For want of a cavalry Colt: one man's quest for a dream-gun

American Handgunner, Jan-Feb, 2006 by Mike Venturino

For some unfathomable reason I've always had a deep interest in the history of the United States horse soldier, especially from the Indian Wars era of 1866 to 1890. In 1968 there were a few weeks between the end of my summer job and the beginning of my second year in college. While most of my contemporaries headed for places like Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach, or points in Florida, I drove from West Virginia to Montana for the sole purpose of seeing what was then called the Custer Battlefield. Now politically correctly called Little Bighorn Battlefield.

While there I walked the ground above the Little Bighorn River to gain a sense of the fight, but when visiting the museum there happened a defining moment in my shooting life. On display were samples of the weapons used by both Indian warrior and cavalryman. Among the 7th cavalry's items was what we call today a Colt Single Action Army .45 caliber revolver with 7 1/2"-barrel, one-piece walnut grips, and the (misnamed) black-powder frame. That particular display revolver was by no means in new condition. Instead it was covered with a dark brown patina as would befit a handgun nearly a century old that had been carried much in the outdoors. And I wanted one.

Duke's Itch

That wasn't an easy itch to scratch. Colt introduced the Single Action Army and its .45 Colt cartridge in 1873 and the U.S. Army accepted it that same year for cavalry service. In fact, the 7th Cavalry's 1874 summer expedition to explore the Black Hills area was delayed until the regiment's new Colt revolvers arrived via railroad from the east. From 1873 until 1892 the Colt SAA .45 was standard issue for U.S. Army horse soldiers, and it actually remained in their hands for some time after the official adoption of a Colt double-action .38 revolver in the early 1890s. Many were returned to service for duty during the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection.

The standard Cavalry Colt SAAs were all of a theme. They were issued with 7 1/2"-barrels, one-piece walnut stocks, and color case hardened frame and hammer with the rest of the metal parts blued. Some finish variations are known to exist but in numbers so small as to be curiosities. It was a simple and rugged handgun as necessary for one intended for horseback carry. During that almost 20-year period when the U.S. Army was buying Colt .45 revolvers, the total numbers purchased were not large. According to A Study of the Colts Single Action Army Revolver by Graham, Kopec, & Moore the government bought only about 37,000 Colt .45s.

What makes original cavalry Colts even more scarce is the fact between 1895 and 1903 the Army rebuilt and altered MOST of the Colt .45s they had in storage. Their barrels were cut to 5 1/2" and they were stripped down with the parts refinished or replaced as need be. Most were then reassembled from the refurbished parts with no attention to matching serial numbers. Today collectors commonly call these shortened cavalry Colts "Artillery Models," but it should be stressed they were not issued only to artillery units after alteration.

The Quest

According to the book mentioned above, most of the Colt .45s that actually saw service with the horse cavalry were among those altered. Many that escaped alteration had been lost or stolen during service. For instance, in the debacle along the Little Bighorn River in 1876, the 7th Cavalry lost well over 200 SAAs to the Sioux and Cheyenne victors. Also quite often deserters took their revolvers with them. And too, it's well documented that some troopers (making $13 a month) sold their new pattern sidearm to civilians at scalper prices of up to $50 and then gladly paid the Army the $13 or so they were docked for "losing" them.

Back to my quest for a U.S. Colt SAA. So impressed was I with Montana on that 1968 trip I returned every summer break to work there, and then became a permanent resident after graduation in 1972. During those youthful years a genuine Cavalry Colt was far out of my budget. So I determined to build a facsimile. In the spring of 1975 when visiting family back east I wandered into a gun store in Prestonsburg, Kentucky. That store had a rather ratty looking Colt SAA .38-40, but what attracted me to it was the fact that it had the black-powder frame, and the triggerguard was marked with a tiny ".44 CF". That latter point told me that the gun wasn't original, so I would do it no great harm by building it into my long desired Cavalry Colt.

Back in Montana I ordered a 7 1/2" .45 Colt barrel and cylinder from Christy Gun Works of California, and then had a gunsmith install them in the old SAA frame. An atrocious-looking set of one-piece walnut grips were cobbled together for it, and I joyfully set about shooting my cavalry Colt--with light .45 Colt loads in deference to its old frame. My initial impression was, "Boy, this long barrel must make those loads shoot harder. This gun kicks !"

Regardless, it was accurate and I fired several hundred rounds through it. Then one day I decided to slug the barrel. The resulting slug measured .429"! I slugged it again with the same results. Christy Gun Works had sent me a .45 Colt cylinder but a .44 caliber barrel. To say I