Cost of Colt Revolver 1862-1865

[orngblsm]

Gents,

Anyone know roughly the cost of a Colt Army, or Colt Sheriff's model revolver on the private market during the 1860s? and what the cost the Colt Army was sold to the military for?

Thanks

[csabugler]

Re: Cost of Colt Revolver 1862-1865

Try a search here or online of quartermaster reports and requests and such. Seems as tho I have seen some docs reproduced here that showed various supply items and their costs.

[David Fox]

Re: Cost of Colt Revolver 1862-1865

As I recall, Colt's M1860 .44 Army revolver was sold to the government at $25 a pop (I'm at work and can't verify). This happy circumstance obtained at least into 1863 while Remington had difficulty selling Uncle Sam its arguably superior product for half as much. Contract reviews and a catastrophic fire (possibly arson) at Colt's plant ended Colt's extraordinarily lucrative, cozy arrangement. Bill Edward's 1962 (and reprinted) "Civil War Guns" details some of this.

[stx]

Re: Cost of Colt Revolver 1862-1865

I actually wrote a paper on this. Mr. Fox is right that the Colt was sold to the army for $25. Commerically the revolver was sold for $14.50, thus Colt made in excess of $325,000 profit in only a year by securing a gov't contract. Consequently Remington sold their revolver at $15, which was very close to their pre-war price, but they didn't secure nearly as many orders from the gov't as Colt was able to.

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Cost of Colt Revolver 1862-1865

A list I have of War Department contracts in 1861 shows the "Colt's holster" revolver going for $25 vs. $15 for the Remington, $20 for the Savage, and $16.80 for the Whitney.

However, the 1863 Ordnance memorandum ( http://books.google.com/books?id=LrU...20cost&f=false)
shows a total cost, with appendages, of $20 for the Colt Army, $18 for the Navy, $13 for the Lefaucheux, $20 for the Savage, and $12 for the Remington.

The decrease in cost occurs despite the substantial inflation of the previous year and may reflect the effect of increased production. A similar phenomenon seems to happen with some clothing items (other than cotton).

Going slightly off topic, with the cost of a revolver in roughly the same range as a long arm, it underscores the expense that would have followed if men commonly carried more than one.

[guad42]

Re: Cost of Colt Revolver 1862-1865

Somewhere here in my files I have a copy of a receipt for a Colt Navy purchased in 1855 for about 15.00. I will try to find it. The gun was purchased in Massachusetts.

I have also seen a statement that Virgil Earp, then a Union Soldier, purchased a Remington .44 during the war for $14.00.

Unless I am mistaken, Colt did not actually make a "Sheriff's Model" percussion revolver, and that those available are the invention of modern reproductions. Colt did sell a cartridge SAA in the 1870s and 1880s with a very short barrel sometimes referred to as the Sheriff's or Storekeepers model.

-Sam Dolan

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Cost of Colt Revolver 1862-1865

And then again, one period account recalls a soldier trading his watch for a "rvolvr" and he claims you could buy a revolver in Virginia for less money than anywhere else during the Civil War...meaning inf soldiers who had them could hardly wait to get rid of them.

[English Doc]

Re: Cost of Colt Revolver 1862-1865

I appreciate it isn't a Colt, but the 'Harrison Flag' of December 15th 1860, holds an advertisement for: 'Le Mat's Grape Shot Revolver....an invention of Le Mat of Louisiana.....loaded and handled in the same manner as the Army Revolver, and carries the same distance....can be sold for $30..'