Anyone Ever Used Colt Archive Properties to Research a Firearm?

I believe I would call them.

John

Yes call, I used them on a 1st gen SA and paid the extra for the expedited search that let me verify the particulars of caliber, finish, and barrel to be able to make a reasonably informed purchase. The final letter didn't show anything remarkable but did add some more info and certified the configuration, point shipped to and what grips it did or didn'y have.
It's a crapshoot that you get info back that will make it have some historical or personal significance.
I don't know that I would get a letter for every old Colt or S&W but those with value and historical claims would well be worth the cost.

They've been playing big games with a Colt collector I know for some time now. Wildly varying response time, varying charges for the "letter", dubious content in the documents compared to past researches from Colt.

It's almost like they have no real guidelines or rules anymore and have non-gun enthusiast interns running the program now.

Often, the old style letter will simply be a roughly worded statement with none of the past flourish or style.

The real kick in the nards is when he pops full charge for a "letter" and receives a no-known-information post card in return. Thanks for nothin'!

http://www.coltsmfg.com/CustomerServices/ArchiveServices.aspx

It says:

To contact Colt Archive Services directly:

Phone: (800) 962-(Colt) 2658 ext. 1343
Fax: (860) 244-1439

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rc

Some info they have, and some they don't, too. I got a letter from Colt about Granddad's Colt Lightning rifle, and all they could tell me from the three-digit serial number was that it was from the first year of production, but that all detailed records from that period had been destroyed by a fire at the factory.

Ah.... The fire at the factory was on Feb. 4, 1864. The Lightning rifles were made in various sizes from 1884 to 1902.

Old Fuff said:

Ah.... The fire at the factory was on Feb. 4, 1864. The Lightning rifles were made in various sizes from 1884 to 1902.

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They actually gave me a production date of 1883. Mine seems to have a small difference or two from other medium-frame Lightnings I've looked at, the ejection port is smaller and shaped like the cartridge, instead of rectangular, and it doesn't have the dustcover over the bolt that slides back, the rear of the receiver is closed, and the bolt comes back through a round hole.

I have at least two reference books that say the medium-frame Lightning rifles were made from 1884 through 1902, with a total production of approximately 89,777 guns.

But then of course they know much more then I do.

Old Fuff said:

I have at least two reference books that say the medium-frame Lightning rifles were made from 1884 through 1902, with a total production of approximately 89,777 guns.

But then of course they know much more then I do.

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I've seen the same references. The serial number on mine is 2xx, so it may be considered pre-production.

It may well be, but in any case the record wasn't burned up in a fire that occurred in 1864. What I question is the reliability of who ever did the research. :banghead:

Old Fuff said:

It may well be, but in any case the record wasn't burned up in a fire that occurred in 1864. What I question is the reliability of who ever did the research. :banghead:

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Now I'll have to dig back through my files to find where I put the letter. I thought is said fire, but maybe it referenced the 1936 flood, which also took out a bunch of the shipping records from prior years. CRS syndrome seems to be catching up to me.