Outstanding Colt Model 1878 Frontier .45 Colt Revolver
.45 Colt. 5.5" barrel. SN: 40730 (Mfg. ca.1898). Blued finish, fire blued small parts, color casehardened lanyard swivel, checkered hard rubber Rampant Colt logo grips with smooth escutcheons. Double action solid frame revolver with loading gate and six-chambered fluted cylinder. Frame notch rear sight, rounded blade front sight. Barrel roll marked in a single line COLT'S PT. F.A. MFG. CO. HARTFORD, CT. U.S.A. with left side of barrel roll marked .45 COLT. Rampant Colt logo on lower rear of left frame. Loading gate assembly numbered 239, as is the frame on the left side under the grip. Includes lanyard swivel in butt. A really exceptional condition Model 1878 overall.

A total of 2,899 .45 Colt Model 1878 revolvers were produced with 5.5" barrels with blued finish, out of 17,177 Model 1878 revolvers produced in that caliber. This was the third most popular configuration with 7.5" barreled blued guns being the most popular (5,155 made) and nickel plated 7.5" barreled guns being the second most common (4,028). The 5.5" blued guns represented only 16.8% of .45 Colt production in this model.
This lot is located in Cincinnati.

Excellent. Fine bright bore with crisp rifling. Metal retains nearly all of the blued finish with crisp markings and fine fire blued small parts. Mechanically functional action. Hard rubber grips with some light wear and minute chipping along the sharp edges.