Colt Baby Dragoon V American Express???

[blkc6]

Needing some info.  What I have here is what I believe to be a legit Colt Baby Dragoon Type V.....but the interesting part is the box.  The owner claims to have purchased the weapon in the early 70s.  He says it is an "American Express" Colt.  I know Colt made some guns for Wells Fargo and could see this being legit, but can find no info of any kind of American Express ever using a Colt Baby Dragoon.  The box is period correct and does have the American Express logo.  So, anyone here that has knowledge of this or that can point me in the right direction for some info please let me know.  I have not purchased yet so if you have reason to think its fake you wont hurt my feelings and I would love to know.

 

 

 

 

 

[blkc6]

Just realized the box pic didn't come through so clean so it says "American Express......Safety Dispatch.....Indian Territory"

[cj0e]

Preface: I'm not a black powder master, or the most knowledgeable, but I did some research of my own after buying a repro 1860 Army a few years back.

 

To my knowledge, Colt made very few brass framed revolvers, mostly for the confederacy during the civil war, and were pretty much all 1851 Navy's in 36 cal.

 

That appears to be a brass framed 1849 Colt Pocket revolver copy, likely Italian made. Aside from being the wrong material (AFAIK- all 1848 baby dragoons and 1849 pocket revolvers have case hardened steel receivers!), having "COLTS PATENT" inscribed on the frame would indicate that it was manufactured under a license to use colt's patent/design.

 

If you want an interesting box and neat looking revolver, might be worth buying if it's on the cheap (sub $100), no rust, and timing is still good.

 

I wouldn't spend much though, and I also wouldn't shoot it much, and only very light loads or blank charges when I did.

[gun sane]

American Express was founded in 1850 and predates Wells, Fargo & Company, which began two years later.  Both companies were started by the same people so it's conceivable that Colt would make a special edition Baby Dragoon for AE if you know they did it for WF.   One of the AE logos matches the medallion on the box, but I don't know what year it was designed.  The most common one had a stagecoach motif.  As you know there's a lot of fakery and repros in these kinds of products so make sure you're dealing with someone on the up and up.

Edited September 2, 2013 by gun sane

[Garufa]

I know very little about these things but am fairly certain it is not an original "Colt".  As mentioned the brass frame is not right and what gives it away for me is the use of a san-serif font for the markings.   I don't think orginals ever used that style of type.

[cj0e]

Did a little more digging, your serials are off.

 

Ye old blue book reports Colt Baby Dragoon Type V production ended ~15,500. Your serial looks like 18,XXX; Also, frame serial doesn't match parts, 12,700.

 

Good eye on the font, Garufa!

[blkc6]

Thanks guys, was skeptical of it but really don't know much of anything about these. 

[Dolomite_supafly]

Did a little more digging, your serials are off.

 

Ye old blue book reports Colt Baby Dragoon Type V production ended ~15,500. Your serial looks like 18,XXX; Also, frame serial doesn't match parts, 12,700.

 

Good eye on the font, Garufa!

 

The serial number on the frame is the same as the rest. Just might be how you, or I, are seeing it but it sure looks like 12,700.

[cj0e]

The serial number on the frame is the same as the rest. Just might be how you, or I, are seeing it but it sure looks like 12,700.

 

Could be. Pic is too blurry for me to tell from here though!