How to date a colt black powder pistol

H

hounddogman

New member
Top of the barrel is stamped ADDRESS COL SAM COLT NEW YORK U.S. AMERICA. In front of the trigger guard the brass is stamped 155061, the bottom of barrel is stamped 201662. Any help would be appreciated
 
Best way to date one is call up when you know it is home alone and try chatting it up, then ask it if it wants to go out and play.

Gotta know at least what we are trying to help you with. Pictures help.
 
you guys are clever, no pics, no camera. I think it is a 32 cal. navy I thought someone may know how to date by the way the gun is numbered
 
OK--I'll take a swing at it.

If it's a 5 shot 31 caliber, it's likely a 1849 Pocket model.

36 cal and 6 shot? 1851 Navy is the likely candidate.

What is the serial number on the frame? It's probably on the
bottom, between the brass trigger guard and the barrel numbers.
The frame number will determine year of manufacture.

Assuming it's an original, those are the only two small caliber
models I see that had serial numbers of 200,000+
 
From your description I'm thinking it's an 1849 pocket pistol (.31 cal) with mixed parts. How many chambers? Barrel length?

From colt.com...

155061:
1865 1860 ARMY (.44 CALIBER)
1863 1851 NAVY (.36 CALIBER)
1859 1849 POCKET (.36 CALIBER)

201662:
1867 1851 NAVY (.36 CALIBER)
1862 1849 POCKET (.36 CALIBER)

I don't have my TBCF with me to pin it down better based on the barrel address. I think all '51 Navies have a 7.5" barrel IIRC. And the caliber should be .31 cal no matter what is stated at colt.com.
 
Hounddogman while some of the people are joking a bit it is hard to ID with just a number. Go to the colt site and look up the number 155061 and you get 13 different guns made from 1859 through 1960, several of them are black powder guns. The number 201662 returns 13 different with a date spread of 1862-1968 also with more than one being black powder. Different models can and do have the same serial numbers.
 
The cylinder holds 6 rounds and has a 7 inch barrel, I thought maybe the serial numbers might mean something. From random pics on the web it looks like a 1851 navy. I'll check out colts website, thanks
 
The serial numbers DO mean something, now that we have an idea what you are starting with.
The official legal serial number is the one on the frame, usually just ahead of the trigger guard number. Different numbers on trigger guard and barrel indicate "field repair" or just assembly of a gun out of mixed parts.
 
The caliber should be stamped on the left side of the trigger guard, at the rear.

As Jim Watson says, mismatched numbers indicate a parts gun. The value will be less than a matched gun; how much depends in part on how many parts don't match.

Jim
 
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