More messing around with the new camera/lighting setup, and I needed something in nickel. This little guy was laying around and got pressed into service.

Colt's answer to the everyone else's inexpensive revolvers, and was introduced in 1871 once the infamous Rollin White Patent on cylinders bored through to accept cartridges ran out. Common copies of the Smith and Wesson No. 1 (Smith and Wesson held the license for the White patent) were selling for $2-$3, the Colt launched with a price tag of $8, and the high quality to match.



Seven rounds of the ultra potent .22 short BP. Still, there's an argument to be made that this diminutive revolver got Colt through the Depression of 1873. In addition to the economic bad times, there was a possibility of Rollin White's patent being extended, which would have exposed anyone making cartridge revolvers subject to legal action from Smith and Wesson.

Richard Jarvis, president of Colt cut a deal with distributors to sell them the .22 Open Top at a price of $2.99, one cent below cost. Along with the fire sale pricing, he offered indemnity from any legal actions arising from selling the revolvers if the White patent was extended.

It was a good enough deal to get orders in, and keep the factory running. Between 1874 and 1875, this tiny revolver accounted for almost 70 percent of Colt's firearm production.

Not bad for such a little guy!

Bill R.

Info from Colt's Firearms At The Brink by Robert Swartz. An excellent little monograph on these revolvers.

Thanks for posting I didn't know quite all of that.

My example.

Looks like yours is an earlier example, stylophiles, based upon the hammer profile. Looking at the serial number range, Colt made more than 114,000 of these pistols over six years.

They have a bronze frame. Easy to produce, I imagine.

Yours is a later example, ridewv, based upon the hammer profile.

I wonder how the one I have was originally finished?
My father picked up this one at an antique store back in the 1970's just to add to his cabinet of small antique watches and other items. He just cleaned and oiled it then put it in there.

I imagine it was plated, just like stylophiles' example.

Let's see-

Looking at Flayderman's, yours could have had a blued cylinder and barrel. Given that the finish appears to be completely gone, I'd say bluing is more likely than plating.

"Grips of varnished walnut. Blued or nickel plated cylinders and barrels: the brass frames nickel plated. Silver plating (on frame) not uncommon"

Flayderman's says these had brass frames but other sources say bronze. Flayderman's usually got it right.

I’m eyeing a New Line Etched Panel revolver (1879) that is at my LGS.
Price is a little high … but it is cool as shit.

Thanks Para bluing makes sense, I'd also think if the cylinder and barrel were nickel plated there'd likely be some bits of nickel remaining. Although there is no nickel remaining on the frame. Heck my father could have removed whatever remaining finish was on it.

I like the way they leveraged a relatively simple design into something that more or less saved a company allowing them to take advantage of military contracts to move forward through an economic depression.

The pistol itself is really no better or worse than any number of other offerings available at the time.

Bill R