POTD: U.S. Civil War Colt Model 1860 with Canteen Shoulder Stock
Sam.S 01.11.22
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a Colt 1860 Civil War-era revolver but it is sporting a bolt-on buttstock. Not just any bolt-on buttstock of the time, it is a canteen stock. The bolt-on stock goes back as far as handguns do. Mainly because the third point of contact is better than just two. In the mid-1800s the bolt-on stock for Colt revolvers was seldom utilized not for its durability or reliability but because they were cumbersome to tote along. In an odd sort of marketing, the Colt engineers found it a good idea to make the bolt-on style stock also a canteen and sell it to the military out west. It met an extremely lukewarm reception and even though it is a neat idea the canteen would just be too heavy and unwieldy if it was needed to be used as a stock.
“Manufactured in 1861 with the early four screw frame cut for a shoulder stock for the U.S. government contract. The barrel has a German silver blade front sight and the one line New York address. The frame has the “COLTS/PATENT” marking on the left side. The cylinder has the naval battle scene. The visible serial numbers match. The smooth walnut grip has faint cartouches. The shoulder stock is a modern replacement that is aged to match the revolver, has small inspection marks, and is numbered “22038/22039″. The Model 1860 Army was the most widely used revolver during the Civil War and also saw extensive use after the war in the West.”
Lot 1178: Colt 1860 Revolver 44 percussion. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved January 10, 2022, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/66/1178/colt-1860-revolver-44-percussion.
