Colt 1873 New Line 22

**Coops** · June 20th, 2016, 10:34 PM

I came upon an unusual pistol today.

Colt New Line .22LR Made 1873-1877 in Hartford CT. No patent marking.
This is a 7 shot single action pocket revolver. 1.75" fluted barrel. Front sight but no trigger guard. Nickel with rosewood grips.
The gun belonged to my wife's great aunt (b1896-d1984) who was a prison matron in Trenton and it was passed down through the family. I have no way of finding out how she came into this gun since it was at least 50 years old when she got it.
Serial number 905 on the barrel but #29054 on the butt.

Unfortunately what I think is the cylinder locking pin is broken off. Its a knurled shaft that extends from the center of the cylinder below the barrel. The gun still appears to work but I have not fired it.
I tried to upload photos but they must be too big (>1.3 MB each) If anyone is really interested I can lower the pixels and try again.

Here is a stock photo (its the top one)
pix_newline1.JPG

Any chance this could be restored?

**Bang** · June 20th, 2016, 10:54 PM

Notice that 905 is contained in the 29054. Wondering if the rest of 905 is worn away.

**gghbi** · June 20th, 2016, 11:06 PM

Get your pictures below 1MB and they should load! Would love to see them. You might be able to get them down by just cropping if you have room to cut.

**Coops** · June 20th, 2016, 11:18 PM

Originally Posted by Bang

Notice that 905 is contained in the 29054. Wondering if the rest of 905 is worn away.

Good catch.
Upon closer inspection there does seem to be a 4 almost rubbed out. So 9054 is a possibility.
But in front of the 9 there is a very clear 1874 date that I thought were scratches but using a loupe resolved into a very clear date stamp.
I thought since the serial number was <16000 it was a 1873 but now it is clear it is a 1874.
Also using the magnifier I see "PAT SE ###" before the date but the numbers are illegible

Working on the photos.