Colt New Service questions

C

coltonwilky

Inactive
I am just looking on some information on a Colt New Service 45 LC. I just acquired this gun in a trade and after doing some research realized the serial number is 22. So I know it is a 1898 and was the 22nd one made. I talked to Colt and they confirmed this was legit and it is the oldest one they have heard of still being around. If anyone could let me know approximately how much it is worth I would really appreciate it. As far as the condition the gun is in it is almost excellent. It has never been re blued and the bluing is wearing off but no rust spots or damage at all. Im not so sure that the grips are original they are a wood color grips with a silver colt medallion on the top of both sides. There are no markings on the gun other than the patent dates on the barrel and the serial number on the frame in front of the cylinder. If anyone know anything about this gun please do let me know.
 
Wow, congrats on that great find. In my experience, a low s/n always adds money to the value of any firearm. How much extra is something that is decided by the buyer.
 
Yeah it's a really cool gun I'm def gonna keep it for a while I just hope someone out there knows some of the history on something like this and what it really might be worth.
 
Get a few pictures to those two chaps who host NRA's Guns and Gold show. They might be able to conjure up a guess as to what it's worth. But the only real way I know how to tell what kind of money a special gun will actually bring is to see where the hammer falls at an upscale, well-publicized gun auction. I was at one such auction in the late '80's that had a rare, cased Luftwaffe drilling as the star of the auction. We common folk figured 3500.00 or so would get it. That was our guess. 9500.00 is what it actually fetched.
 
Here are some pictures of it.
 

Attachments

  • 20130412_094652.jpg
    20130412_094652.jpg
    226.3 KB · Views: 98
  • 20130412_120906.jpg
    20130412_120906.jpg
    225.2 KB · Views: 90
  • 20130412_120937.jpg
    20130412_120937.jpg
    233.5 KB · Views: 84
Hate to be a naysayer, but neither the barrel nor grips look right to me.

Guns of that vintage had black, hard rubber grips. The barrel should be straight where it joins the frame, without that "bell" at that point. I can't tell from the photo but the area where the trigger guard meets the farme doesn't look right.

Bob Wright
 
I agree with Bob. The grips are of a later vintage; the ones of that time were hard rubber with the word "COLT" at the top. The barrel is of a later period as is the ejector rod head.

There should also be a rampant Colt on the side plate with the words "Colt's New Service" in a circle around it, but I can't tell from the pictures.

What are the markings on the top of the barrel? If it has the June 1900 patent date, the barrel can't be original to a gun made in 1898.

Jim
 
Looks re-blued to me.

... and definitely wrong grips and barrel for such an early serial number.

Still a pretty cool old Colt though.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top