Make: Colt

Model: 1878 Double Action Frontier

Serial Number: 2983

Year of Manufacture: Shipped February 7, 1880

Caliber: .45 Colt

Action Type: Single or Double Action Revolver with Side Loading Gate Cylinder

Barrel Length: 4 3/4”

Sights / Optics: The rear sight is a “V” notch integral to the top strap. The front sight is a tapered blade fixed to the barrel.

Stock Configuration & Condition: The grips are two-piece smooth pearl panels. Each panel has a small loss at the bottom-front corner. The left panel has a grain-line crack at the front edge. There are some other tiny losses around the edges. There are a few nicks and minor scratches. There is some discoloration, but much of the pearl still shows significant pearlescence. Overall, the grips are in Very Good condition as Antique.

Type of Finish: No finish remains.

Finish Originality: The finish appears to have been intentionally removed.

Bore Condition: The bore is gray with well defined rifling. There is light erosion and pitting scattered through the bore. In this writer's opinion, the bore rates about 5 out of 10.

Overall Condition: This revolver retains about 0% of its metal finish. The finish appears to have been intentionally removed and surfaces media-blasted. There is evenly scattered surface erosion cleaned out by the media-blast. There are some nicks, but most go unnoticed in the engraving. The screw heads range from sharp to tool marked with strong slots. The markings range from clear to worn, but legible. Overall, this revolver is in about Good condition as Antique.

Mechanics: The action functions correctly. We have not fired this revolver. As with all used firearms, a thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance standards. Action cleaned and checked by Sal Lanara.

Box, Paperwork & Accessories: This revolver comes with a Colt Archives letter indicating that this revolver was produced as a .45 caliber with nickel finish, pearl grips and factory engraving, shipped February 7, 1880 to Simmons Hardware Company in St. Louis, Missouri as one of two guns of its type in the shipment. The letter has been hand-edited to indicate 4 3/4" barrel length, an image of an email with Colt Archives confirms that the records entry for this serial number indicates a 4 3/4" barrel.

Our Assessment: The Colt DA Frontier Revolver, Model of 1878 was made until 1905, when swing-out cylinder double-action revolvers started to push loading gate revolvers out of the market. About 51,210 of these revolvers were made, with about 41,000 produced prior to 1899. This model had the same sharp knuckle at the top of the backstrap used on the Model 1877 “Lightning” but has a flat loading gate instead of the SAA style rounded loading gate. Otherwise, it still loosely resembled the SAA revolver with a side loading gate cylinder, and remained in production after the Model 1889 was produced with its swing-out cylinder.

This is a very interesting example, shipped in 1880 and chambered for the classic .45 Colt cartridge. The included Colt Archives letter confirms its factory engraving and pearl grips, making for a very desirable revolver even with its original nickel finish removed. This will make a great display in a Colt revolver collection. Please see our photos and good luck!