- Object Name
- Maker
- Title
No. 1 Model Ring Lever Revolving Rifle
- Date
circa 1837-1838
- Materials
Steel body, octagonal barrel, front and rear sights, engraved decorations on cylinder, hardwood stock decorated with silver inlay
- Dimensions
50 in x 8 in x 1 3/4 in (127 cm x 20.3 cm x 4.5 cm)
- Credit Line
Museum purchase
- Object ID
87.118.129
-
- Institution
Autry Museum of the American West
-
- Category
Art and Artifacts
- Remarks
Rifle, Colt First Model Ring Lever Rifle, .38 caliber, percussion, serial number 164, made by Patent Arms Manufacturing Company in Paterson, New Jersey, circa 1837-1838. Cylinder roll-engraved with Centaur, Deer, and Hunter motif. The First Model Ring Lever Rifle was manufactured in limited production and extant models are considered rare.
The name Colt is commonly associated with revolving handguns, but the first firearm produced by the Patent Arms Manufacturing Company was actually a rifle. The No. 1 Model Ring Lever Revolving Rifle was manufactured from circa 1837 to 1838. The company produced only two hundred of these rifles, making it the rarest firearm made by the Patent Arms Manufacturing Company. Of the two hundred produced, fifty were sold to the United States War Department for use in Florida in the Second Seminole War. A close inspection of serial number 164 reveals that the rifle was virtually handmade. Since the parts were not interchangeable, almost every piece on the rifle is numbered.
- Subject
The Colt Revolver in the American West (Greg Martin Colt Gallery)
The Genius of Samuel Colt (Greg Martin Colt Gallery)
- Pictured
- Publication
Gunfighters the outlaws and their weapons / edited by Chris McNab. pages 406-407
Colt the revolver of the American West / Jeffrey Richardson. page 20
- Location
GP.Gallery Community