Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Herb Houze
the cylinder for each shot.
34, 36, 38, 40, and 44 calibers. 8-shot cylinders standard (10-shot rare and worth premium). Barrel lengths standard at 32"; octagonal in shape, with or without attached loading levers.
Varnished walnut stocks, having cheek piece usually inlaid with the Colt four-horse-head trademark. Metal parts blued, with browned barrel.
First of Colt’s longarm production, the No. 1 or First Model rifle was marked in its own serial range, from 1 on up through about 200. Barrels were marked on the top: Colt’s Patent Patent Arms Man’g. Co., Paterson, N. Jersey. Serial numbers appear on various parts, most of them visible only when the rifle has been disassembled. The cylinder roll scene depicts horsemen and a centaur coursing a deer; the word COLT is also present.
Ironically Colt’s initial factory production of firearms was in rifles—the No. 1 Ring Lever—and not in handguns, which came a few months later. Thus, the First Model Rifle is of extreme importance to the advanced Colt collector. Limited in production to but 200, these arms are rare. The First Model is quickly differentiated from the Second Model by the presence of the topstrap extended over the cylinder of the former.
The two basic variations are:
Standard model, without attached loading lever, without capping channel in the recoil shield, and with square-backed cylinder configuration:
5B-009
| 5B-009 | Values—Good $18,500 | Fine $50,000 |
Improved model. Factory fitted loading lever attached and the addition of a spring held detent underneath trigger guard to permit the cylinder to be revolved while loading (instead of removing cylinder for loading), locking the ring lever to permit this. The addition of a capping groove on the recoil shield and the rounding of the back of the cylinder were also factory improvements and came before the permanent loading lever. Thus these improvements were performed while the rifles were still in inventory and serial numbers are not an accurate guide as these improvements are found as low as serial number 16:
| 5B-010 | Values—Good $19,000 | Fine $55,000 |
Colt Second Model Ring Lever Rifle
Second Model Ring Lever Rifle. Manufactured c. 1838-41; the total produced approximately 500. The ring device served to cock the hammer and revolve the cylinder for each shot.
44 caliber. 8-shot cylinder standard (10-shot rare and worth premium). Standard barrel lengths of 28" and 32"; octagonal in shape, with or without attached loading levers.
Varnished walnut stocks, with cheekpiece (but not inlaid with the Colt trademark as standard in the First Model Rifle). Metal parts blued, with browned barrel.
Second Model Rifles were serial numbered in their own range, from 1 on up through about 500. Barrels were marked: Patent Arms M’g. Co. Paterson, N·J.-Colt’s Pt. Serial numbers on various parts, usually visible only when the rifle has been disassembled. The cylinder roll scene is of horsemen and a centaur coursing a deer; the word COLT is present, as is a small house (the latter not present on the First Model cylinder roll).
Though not as rare as the First Model Ring Lever Rifle, the Second Model is still a difficult arm to locate, and as with its predecessor, is seldom found in good condition. The quick means of telling one model from the other is the lack of a topstrap extension over the cylinder on the Second Model.
There are two basic variations:
Standard model, without attached loading lever, with capping channel in the recoil shield, and having the squareback or rounded type cylinder:
5B-011
| 5B-011 | Values—Good $12,500 | Fine $35,000 |
Improved model with attached loading lever, capping channel in recoil shield, rounded shoulders of cylinder and other features as mentioned in the “Improved Model” of 1st Model Ring Lever rifle:
| 5B-012 | Values—Good $14,000 | Fine $37,500 |
Colt Model 1839 Carbine
Model 1839 Carbine. Made c. 1838-41; total quantity approximately 950. Features an exposed hammer, and does not have a ring lever cocking device.
525 smoothbore caliber. 6-shot cylinder. Standard barrel length of 24", but other lengths (notably 28" and 32") also known; round shape excepting bevels present at the breech; with or without attached loading levers.
Varnished walnut stocks. Metal parts blued, the barrel browned.
Manufactured in its own serial number range, beginning with 1 and continuing through about 950. Barrels were marked: Patent Arms M’g. Co.Paterson, N·J.-Colt’s Pt. Serial numbers on various parts, generally visible only when the gun has been disassembled. The cylinder roll scene is one of the most elaborate in the Paterson production, featuring scrolls, Colt markings, and panels of a naval battle, land battle, and a hunter and trophy lion.
The Model 1839 Carbine proved to be the most practical and popular of all Colt arms from the Paterson period. It was so highly regarded by Samuel Colt that he seriously considered reintroduction of the model when developing his revived business in Hartford. A quick identification of the model is the cylinder length of 2-1/2" and the exposed hammer.
Basic variations are:
Standard model, with attached loading lever on the barrel lug and round backed cylinder:
5B-013
| 5B-013 | Values—Good $12,500 | Fine $27,500 |
Earliest production (rare) without attached loading lever, square-backed cylinder, and a capping groove cut near the top of the right recoil shield:
| 5B-014 | Values—Good $15,000 | Fine $40,000 |
Standard First/early type without attached loading lever and round backed cylinder. Every indication is that this is the model purchased by the “Republic Texas, 1839”:
5B-014.5
| 5B-014.5 | Values—Good $14,000 |
Fine $32,500 |