Opinions on a Colt D.A. 38?

[gilgsn]

Hello.
I saw this Colt D.A. for sale online, which has a puzzling peculiarity, or maybe it's normal, you guys might be able to tell me: Where there should be the patent dates (I'm assuming...) There is... Nothing. Nothing was apparently erased and it came from the factory like that, or so the seller proclaims... Any idea?
Can I shorten .38 Special cases for it?

UPDATE: Darn, I missed the fact that it's an auction and the reserve price hasn't been reached. Oh well, I'm still curious about the date thing...


Thanks,
Gil.

 

[reddog81]

How would the seller know the entire history of a 120+ year old gun? It looks like it has seen a lot of use so anything is possible.

 

[fxvr5]

If the gun in chambered in 38 Long Colt or 38 Short Colt, yes, 38 Special cases can be shortened.

But, Starline makes new 38 Long Colt and 38 Short Colt cases. You can just buy those.

 

[vanfunk]

I would not buy a vintage Colt without markings. Could the rollmark have been missed at the factory? Possibly, not likely. So what’s the story? There are no good or provable answers for that, such as a Colt archive letter that says “serial number xxx was shipped without patent date markings.” This particular revolver shows heavy wear so taken together, unless this is an unbelievable bargain or a gift, I would not invest. The gun is not rare (180k produced?) so I’d say keep looking if you’re in the market.

 

[dfariswheel]

Note that these were chambered for the black powder .38 Long Colt.
It in good mechanical condition they can be fired with LIGHT loads in .38 Special brass.

Be very careful with it, these have complex, rather fragile actions and if they go out of order or break there's only a couple of gunsmiths in America who will work on them.