1851 colts sold by colt

[tdelewis]

I made a mistake in my post giving the wrong year. I should have said 1851 not 1885. My question is, do the 1851 Colts sold by Colt from the 70's into the 90's need to have their frames annealed before engraving. I was under the impression that the ones sold by Colt were made in Italy but were finished by Colt in the US. The reproductions not sold by Colt, but by Dixie and others have their frames colored by using a hot cyanide dip and is not true case hardening. They cut easily because the surface is not hardened. While Colt uses true case hardening process. The surface is hardened. Does it need to be annealed? Those of you who do modern SSA Colts Should have the answer to this.

 

[FANCYGUN]

Those early 2nd gen Colts do need to be annealed

 

[T.G.III]

According to the book "Collecting Modern Colt Black powder Revolvers"

All of the C series colts were assembled by colt in their factory and all F series colts were assembled under colts strict guidance at the Iver Johnson Middlesex NJ Plant, the C and F series are considered "Second Generation" Colt's and all of the necessary F series parts were sent to the Colt plant for case hardening and finished under the strict guidance of Colt manufacturing processes. All second generation Colt's can be "lettered" through Colt.

None of the Signature Series "Third Generation" Colts made after 1982 seen the inside of the Colt plant, these are the black powder revolvers with the "Samuel Colt" signature on the backstrap.

All of the above mentioned revolvers are marked Colt and were assembled stateside.

Hope this information helps.

 

[FANCYGUN]

Very good point made about the signature series colts For the most part people seem to stay away from them. The C and F series are really beautiful guns to play with and engrave.

 

[mtlctr]

I made a mistake in my post giving the wrong year. I should have said 1851 not 1885. My question is, do the 1851 Colts sold by Colt from the 70's into the 90's need to have their frames annealed before engraving. I was under the impression that the ones sold by Colt were made in Italy but were finished by Colt in the US. The reproductions not sold by Colt, but by Dixie and others have their frames colored by using a hot cyanide dip and is not true case hardening. They cut easily because the surface is not hardened. While Colt uses true case hardening process. The surface is hardened. Does it need to be annealed? Those of you who do modern SSA Colts Should have the answer to this.

After you anneal the frame, how do you harden it again?

 

[mtlctr]

After you anneal the frame, how do you harden it again?

 

[FANCYGUN]

send it out to someone who does the proper case hardening and bluing, or just leave it soft and finish as you please. I like to give them an antique type of grey finish so the engraving shows