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HISTORY: THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE

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Before I began studying Colt firearms I had no idea of the controversies, mysteries and unresolved questions surrounding virtually every part of every gun listed in this volume. That amuses and puzzles me, because it seems as though it should be entirely straightforward: X gun was first built in X year with X features for X reasons or to address X needs. But this is an illusion; these determinations only seem straightforward. What I have learned this past year is that every facet of every action involved in making something new – even something as hard and factual and physical as a gun – becomes the subject of an historical obsession. Actually, I like that.

Almost nothing is straightforward in collecting Colt firearms – and the older the gun, the more complex its history becomes. Records are incomplete; factories burn; new models are stolen or pirated; guns are faked; financing fails; collectors with dubious character alter guns or just lie; owners die or just change their mind. Critical spellings are typed incorrectly and passed on for generations. People forget. And all this complexity ultimately means that it is more difficult to make a good decision about investing.