Description
9/27/24 – This is a beautiful example of a very rare, Lewis Draper-inspected Colt Cavalry model revolver from 1876.The revolver has the duel sub-inspection marks of Lewis Draper (L.D.) on the frame and John T. Cleveland (J.T.C.) on the barrel, side of the cylinder and right heel of the grip. “Duel Sub-Inspected” Cavalry Model Single Actions are extremely desirable revolvers.Cleveland inspected only ~5,000 pieces and this one is in the proper serial range, but Draper only inspected 1-2k (all frames), making this a very rare piece with a low survival rate as they were still seeing extensive military action at that time.The one-piece walnut grip is oil finished. The revolver has the early “bullseye” ejector rod head and “cavalry” hammer with cone-shaped hammer and elongated bordered knurling on the spur.The barrel is roll-stamped with the Second Style condensed block letter address “-COLT’S P.T.F.A. MFG.Co. HARTFORD.CT.U.S.A.-“.The barrel, cylinder and right side grip are JTC marked.The barrel, receiver, cylinder, trigger guard and grip strap all have matching serial numbers.While this is a beautiful example, we do believe the finish was professionally restored at some point.The bore is generally shiny with strong rifling, but has minor pitting at a couple of points in the grooves.Listing includes Colt archive letter.
