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1ST MODEL

Serial numbered #1 to #2000 with a small round brass trigger guard and grip frame. Squareback guard is worth a 40 percent premium.

2ND MODEL

Serial numbered #2001 to #42000, steel grip frame, and large round trigger guard.

HARTFORD MANUFACTURED VARIATION

Serial numbers in the #42000 range.

SIDE HAMMER HANDGUNS

Sometimes a practical and farsighted innovation makes the grade and sometimes it does not, for no special reason other than it does not catch the eye or the imagination of the public. Although they featured a uniquely new solid frame with screw-in barrel, spur trigger, hammer on the right side and E.K. Root’s new creeping loading lever, Sam Colt’s percussion Side Hammer Pocket Revolvers, manufactured from 1855 to 1870, were never extremely popular.

Although the civilian market was apparently becoming saturated with handguns, when Colt’s extended patent expired manufacturers such as Remington quickly entered the market. Smith and Wesson, a true competitive thorn in Colt’s paw since its inception in the mid-1800s, was not far behind.