Shooters recognize the differences in the aura of the gun in their hand. Colts took up where the old serial numbers left off, and were in most respects real hand-fitted Colts, though the manufacture of the parts may have been done by a different company. They are not cheap, but sell for a fraction of the cost of the original models, and are considered to be “real” Colts. Colts are scarce, but do turn up from time to time at gun shows. That gun was traded off, but because he very much liked the 1860, Ray bought a genuine Colt Second-Generation (2nd-Gen.) 1860, and went happily on his way. Who says the old guns won’t shoot? The load was 29 grains of FFFg Goex, loaded as described below, using Remington caps, but the full load of the original 1860 was 40 grains, quite a bit more than the 2nd-Gen. He shot a six-shot group at 15 yards with the gun that measured 1.4 inches center to center of the widest two, and four of ‘em made a hole less than half an inch between centers. Our Technical Editor Ray Ordorica used to own an original Colt 1860 which, as might be expected, he shot on a regular basis. The modern guns just are not Colts, though they may look the same. But with most of them there’s something missing, as I’m sure many will tell you. Of course there are many modern cap-and-ball guns made to satisfy the cravings of those who want to make lots of noise and smoke. Not only is collecting the early Colts a costly pastime, you end up with guns not many would want to shoot, especially the black-powder percussion handguns from the Civil War or earlier periods. The collecting of really old Colt revolvers can easily threaten the bank account, or even shatter it.

Colt second generation serial numbers