Colt Sheriff's Model Bisley SAA

Offered here is a rarity in Colt collecting: a factory documented Sheriff’s Model Bisley revolver with an ejectorless 4 inch barrel. The ejectorless Colt "Sheriff's Model" Single Action Army Revolver is one of the rarest and most sought after variations of the legendary Peacemaker. In "The Official Record of the Colt Single Action Army Revolver, 1873-1895" the authors stressed the rarity of the ejectorless SAAs as a whole (barrel lengths ranged from 2 1/2 to 7 1/2 inches in the study) and state that "just under 600 ejectorless Single Action Army revolvers were produced in all calibers from 1882 to the 1930s." A Sheriff’s Model Bisley is especially rare. As noted in the 30th Anniversary Edition of "A Study of the Colt Single Action Army Revolver," "Still rarer than factory engraved Bisleys are the smoothbores and Sheriff's Models... As of this updated revision, there are now nine known original, ejectorless, short barreled Bisley Model revolvers" (page 142). When the aforementioned publication was first published in 1976 the authors had yet to encounter an original Sheriff’s Model Bisley: "We will now review one of the rarest classifications of the ejectorless single actions, the short barreled Bisley Model…The opportunity to examine an original ejectorless Bisley Model has never been afforded" (page 76). In “The Book of Colt Firearms,” Colt historian and author R.L. Wilson asserted, “Less than a dozen Sheriff’s Models were made” (page 265). Total production of the Bisley Model stood at around 44,350 with about 8,500 chambered in .45 LC. This is an extremely rare Bisley variation, indeed! Based on Colt factory serial number ranges this Colt rarity was manufactured in 1904. The accompanying factory letter states the revolver was sold to Zimmer Hardware & Implement Co. of Pecos City, Texas, and shipped on October 3, 1911 to Wyeth Hardware & Mfg. Co. of St. Joseph, Missouri, with a 4 inch barrel in 45 caliber, blue finish and type of stocks not listed. This was a two gun shipment. In “The Book of Colt Firearms,” Sheriff’s Model Bisley no. 259336, which is only 63 numbers later than this example, is pictured and cited as having an October 1911 shipping date (page 266). Henry C. Zimmer was the owner of the largest hardware and farm machinery business in Pecos. The success of his business was entirely of his own making as he arrived in Pecos around 1886 with nearly nothing. His parents had arrived in the United States from Germany and he was born in Saint Francis County, Missouri, in 1864, the youngest of nine children. Two of his brothers died for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Zimmer was a member of the Republican Party, served three terms as county commissioner, one term as justice of the peace, and five years as the mayor of Pecos. He worked in the blacksmithing trade before opening his hardware store in 1909. In 1924, he opened a car dealership selling Chevrolets and Buicks. The prosperous Wyeth Hardware & Mfg. Co. provided its customers with the best in sporting goods and automobile supplies and even manufactured a line of saddlery goods. Several decades later the revolver found a home in the famed Dr. Robert G. Cox collection. A prominent Colt collector and Texan, Cox (1922-1988) amassed a far-reaching collection of Colt New Lines. His extensive knowledge on New Lines assisted Robert Q. Sutherland and R.L. Wilson in writing the chapter Colt New Line and House Pistols to their seminal work “The Book of Colt Firearms.” According to accompanying letters, Cox purchased the revolver from Ernest Head of St. Angelo, Texas, in 1975. In one of the letters Head stated the revolver had been in the family since 1913 when his father, who worked for the Robertson Paint Co. in St. Angelo, purchased it from a painter. This Colt did in fact make its way to Texas. Few firearms are more deeply associated with the American West than the Colt Single Action Army and perhaps no other state personifies the image of the Wild West more than Texas. In 1975, Cox paid $500.00 for the Colt. Consignor research is included. The revolver has the distinctive Bisley Model features which include higher frame, humpback grip and back strap, curved hammer with wide knurled spur, wide trigger and two-piece black hard rubber checkered humpback grips. The barrel, cylinder, trigger guard and back strap are blued and the frame, loading gate and hammer are color casehardened. The Rampant Colt medallion is embossed in an oval at the top of the grips. The ejectorless 4 inch barrel has the two-line Hartford address marked on top and “(BISLEY MODEL) 45 COLT” marked on the left side. The left side of the frame has the two-line patent dates marking followed by an encircled Rampant Colt. Matching serial numbers are located on the frame, trigger guard, and back strap, and the matching partial serial number “73” appears on the back of both grip panels. The loading gate has the assembly number “7012.”

Condition: Very fine. The barrel retains 60% original blue finish, the cylinder retains 70% original blue finish and the grip straps retain 60% original blue finish with thinning to brown on the balance along with holster wear. The frame and hammer retain 50% original case colors. The grips are also very fine with a couple patches of wear in the checkering. Mechanically excellent. Here is your chance to acquire a rare crown jewel of Colt SAA collecting with strong pedigree! Even the finest and most advanced Colt collections are missing a Sheriff’s Model Bisley!