Help Me ID What These Colt Blocks Are?

[nwilliams]

I came across these strange Colt marked blocks and I'm trying to figure out what these are. Any help would be appreciated. I thought about trying to contact someone at Colt but I figured maybe someone here can point me in the right direction.

 

[jct61765]

They look like vise jaws. They are old.

 

[Jim Watson]

Possibly manufacturing gauges.

 

[entropy]

I thought slide rail gauges initially. Neat find!

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

The passage engraved on the one piece is from a poem called “Horatius At the Bridge”.

http://www.bartleby.com/360/7/158.html

Line 217 for reference.

Given the markings with the patent dates those may possibly be associated with SAA guns. And the numbers on there may be gauge markings or tool room ID numbers.

They may go in a vise or clamp but I don’t think those are simple vise jaws.

On second thought, I think those might be engravers’ reference samples or comparators. An engraver would have given standard work like this to apprentices or line employees with basic knowledge on how to do the work. This would have left the engraver to do the important work.

Example: this engraver made a master plate for himself before he worked on his customers guns. http://engravingcafe.com/showthread.php?t=3201

Stands to reason that a Colt master engraver would have done same for rote work to be performed by underlings as shown in OP’s block

 

[WestKentucky]

Definitely from a different era. You will probably never see something like that poem engraved on a new production tool ever again. The manufacturing world is no longer about craftsmanship, it’s all about bottom dollar and that engraving would make bottom dollar lighter.

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

It appears on SAA’s Colt started putting the circle around the pony in 1890. I’m not sure when they stopped the circle but it seems it didnt last long? Maybe to 1912 or so?

http://www.coltforum.com/forums/lounge/5613-rampant-colt-logo-question-2-a.html#/topics/5613?page=2

https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102869

 

[Coyote3855]

No idea what they are, but very interesting. Thanks for posting.