THE CUSTER COLT

STORY

The Prototype

Back in 1996, I was approached by a representative of the Custer Battlefield Museum project.  A special museum was to be built upon private land on the battlefield. As a feature for their gift shop, a special production single action revolver was to be offered.   Their representative, Kurt Cox, discussed various options, such as using Itialian copies as bases for reconstructions that would have all the correct lines, forms, markings and colors of the originals.  He wanted the guns to be collectable and shootable, so my suggestion was to contact Colt Manufacturing to see if they would like to produce the guns for the museum.  We agreed this was the best move, and a meeting was scheduled with Colt representatives in July.  They eventually consented to a prototype, built to my specifications.  I was supplied with all the "green" parts, and two were produced in our shop, a 7-1/2" 45 military, and a 4-3/4" 44-40, in blue and casecolor.

These guns were displayed at End Of Trail in 1998 and 1999 in the Colt tent, where they created much excitement.  A third and final prototype was produced with them which letters with all the military features. I was finally rewarded with this one-of-a-kind single action for all my efforts and assistance, with the hope that someday it would actually make it into production.  It's the first Ainsworth inspected cavalry to leave the factory in over  125 years!  

Unfortunately, as of December 2004, the factory has not moved on this, although they did make a wonderful 1920's version of the military 1911 45 automatic.  It's a step in the right direction at Colt, and I hope they will eventually get around to producing the earlier version of the .45 military  SA Colt, but our prototype may be the only one that will ever see the light of day.   Perhaps with enought prodding from interested collectors, Colt will decide to introduce it.  Give them a call at 1-800-962-2658 if  you're interested, or sign the guest book below and I'll forward the information to Colt.

Dave Lanara Restoration

KidColt