Civil War revolver backstrap

[nc-joe]

A few weeks back I found this piece (same hunt I found the Confederate "I" button), and although I knew it came from a gun I just could not figure it out. So after the hunt I inadvertently left it in my hunting buddy's truck. A few days later he called and said "I figured out what you found!" I had almost forgotten I had even found the piece (even though it was 15 feet from the button). He went on to say how he could sleep one night and popped in a DVD about CW weapons and as they were showing off an 1860 Colt .44 Army revolver he paused the DVD, ran out to his truck, grabbed the piece and held it up to his TV and there it was! A back strap to a Colt revolver. As you looked closer he found there serial number is still on the part!

Thanks for identifying this find for me!!!!

 

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[novafinder]

amazing find congrats

 

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[l.cutler]

Nice! You would need to know what model it came from though to find the date of manufacture. A model 1860 army and an 1851 Navy with the same serial number would have been manufactured in different years.

 

[mfitzy111]

nice find! I'd be back out there looking for the rest of it!

yeah I was just thinking that.... where the heck did the rest of that gun disappear to wow. great find.

 

[nc-joe]

Thanks all for the replies!!!

I am still debating if I want to invest the money to have Colt complete the research.

I hope I can get back and try to find the rest of the gun, but I was invited to the site by another detecorist, but I am sure he will invite me again

There was a ton of iron in the area, so it will not be easy!

If it was issued to a union army or navy person, Colt should have the records of exactly who it was issued to.

Keep the coil to the soil!

 

[killerb]

superfind, hope you can find the rest.

KillerB

 

[l.cutler]

Thanks all for the replies!!!

I am still debating if I want to invest the money to have Colt complete the research.

I hope I can get back and try to find the rest of the gun, but I was invited to the site by another detecorist, but I am sure he will invite me again

There was a ton of iron in the area, so it will not be easy!

If it was issued to a union army or navy person, Colt should have the records of exactly who it was issued to.

Keep the coil to the soil!

As I stated before, without knowing what model revolver it came from there is no way of getting any information on it. There were several models of Colt revolver that used virtually the same backstrap. Each series was serial numbered individually so the same numbers were used on each series. For example, if the serial number is 100,000 the gun could have been made in 1862, 1863 or 1873 depending on what model it came from. If the model could be determined, I am not sure how much information Colt would have. They may be able to tell the shipping date, and whether it was a government or civilian order. I am sure they could not tell who it was issued to. Springfield research service may be able to help as well, they have compiled a ton of information on military weapons, they do charge a fee and only a small percentage of firearms have any documentation, but it is a possibility. Hope you can find out more about it, but either way it is a great find.

 

[steelheadwill]

Great CW relic Find! Congrats