Hello madcratebuilder,
Welcome to the forum Chain-fire. I have to disagree with you on the electroless nickel finish. I have a NIB, electroless nickel 1860 Colt, it is as shiny as polished silver. I've also used a Caswell electroless nickel kit to plate small items and the finish is very shiny if your prep work is right.
Congratulations on owning an electroless nickel Colt 1860 Army. It is a rare bird indeed. Regarding your response to my post, actually we could both be correct. Colt produced a handful of second generation 1860 Army revolvers in three nickel variations. Over the years, I have observed several of these revolvers in each variation. They were all produced by the Colt Custom Gun Shop and all were within a very narrow serial number range from 202000 to 202200.
First is the electroless nickel variation I mentioned earlier. This particular variation was fully plated using the electroless nickel process. The model number for this variation is F1200LNK. All revolvers observed had a matt finish as previously described. However, with Colt, almost anything is possible. Perhaps your electroless nickel 1860 Army is different. If so, I would respectfully be interested in knowing more about it.
A second electroless nickel 1860 Army variation was also produced by Colt. This variation has a brighter nickel finish and the brass trigger guard is not plated. In fact, there is one school of thought which concludes that after polishing and prep work, this variation completely missed the nickel plating process and was actually shipped in-the-white. These revolvers were typically shipped with a presentation case, a complete set of Colt accessories as well as a shoulder stock and a two tone second edition belt buckle. However, over the years, some of these sets were busted up. So occasionally a single revolver without all the extras will turn up.
Third and finally, Colt produced a small quantity of second generation 1860 Army revolvers with a highly polished bright nickel finish. All metal surfaces were nickel plated. The model number for this variation is F1200MN. These revolvers were produced by the use of traditional nickel plating processes.
Since your revolver is NIB, the end label should contain a wealth of interesting information. As I mentioned earlier, I would be interested in knowing more about your specific revolver - Model Number, Custom Shop (C.S.) Number, Factory Order (F/O) Number, Serial Number, etc. Any assistance you can provide for my research would be greatly appreciated.
Best regards.
