"COLT SINGLE ACTION ARMY REVOLVER. SN 354396. Cal. 38-40. Extraordinarily rare single action with 4-3/4" bbl, slightly altered front sight with 2-line address on top which is slightly off-center and the usual bbl marking & caliber on left side. Frame has 2-line patent dates with rampant Colt in a partial circle. Fitted with rampant Colt medallion pearl grips which has a carved ox head on right side and the inscribed initials "ALS" on left side. The bbl has an engraved presentation which accounts for the offset address, which reads "To Arthur / from a Grateful County". The balance of the revolver, sides of bbl, ejector rod housing, cylinder, back strap, butt strap & trigger guard are typically Glahn engraved with some of his very finest work consisting of foliate & floral patterns with an extremely fine punch dot background. Top strap has intertwined leaves & vines and back strap has acanthus leaves. Cylinder is, unusually, fully engraved except for the flutes. Accompanied by a Colt factory letter fully identifying this revolver as found and showing that it was sold to Kleins Hardware, address unavailable and shipped to the George Worthington Co., Cleveland, Ohio, May 2, 1931 to order #19866/1 in a shipment of one revolver. Also accompanied by a fine tooled Heiser belt & holster rig; tooled in Heiser's trademark style of leaves & blossoms, buckstitch lacing on the holster which has a sewn-in plug and has Deputy Stuckert's initials near the right end of the decorations. His initials are also on front of the holster near the top. This revolver, lest we lose sight of an important aspect of its existence, was presented to a 33-year old deputy sheriff, Arthur L. Stuckert, by the citizens of Bucyrus Township, Crawford County, Ohio, for his heroic service in the line of duty. Accompanied by copies of several newspaper articles primarily from the Bucyrus, Ohio, Telegraph-Forum regarding the presentation of this revolver to Deputy Sheriff Arthur Stuckert for his bravery and services on January 23, 1931 when his sheriff was killed in an attempted arrest of a chicken thief. Apparently Deputy Stuckert, upon hearing the shot that killed the sheriff, rushed into the house and kept assailants at bay until the sheriff could be removed. He died shortly thereafter. One of the articles dated May 22, 1931 details the presentation along with the photograph of the revolver itself. Another copy of a page of a newspaper is a thank you letter from Deputy Stuckert for the "beautiful gun, and holster". This note also has a picture of the gun. Additionally accompanied by copies of pp. 45-48 of the Winter 2007 The Rampant Colt magazine which is an article by Corky Ullom, dealing with gold plated engraved & gold inlaid Colts. He states that there are only a total of twelve gold engraved Colt single actions of the total 357,859 single actions manufactured in the first generation and only one of them was in 38-40 caliber, making this one of the most extraordinarily rare Colt single action revolvers extant. Additionally accompanied by a 3-1/2 page hand written letter from noted Colt authority, Ron Graham, authenticating the originality of this fabulous revolver. Mr. Graham states that it is one of only three and possibly a fourth known in nearly 50 years of research. Deputy Stuckert served in WWI with honor and died Jan. 21, 1971 at age 71. Certainly additional research should be able to provide additional history regarding Deputy Stuckert. CONDITION: Very fine to extremely fine. Overall retains 92-94% strong orig gold plating with some thinning to the silver underplating in the area of the bbl address & presentation, over the top strap, back strap & butt strap with some additional thinning in trigger guard. Front strap retains about 20% silver with balance gray metal. It has been fired and shows slight burn on cylinder face but only a little and there is still gold plating in the bore. Is not solid at half cock, otherwise mechanics are fine, brilliant shiny bore. Belt & holster rig are slightly dry with the holster lining worn & torn but completely solid & usable. 4-32964 JR211 (150,000-200,000)"
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