Colt has produced some beautiful guns through a roster of master engravers whose works embellish classic 19th century firearms on into the 20th century.

Cuno Helfricht and Wilbur Glahn are just two of the engravers whose relief engraving and inlays have graced Colt handguns and marveled collectors for years, and their influence is obvious on the Colt double action revolvers discussed here. Not all of these revolvers are engraved but they are definitely deluxe.

Deluxe Double Actions and Cuno Helfricht

Cuno Helfricht served the Colt Firearms Company from 1871 to 1921, starting as an engraver the company sent to Germany to study the art, then becoming chief engraver about 1876 and serving in that role until he retired. During that time, Colt’s percussion era ended and the Single Action Army rose to prominence. The company produced double action revolvers, dabbled in long guns and added semi-automatic pistols.

Helfricht’s style, passed on to his craftsmen, was of American scrolls and border motifs that displayed German influences. He led the engraving shop at a time when Colt’s revolvers were put on display at events like the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1876 where 18 Single Action Army revolvers were displayed. As demand for engraved guns faded at the turn of the 20th century, Helfricht did much of the Colt work.

Engravers didn’t tend to sign their work until well into the 20th century, but this Colt Model 1877 “Lightning” double action revolver was likely finished by Helfricht given the time frame. The revolver has stunning factory scrolling “Nimschke star” accents as well as beaded backgrounds and shell accents. The engraving extends to the back of the hammer and offers interlacing designs to the frame, trigger guard and backstrap.

This Colt Model 1877 Lightning double action revolver is chambered in .38 caliber and along with its brilliant engraving is inscribed “W.G. Mathews.” Mathews is likely Sergeant-Major William George Mathews who was riding master of the 3rd Hussars and served on the staff in India. Mathews (or Matthews) is credited with producing the first of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s musical rides in 1887. The revolver has smooth pearl grips, a nickel finish and nitre blued hammer and trigger.

Deluxe Double Actions: A Colt Model 1877 Lightning sent to Wyoming

The Model 1877 was Colt’s first double action revolver and the nickname – “Lightning” – was handed down by Benjamin Kittredge, a large Colt distributor who already named the commercially available Single Action Army as the Peacemaker. The Lightning was chambered in .38 caliber, while the 1877 in .32 was dubbed the Rainmaker and the .41 caliber revolver was the Thunderer.

This revolver pictured below was shipped to Cheyenne, Wyoming on Dec. 12, 1883 to Peter Bergenson, likely a misspelling of noted Cheyenne gunsmith and competition shooter Peter Bergerson, who lived in Cheyenne from 1853 to 1930. It has floral scrolling on both sides of the frame, starbursts on the recoil shield and loading gate, likely executed by Cuno Helfricht or under his watchful eye.

This attractive factory engraved and gold finished Sheriff’s Model 1877 Lightning, manufactured in 1877, has a two-inch barrel and chambered in .38 shipped. The factory letter states it was shipped to Cheyenne, Wy., in December, 1883.

Deluxe Double Actions: Factory Engraving

Colt offered three levels of factory engraving: “A” was the minimum level of engraving, followed by “B” which provided more coverage and “C” is “the most ornamental” according to the company’s 1932 catalog. Engraving styles changed with shop leadership. Taking over for Gustave Young, Helfricht’s patterns were strongly Germanic but evolving so a more American-style scrolling was added as well as border designs and rare panel scenes for the guns produced by Colt from 1871 to 1921.

“We have always taken special pride and given the greatest attention to such ornamanented Arms,” Colt states in a catalog of the day. “Silver and gold mountings, inlays, engravings and etching of special designs that delight fastidious sportsmen are done in a separate department by skilled artisans whose work recalls the celebrated armorers of old.”

This Colt Model 1877 Thunderer manufactured in 1889 is an example of “B” level or “Style 2” engraving with Germanic scrollwork on a punch dot background with double line borders. Demand for engraved firearms declined in the late 1890s. Helfricht’s staff went from six regular craftsmen from 1875 to 1885 to fewer than two. By 1900 guns were only engraved by special order.

This Colt Model 1877 Thunderer shipped on May 31, 1889 with factory engraving and rubber stocks to F.F. Knous, Colt’s Patent Fire Arms Company on May 1889. Knous was the company’s superintendent at the time. It has Germanic scrollwork on a punch dot background with double line borders likely done by Helfricht or his staff.

The following Colt Frontier Six Shooter Model 1878 also has factory engraving but is much more ornamental, produced two years earlier than the Thunderer when it was shipped in July 1887 in .44 caliber to E.C. Meacham Arms Co. in St. Louis.

This exceptional factory engraved etched panel Colt Frontier Six Shooter Model 1878 has elaborate scroll, geometric and wavy line engraving has smooth pearl grips and a lanyard ring on the butt.

Deluxe Double Actions: Surprisingly, Matthew Quigley’s Frontier Six Shooter

Along with television private eye Thomas Magnum, Matthew Quigley might be one of actor Tom Selleck’s most iconic characters, known for his dead eye with a Sharps Model 1874 rifle. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the film “Quigley Down Under,” Selleck commissioned Doug Turnbull to restore a Model 1878 Frontier Six Shooter, thinking it would be the sidearm Quigley would carry in the Australian outback. The gun is beautifully blued with only light floral scrolling surrounding “M. QUIGLEY” on the back strap.

"While Matthew Quigley clearly had handled many revolvers of the period he was rightfully partial to Colts. Having walked in his boots and knowing this Sharps was a state-of-the-art prototype of the 1874 model, I felt over time he would have settled on the Colt 1878 Double Action," Selleck wrote in a letter that accompanies the cased revolver.

The case accompanying the Model 1878 Frontier Six Shooter commissioned by Tom Selleck for the 30th anniversary of his movie “Quigley Down Under” has a plaque on the lid marked "QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER/30th ANNIVERSARY/GOD CREATED ALL MEN. THEY SAY SAM COLT MADE 'EM EQUAL, MORE OR LESS.” Another plaque on the inside of the lid has another Quigley quote from the movie, "SAID I NEVER HAD MUCH USE FOR ONE. NEVER SAID I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO USE IT."

Deluxe Double Actions: Wilbur Glahn

Wilbur Glahn’s family arrived in the United States in 1829 and Wilbur was born in 1888. He worked for Remington from 1905 to 1919 before joining Colt where he worked in the factory until 1923 when he set up a home workshop but engraved primarily for Colt. Among his work were revolvers for the King and Queen of Siam and the Prince of Wales. He also engraved pieces for cowboy actor Tom Mix, stripper Sally Rand, as well as for Texas Rangers including Frank Hamer. For Auto Ordnance he engraved a silver plaque mounted on a Thompson submachine gun that was presented to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. His death in 1951 was the end of the Germanic engraving family dynasties.

This Colt Officers Model was factory engraved by Wilbur Glahn with deeply cut scroll designs on a punch dot background at the Class “B” level and was shipped on March 30, 1928 to Chicago.

The Officer’s Model introduced in 1904 was a medium frame double action target revolver and served as Colt’s premium revolver until the Python came out in 1955. The second issue had an improved action based on the Army Special of 1908. The revolver was produced until 1972. The following revolver was part of the “The Colt Officers Model Revolver 1904-1971” display at the 2014 Colt Collectors Association show.

This Colt Officer’s Model served as a fantastic canvas for pre-World War 2 artistry, covered with factory class “C” engraving of scrollwork on a stippled background while leaf patterns decorate the underside of the frame and butt. The engraving covers nearly all of the frame accept the knurled back strap and smooth front strap. Double bands are engraved at the muzzle and floral patterns flanking the Colt address and patent dates and “OFFICERS MODEL 38.” The hammer spur and trigger are checkered. It has Colt silver medallion grips featuring a relief carved steer head. This revolver was included in "The Colt Officers Model Revolver 1904-1971" display at the 2014 annual Colt Collectors Association in Concord that earned Best of Show, First Place/Double Action Revolvers and Best Educational awards.

Deluxe Double Actions: Colt Police Positive

The Police Positive arrived in 1907 and was produced until 1973. This gun had an internal hammer block safety that Colt called the “positive” lock. The cylinder rotated clockwise and Colt marketed that as a difference with Smith & Wesson that rotated the opposite direction, advertising “All Colt cylinders TURN TO THE RIGHT.” The advertising implied the cylinder locked up tighter with the frame for better barrel alignment. The positive lock prevented the firing pin from striking the primer of the cartridge unless the trigger was deliberately pulled, preventing accidental discharge. This allowed all six chambers to be loaded.

This factory engraved Colt Police Positive has factory carved steer head pearl grips sent to the commanding officer of the Pennsylvania State Police in Reading, Penn., on Dec. 19, 1928. The gun has floral scroll and punch dot engraving on the barrel sides, the frame sides and trigger guard with a floral scroll pattern on the cylinder chambers and butt and has pearl grips.

Deluxe Double Actions: Detective Special

The Detective Special is a small frame revolver with a two-inch barrel and swing-out cylinder based on the Police Positive that was introduced in 1927. The first modern “snubnose” revolver, its pocket size made it a preferred revolver for police detectives, undercover officers and as an off-duty carry. Because of its intended use as a working gun, it is rare to encounter a factory engraved Detective Special. Smith & Wesson didn’t have anything to compete with the Detective Special until 1950 when the company released the Model 36, or Chief Special.

This Colt rare factory engraved Detective Special shipped to Springfield, Ill., Police Chief Ben Little in 1952 is fully covered with masterful floral scroll engraving along with a blank inscription banner on the back strap and fitted with smooth pearl grips,

Deluxe Double Action: Fitz Special

John Henry Fitzgerald, or “Fitz,” was a bare-knuckle boxer and champion pistol shooter who worked for Colt in a number of roles from 1918 to 1944. He published a book on shooting and developed the concept of a gun that would be the prototype of the Detective Special in the 1920s. His gun had a 2-inch barrel with a shortened ejector rod, the front half of the trigger guard was cut away, the hammer spur was bobbed and the butt was also rounded to prevent snagging when pulling from a pocket. Fewer than 200 were made and were only done at special request for law enforcement officers or FBI agents.

Tom Selleck’s character on “Blue Bloods,” Frank Reagan, carries a Fitz Special, the third generation of police officer to do so since it was given to him by his father who, in turn, had received it from his father. This revolver is from the Tom Selleck Collection.

The gun shown below was shipped to Col. Lynn G. Adams, with the Pennsylvania State Police who bought it for his friend, Col. William G. Fisher. The factory letter reports that it was shipped as a “Fitzgerald cutaway special” when it was sent to Adams in 1939.

This “Fitz Special” Detective Special has a blued finish and all the hallmarks of the specially made gun, with a 2-inch barrel and shortened ejector rod, bobbed hammer spur, cut away trigger guard and rounded butt.

Deluxe Double Actions for Sale

Deluxe means sumptuous or luxurious and the previously mentioned Colt double action revolvers certainly meet that definition, whether it is through engraving, restoration, or special orders. Nicely embellished Wild West guns, an improbably engraved 20th century wheelgun, a super special order and one from a Hollywood star’s collection, are among the deluxe double action Colt revolvers in Rock Island Auction Company’s Dec. 6-8 Premier Auction.

Sources:

“Steel Canvas, The Art of American Arms,” by R.L. Wilson

“What’s a Fitz Special? Yesterday’s Cutting-Edge Gun Designs of Tomorrow,” by T. Logan Metesh, American Handgunner