An historic Colt Thuer converted Pocket Revolver is being billed by its seller as possibly "the best, rarest example available, ever!"
Alexander Thuer was a Prussian gunsmith who worked for the legendary firearms entrepreneur Samuel Colt in Hartford Connecticut, back in 1849.
Not only had Thuer learned the gun trade in his native Germany, he was also an excellent marksmen. Eventually, he and Colt become close friends.
Today, Thuer remains most famous for his design of the Colt Derringer; but collectors also recognise him for his work on converting Colt percussion revolvers.
 Thuer's converted pistols are legendary among Colt aficionados |
This became increasingly necessary as advances in late-1860s technology made the old percussion revolvers obsolete. It fell to Thuer to update them to the new metallic cartridge system.
Colt and Thuer's conversions were patented in 1868, but failed to catch on and were dropped after just one year - with only 5,000 of the converted guns thought to have ever been made.
What's more, experts believe this estimate of 5,000 to be far over the actual number of guns produced - among which the rarest were these pocket revolvers.
According to seller The Lanes Armoury, the gun is silver plated with ivory grips. Its barrel bears a New York address and rarest of all, British proofs. Prices are available on request.
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