Arms, Armor and Militaria

.44-40. 3.5" barrel. SN: M. Metal left in the white and unfinished, small parts fire blued, checkered two-piece ivory grips. Short-barreled double action metallic cartridge revolver without ejector mechanism with six-chambered fluted cylinder. Sights consist of the standard blade front located nominally .35" from the slightly crowned muzzle and a groove in the top strap. The revolver is a cut away or "skeleton" model intended to illustrate the mechanism of the revolver. Barrel marked with the correct two-line style address for short barrels and reads: COLT'S PT. F.A. MFG. Co/HARTFORD, CT. U.S.A. with a single dash after the address. Left front triggerguard web is marked 44CF and the bottom of the barrel, concealed by the cylinder arbor pin is marked 44. The only external serial number is the letter M on the butt, indicative of a Colt factory "model" or sample gun. The left side of the grip frame is numbered 391, which is concealed by the grips. The right grip panel is numbered 3 in pencil on its interior. The revolver is a full cutaway demonstrator with cuts on the left side of the frame to reveal the way in which the action functions, left side of the barrel to show the rifling, and in the center of one cylinder chamber. A non-standard feature is the use of a knurled knob, rather than a traditional screw head for the hammer screw on the right side of the frame. This suggests that this demonstrator revolver was intended to be disassembled on a regular basis to show the internal parts, and a conventional screw in this location would soon have a worn slot.

According to research published by Don Wilkerson in Colt's Double-Action Revolver Model of 1878, six cutaway Model 1878 revolvers were known at the time of writing as well as a six "M" marked model revolvers with no serial numbers. One of those "M" marked model guns is also a partial cutaway revolver. Of the other extant "M" revolver is a ejector-less Sheriff's Model in the collection of the Gene Autry Museum that has a four inch barrel and is finished in the white like this gun. The museum also has an "M" marked spur-less hammer revolver that is partially cutaway on the left side plate. The cutaway pattern on this gun does not match extant examples of documented factory cutaway Model 1878 revolvers, but the quality of the machining certainly qualifies as potential factory work. It is likely that this Model revolver was cutaway at the request of one of Colt's major distributors. Kittredge & Co. of Cincinnati certainly comes to mind as the potential source for this unique revolver. A fine and scarce example of an "M" marked 1878 revolver model with skeletonized features.