Colt 1849 Pocket Australian Retailer Marked .31 Caliber Revolver (C13273)

Colt 1849 Pocket Australian Retailer Marked .31 Caliber Revolver. Serial #261404, .31 caliber, 6” octagon barrel with an about very good bore which shows evident rifling but with minor oxidation and scattered light pitting. The barrel remains quite nice retaining about 95% very nice restored blue from the period of use. The loading lever retains excellent color case-hardening and may well be original. The cylinder is a deep dull blue-gray and plum brown with some minor oxidation. The stagecoach holdup scene is fully evident and the hammer rest pins are partially intact. The frame retains about 80% original color case-hardening. The “Colts Patent” marking is slightly light but the serial numbers are bold and it would appear as though the case colors are original. The trigger guard retains about 92% original silver plate while the backstrap has toned primarily to a dull goldenrod patina showing good silver on the butt and at the top of the knuckle. The one-piece walnut grip rates very good plus to near excellent showing overall minor dings and handling marks and nearly all its original varnish with wear along the sharp edges at the butt. It is ink-pen numbered to the gun. The butt has been stamped during the period of use with a one-piece oval stamp “B. Pedrotta/Gunsmith/Bathurst”. Bartholomeo Pedrotta was a gunsmith in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia from the late 1850’s until around 1887 when he retired, his son-in-law taking over the business until the early 1900s. Numbers are matching on barrel lug, frame, trigger-guard, backstrap, arbor and wedge, the cylinder and loading lever are numbered to a different gun, whether Pedrotta did the actual work to the gun or was merely a retailer is unknown. The cylinder and barrel show British proofs. The revolver is pictured in “Colts Pocket 49: Its Evolution” by Robert Jordan.