Premier Firearms Auction
May 6, 7, 8 & 9, 2022
Our first premier auction of 2022! This event hosts collections from across the country and brings them under one roof for an amazing multi-day auction!
This is an incredible opportunity to add rare and desirable firearms & militaria to your collection.
HISTORIC CASED PAIR COLT POCKET REVOLVERS CAPTURED ON CONFEDERATE BLOCKADE RUNNER “ARMSTRONG”.
01-20930
Cal. .31.
S#’s 191677, 191869
There is not another Colt factory cased pair of revolvers known captured from blockade runner. This 1861 manufactured pair retain most of their original blue & case colored finish along w/ contemporary inked tag: “Case of Revolvers/ taken from cabin of Rebel Blockade Runner “Armstrong” by U.S.S. “R.R Cuyler”” with a pasted number “14”. This is the kind of tags seen in public displays of captured Confederate arms such as the Metropolitan Fair in New York. The “Armstrong” was captured December 4, 1864 by 3 US ships: RR Cuyler, Gettysburg, and Mackinaw. Armstrong was taken to New York where cargo of cotton was sold. Over $250,000 prize was shared by the capturing crews. The Armstong, only built earlier in 1864, had already made 5 successful runs from Britain to the Confederacy before capture when attempting to bring cargo of cotton back to England.
Mahogany case is fitted for pair of 6” barrel model 1849 pocket revolvers, flask, mold, & cap tin. Standard configuration of Colt model 1849 revolvers w/ most desirable long barrels having one-line New York address. Both guns factory letter shipped to Grubb, Philadelphia. There are other Grubb shipped Colts in 1861 that made their way to Confederates!
PROVENANCE: Norm Flayderman catalog #66; Stephen Bashaw collection 1968; Arnold Marcus Chernoff; Bill Myers collection 1975.
STATUS: ANTIQUE
