High conditioned Colts. Historic Colts. Beautiful Colts. Backed by more than two centuries of collecting experience, Rock Island Auction Company’s Dec. 6-8 Premier Auction in Bedford, Texas will be led by a fantastic lineup of Colts from truly elite collections.
Represented in the Auction will be firearms from the Brig and Louise Pemberton Collection, the Charles Marx Collection, the Robert M. Lee Collection, the Greg Lampe Collection, the George Lewis Collection, the Andrew Singer Collection and the TTT Collection, assembled over the course of more than 250 years of collecting.
One of the elites of Colt collecting is the rare and historic Paterson, and the December Premier is honored to offer several rare examples of the gun that launched Samuel Colt to success, like an outstanding Colt Baby Paterson No. 1 to a Model 1839 revolving carbine to a rare two-digit serial number Texas Paterson No. 5 Holster Model.
To stop at these exemplary Patersons is to dip a toe in the ocean and then head back to the beach blanket. There are Colts both of legend and legendary to be found in Bedford on the first weekend of December. An extremely rare “pinched frame” Single Action Army, a Single Action Army in .44 Russian presented to U.S. Sub-Inspector John T. Cleveland, a Lot 5 Colt of the 7th Cavalry Custer era and a cased Model 1860 Army revolver with a factory presentation inscription to Union surgeon Dr. John J. Milhau will be on offer. Dotting the roster will be rarities like the 1872-73 Open Top, the double action Model 1878 Omnipotent and Model 1877 Rainmaker. Not to be left out are is the soft-shipped black powder frame Sheriff Model engraved by Master Engraver L.D. Nimschke. The 19th century master is not alone as Colts engraved by Cuno Helfricht, Wilbur Glahn and others are represented as well.
Not to be outdone, an array of Winchesters, ranging from the legendary 19th century lever guns to modern sporting arms are topped by a fantastic assortment of Model 1866 rifles that include a factory engraved and gold-plated Second Model with Henry Patent marked-barrel and an ultra-rare exhibition grade engraved and signed Model 1866 musket and its consecutively-numbered factory engraved and C.F. Ulrich-signed Model 1866 Saddle Ring Carbine Also, what is considered by many to be the finest factory engraved Winchester 1885 High Wall Schuetzen rifle and an outstanding and documented early production special order Winchester Deluxe Model 1894 with scarce casehardened receiver will be available.
Fine Winchesters spill over into an abundance of beautiful sporting arms and a spectacular “Ultra Set” of 11 boxed engraved and gold inlaid and consecutively serial numbered Winchester Model 70 Ultra Grade Featherweight rifles. Among the bespoke sporting arms are a stunning trio of J. Purdey and Sons 28 gauge shotguns signed and engraved by Master Engravers Giancarlo and Stefano Pedretti, a pair of stunning, factory engraved Westley Richards rifles as well as the first ever factory engraved Boss & Co. .410 bore assisted-opening sidelock over/under ejector shotgun from the collection of Coca-Cola chairman R.W. Woodruff.
Smith & Wesson has some beautiful and intriguing pieces among the offerings like an Elvis Presley-commissioned Model 29-2 revolver with oak carved grips, engraving and gold inlays for his friend, Lamar Fike along with an outstanding First Model Schofield and a Tiffany & Co. marked exhibition quality silver-plated engraved .32 Safety Hammerless 1st Model.
Among the historic guns available will be a documented British Long Sea Service flintlock pistol inscribed as owned by Revolutionary War traitor Benedict Arnold, a documented Battle of the Little Bighorn era U.S. Springfield Model 1873 Trapdoor recovered from the 7th Cavalry in 1877 and a Colt Single Action Army with eagle carved grips presented as a gift by President Theodore Roosevelt to friend James R. Gregory. Also in the auction are a John Armstrong Maryland Golden Age American long rifle with a raised relief carved stock and a rare and historic early production serial number 19 Ludwig Loewe Model 1893 with matching shoulder stock and inscribed to the founder of Floral Park, New York.
Modern firearms range from desirable variants of the Colt Model 1911 including a 1907 U.S. Army trials pistol, an early production two-digit serial number Model 1911 and a non-serial numbered Singer, Lugers from the Jan Still Collection and a Savage pistol in .45 ACP for the 1907 pistol trials. A SIG Mondragon Model 1908 semi-automatic rifle with ultra-rare drum magazine and a fine sampling of World War 2 era weapons ranging from pistols like the Mauser P.38 and rifles like the M1 Garand.
An extremely rare FN M240 general purpose belt-fed machine gun and a highly desirable Cadillac-Gage Stoner 63 propels a fierce lineup of Class III firearms that also includes World War 2 submachine guns, Thompson submachine guns, a pair of M60 machine guns and a pair of M2 heavy machine guns.
Returning to the fantastic offerings of Colts and their variations, there is a rare one of 100 consecutively made set of Boa double action revolvers with boxes, Woodsman pistols, Python revolvers and rare bear guns, the Grizzly and Kodiak double action revolvers.
Collectors looking to fill out their Colt collections or simply searching for that beautiful or historical piece to display will find a cornucopia of opportunities in Rock Island Auction Company’s Dec. 6-8 Premier Auction in Bedford, Texas.
