an example - Elmer Keith ruined numerous Model P's by adding various backstraps and triggerguards from M1860's and Dragoons and Bisleys - but that didn't make them a factory product - custom or otherwise.
Keith turned 'em out, shot 'em - destroyed more than a few - and if he liked them - usually had them engraved and plated.
All this eventually led to the Ruger Bisley - a revolver that was the culmination of a Keith project and not anything that Colt began.

As to Bass Outlaw - this from "Firearms of the American West 1866 - 1894" - by Garavaglia and Worman - page 290.

"Colt Single Action .44-40 (frame #42870) modified for fast close range shooting by fanning the hammer.  The original backstrap and triggerguard were replaced with those from a Colt M1872 .44 "Open top" and the cylinder is held in place by a special base pin secured with a thumb screw.  The trigger has been removed and the trigger slot welded closed, with most of the guard discarded.  The barrel has been cut to only three inches.  The weapon was given in lieu of cash to the undertaker who buried ex-Texas Ranger Bass outlaw, who was shot to death in El Paso by Constable John Selman in 1894.(Courtesy El Paso Historical Society via Robert E. McNellis, Jr.)"

A gun actually associated with Outlaw's ownership was a Merwin, Hulbert .44 Pocket Army, taken from him when he flourished it "in a manner calculated to disturb the inhabitants of said public place" in an El Paso, Texas, Saloon on October 15, 1892.
That's on page 328 of the same publication.

I didn't read the article in "Guns of the Old West" as I've found little historical accuracy and more B-Movie writing than needed, but if you read the above and if you can view the picture of the revolver - the work is typical of a blacksmith/gunsmith cobbled-up gun, and nowhere is it attributed to actually "belonging" to Bass Outlaw - but rather to John Selman - who used it in place of cash for a burial - indicating that Selman didn't place that much value on it.

Was it his?
Hard to say - given the fact that Bass Outlaw was pretty well-known and his personal guns would fetch more money if sold by Selman - as were many famous guns by lawmen to supplement meager pay..
Even more were sold by telling someone they belonged to famous folks - Frank James' selling Jesse's guns comes to mind - he kept them out in a barrel - out by an outbuilding - and sold them to the curious.

Scouts Out!

[LazyK Pejay]

I take it that colt dropped the brass grip-frame after the Civil War. I ask this because Army & Navy Colts had the brass grip frame in some. I have seen in museums from the war.

LazyK Pejay

[St. George]

During the Civil War - Colt was already using Iron backstraps - especially on the Model 1860 Army.

They were using Brass triggerguards in combination.

Earlier examples were sometimes Silver-plated - very common to the Model 1849 and Model 1851 - not so with others.
You'll see the vestiges of that plating in the 'protected' places - but sometimes, over-zealous cleaning eliminated it, as it was never all that thickly applied.

The 'Colt' references I've cited can sometimes be located in your Library's 'Reference Section'.

Usually - if they're in there - your reading's confined to staying put and reading at one of the tables.
They're 'highly-pilferable', and most Libraries have already learned 'that' lesson.

Scouts Out!