Standard Catalog of Colt Firearms
By Rick Sapp

Illustrated, price listing, introduction, appendices, 288 pp. 2007. Gun Digest Books, 700 East State St., Iola, WI 54990-0001, $29.99 plus shipping.

Reviewer: Dale E. Biever
Dale E. Biever received his M.Ed. in American history from Kutztown University. He is past vice president for administration and former member of the Board of Governors of the Company of Military Historians. A retired educa­tor, he was registrar at the Civil War Library and Museum in Philadelphia.

Review:
This publication covers most Colt firearms from the Paterson to the Second Amendment Commemorative .22 Colt Peacemaker. Only nine pages are associated with pre-Civil War revolvers, 10 pages fall within the era of Civil War handguns and three pages are devoted to the military revolving rifle and rifled musket.

The remainder of the book deals with almost 500 Colt models of handguns and shoulder arms along with machineguns. It includes a short biography of Samuel Colt and the company which he founded.

The author goes into gun rating systems, the Colt Archive Letter which is of major importance to the researcher or gun owner, archive phone service, collection management programs and engraving and gun values.

Sections III through VII offer an excellent look at Colt conversions, the single action Army, double actions, the M1911, long guns up to the M16 and the popular commemorative series.

There are color photos of all weapons noted and values on a scale of “excellent” to “poor.’ Internet auction results of Colt sales are found throughout the book. Appendix 1 gives information on the Colt Collector’s Association Inc. and Appendix 2 consists of four pages of American arms museums where Colt products may be seen.

Chapter II covers cap and ball revolvers, beginning with the prototypes which Colt commissioned between 1832 and 1836. Unfortunately no photos are included of those guns such as the Anson Chase experimental, dagger revolver or the 1835 promotion model. Production guns begin with the Model No. 1 Pocket/Baby Patterson.

A section on Walkers and Dragoons is followed by the 1849 Pocket, 1851 Navy, side hammers, 1860 Army and Navy, Pocket Navy and the Police revolver. Related information includes a price guide and selected Internet descriptions and prices. Serial numbers are also made available to the gun owner/researcher.

Photos and data for the military revolving rifle and the Model 1861 rifled musket round out the material on Civil War-related arms.

This book is well-written and the color photography is excellent. It is hard cover and the paper is of good quality, but there is no index or bibliography. The publication is suggested for the overall Colt collector, researcher and historian. Be it noted, however, that the values are circa 2007 and will have to be adjusted throughout the future.