This is a beautiful example of an unaltered mid-WWI commercial production Colt New Service revolver chambered in 38-40 W.C.F. with the very desirable nickel plated finish with mother of pearl grips. The serial number of this pistol places the manufacture in 1917. This pistol is accompanied with an original Colt factory letter dated "July 2007" that confirms the exact configuration of this pistol. The letter also states that this revolver was shipped to H & D Folsom Arms Company, N.Y., N.Y. on March 6, 1917 as one of five. The top of the barrel has the Colt two line patent and address markings of "COLT'S PT. F.A. MFG. CO. HARTFORD CT. U.S.A., over PAT'D AUG.5.1884 JUNE 5.1900 JULT 4 1905----" and the left side of the barrel is marked "NEW SERVICE 38 W.C.F." The left side of the frame has the Rampant Colt marking and the Colt "VP" proofmarking located on the front end of the trigger guard bow with a single number "3" on the rear section of the trigger guard bow. There is also a single medium size letter "W" below and in front of the Rampant Colt. It has the fixed front sight and the rear sight is the notched section in the top strap. It is fitted with a set of mother of pearl grips that are smooth on the left side with a large long horn steer head carved on the right side and it is fitted with the lanyard loop on the bottom of the frame. It has the matching serial number on the inside of the frame and the cylinder crane while the cylinder itself is unnumbered. As noted, it has the all nickel plated finish with the Colt high polish blue finish on the trigger, ejector rod head and hammer, with the sides of the hammer being factory polished. As a side note, although the grips are noted as "Not Listed" on the factory letter, all of the special order grips that were sold by Colt during this time were contracted out to local grip makers with most of them never being accurately recorded by the factory. In assessing this set of grips, they appear to be correct for the period and are of the quality of those contracted for and were probably installed by H & D Folsom Arms. This practice began with their distribution of the Colt SAA revolvers.
Very fine overall, with 85% of the original nickel plated finish remaining overall with loss of the nickel plated finish on the rear grip strap, thinning on the polished front grip strap, loss of approximately 1/2 of the finish on the barrel, mostly on the right side and underneath, with the side plate also showing some minor loss, along with the edges and high spots. The grips are in excellent condition with no cracks or damage except for a very small old chip on the lower right front corner. The carving of the long horn steer head is near excellent with very nice sharp features. The blued parts retain 95% of the original Colt factory finish with only minor edge wear. Although it sounds like the pistol is missing a large percentage of the nickel finish, it is almost impossible to tell where the nickel stops and the bare steel remains, due to the age of the pistol and the overall honest wear of the surfaces. Any pre-mid WWI nickel plated pistol is very scarce and this one would be an excellent addition to any top level collection.
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