Original 1860 Army Colt question (edited)

[1BadF350]

Original 1860 Army Colt question (edited) NOW WITH PICS

My dad has an original 1860 Army? (Has round barrel) revolver that has been in our family for generations, but we dont know much about it. It has what I presume to be the name of the owner "E.W. Moore" stamped on the barrel and cylinder? Do all 1860 Army Colts have E.W. Moore stamped into them?

 

[Hawg]

No but they have W.L. Ormsby on the cylinder. He was the engraver that designed the cylinder scene.

 

[1BadF350]

Well shoot dad is telling me it has a round barrel so that makes it a 1860 Army?
Also it seems that E.W. Moore was the commander of the Texas Navy during the scene depicted on the engraving and approved of the engraving used by Colt.

 

[Jim Watson]

Might be an 1861 Navy or an 1862 Police.

I don't guess you could put up some pictures.

 

[1BadF350]

I'm leaning toward Army since the serial number is in the 56K range. 61 Navies only went to 36k.

I'm really very curious about the E.W. Moore stampings. There is a Edwin Ward Moore who commanded the second texas navy in a battle against the mexican navy. The scene of which is depicted on the cylinders of the pistols.

No I have to find out if my particular pistol was in fact owned by this famous texas hero or not. He died in 1865.

 

[James K]

I hope 1BadF350 can find a digital camera and send us some pictures. A Colt with a round barrel covers a lot of guns.

Jim

 

[1BadF350]

Here are some pics.

 

[1BadF350]

More. In pic 52 you can see "E.W. Moore" on the cylinder (upside down). In pic 59 you can see "E.W. Moore" in front of the Colt address on top of the barrel.

 

[Jim Watson]

Well, that's an 1860, all right.
I don't know who E.W. Moore was but that is not a regular factory marking.
Dealer, probably; not many owners would have their own stamp.

 

[1BadF350]

Would an owner have had their name stamped on it after purchase? This E. W. Moore intrigues me because E.W. Moore is a famous naval commander in Texas history.

 

[James K]

I have never seen or heard of that marking on any other gun, so if it was a dealer his marking is not well known. I would assume it is the name of a previous owner. Putting one's own name on a gun is not that unusual, but it is more commonly seen as an engraving or stamped with individual letters than as put on by a single stamp. As for proving ownership of the gun by a specific "E.W. Moore" that would require a lot more research. The best evidence would be that stamp on some piece of property that is defnitely known to have belonged to the naval commander. In my experience, people who are into putting their names on things put their names on just about everything in reach, so I can imagine that stamp on sword hilts, knives, leather goods, cap badges, etc.

The name Moore is pretty common; I have known several people by that name and even knew an Edward Moore, but I don't recall his middle name. There was a Moore who patented and made revolvers of the front loading type, but his first name was Daniel.

Jim

 

[RJay]

No less , no Moore