Who made the Colt Signiture, 2nd Gneration, etc.?

[Ed Blake]

I've been reading about C&B revolvers here, trying to make up my mind about a first purchase. What exactly is a Colt 2nd generation, and what is the "Signiture" series? Were these made by Colt, or are they Italian-made pieces? They are beautiful guns. Do they shoot as good as they look? Thanks.

 

[SAJones]

The 2nd Generation Colts (also called "black box" Colts) are Colt Firearms' remanufacture of their old C&B revolvers. Serial numbers for the 2nd gen models picked up where the originals left off. I have a 3rd model Dragoon & it is well finished & shoots fairly accurately with conicals. One of my favorite pieces. They are semi-collector pieces and demand a higher price than other repros.

The Signature series, or 3rd generation, have a facsimilie of Sam Colt's signature on the backstrap. Have a Walker & 1851 in that series. The finishing of the revolvers are good, but have many rounded corners. Also have their 1861 Special Musket, which had many flaws. I had to send it back to Colt w/ a list of discrepancies, including no half cock notch cut in the tumbler! :shocked2: Barrel is great however, and once I worked on it it shoots very well. But why should I work on a $700 rifle? Coulda got a Traditions 1863 that looks as good for 2/3 the cost.

The parts were made in Italy, right now don't recall who did it, & assembled by Colt in the US. THus they could avoid the "Made in Wherever" stamps. I think they used new trainees for the polishing of the Signature series: well polished but looked like they leaned into the buffing wheels, rounding corners and screw holes.

They are great for reenactors who go to great lengths to "defarb" everything, as the stampings are exactly the same as the originals. As for shooters, I think some of the Italian imports are just as good & a lot cheaper.

 

Colt Second Generation pistol parts were made by Uberti and assembled and finished by Iver Johnson. They were boxed and shipped by Colt from their Hartford factory.

 

[kentucky bucky]

Hello,
The Colt Signature Series was made for Colt By a company in Brooklyn,NY with a name like "Anthony Imperato" or something similar. They called it Colt Black Powder, but it was a contract company, I believe the parts were made in Italy and shipped "in the raw" to Brooklyn. I bought one in '95 that WOULD NOT come apart! I shipped it back to the company in Brooklyn and that is when the trouble started. About the time my Walker was received by them, they decided to move and promptly lost all record of me or my gun. I literally bugged the snot out of them for about a year and a half before they sent me a new Walker. Luckily I had sent it Certified w/ a return receipt. and had the name of the girl that received it at the Post Office. The office girl that answered their phones actually started to recognize my voice and became rather chatty whenever I called!! :haha: She loved patching me through to her boss and causing him stress!!!

 

[Ed Blake]

Thank you for the replies. It seems buying the Colt name costs quite a bit and may not be worth the money. I have been told that the interest in CW reeenacting and SASS has created the necessary competition between the Italian maunfacturers that has raised the quality bar. I believe I'll look at Uberti.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

The second gen revolvers were made in America from rough forgings/castings bought from Uberti. They were hand finished here to a very high standard and are considered to be genuine Colts--even by Colt. They have a higher purchase and resale price for this reason. The actions are nicely tuned and crisp. In my opinion, they are worth every penny. The "Signature Series" guns are generally of poorer quality.

 

[kentucky bucky]

If that is true about the 2nd generation Colts, they must be really outstanding. The Signature Series Walker I have is a very well made gun and the fit and finish is perfect. The one I sent back was a beauty too, but it must have been made with the tolerances too tight.

 

[Toomuch_36]

Colt Second Generation pistol parts were made by Uberti and assembled and finished by Iver Johnson. They were boxed and shipped by Colt from their Hartford factory.

Correct. Since Colt would have had to completely retool to make these 2nd and 3rd generation black powder arms (including ball and cap revolvers) it was more cost effective to take their blueprints to Uberti and have them do the job under contract with the Colt markings just as if Colt had made them here.

Toomuch
...........
Shoot Flint

 

[Toomuch_36]

Colt Second Generation pistol parts were made by Uberti and assembled and finished by Iver Johnson. They were boxed and shipped by Colt from their Hartford factory.

Correct. Since Colt would have had to completely retool to make these 2nd and 3rd generation black powder arms (including ball and cap revolvers) it was more cost effective to take their blueprints to Uberti and have them do the job under contract with the Colt markings just as if Colt had made them here.

Toomuch
...........
Shoot Flint

You are still getting a jenuine Colt.

Toomuch
...........
Shoot Flint

 

[TFoley]

Well folks, if I might just chip in here. I have a 'black box' Colt Walker, serial #1816, that shoots like a mad thing with 50gr of FFg [I don't use Pyrodex in it, only in my Old Army].
Never tried anything in the way of different sizes of ball - mine seems to like .451 if the groups are anything to go by - a couple and a half of inches or so on our little 20 yard range. That'll do for me.
What I like more than just about anything is limbering up this 'old' cannon and letting her rip - preferably with four or five of us all shooting .44's at the same time...fast.

Heaven!!! :grin:

tac

 

[burris]

Here is some good information on the 2nd Generation Colts:
[url] http://www.gunsandammomag.com/ga_handguns/cap_ball[/url]