Colt Single Action Army Gold Plated & Engraved

The barrel marking is the tell here. This third generation Single Action Army reads COLT SINGLE ACTION ARMY 44-40, which puts it in the .44-40 Winchester chambering rather than the .45 Colt you'd expect from the dress. That caliber matters to collectors who chase the old cowboy cartridge, and it pairs perfectly with a gun built to look like it walked off a saloon table in 1885.

Every surface wears scrollwork. The frame, barrel, cylinder, ejector housing, trigger guard, and backstrap are cut with deep American-style scroll, the kind with tight beaded backgrounds and flowing leaf forms that catch light from any angle. Look closely at the cylinder and you'll find engraved cartridge motifs standing upright between the scroll, a nice touch that ties the artwork back to the gun's purpose. The whole thing then went under a bright gold plate that fills each cut and turns the revolver into something closer to jewelry than hardware.

The grips are smooth white, contoured to the classic plowhandle profile, with a gold escutcheon band running across the butt that carries its own miniature scroll. That gold-and-white pairing is an old Colt presentation look, and it reads exactly as intended against the warm metal.

The barrel carries the COLT'S PT. F.A. MFG. CO. HARTFORD CT. U.S.A. address, and the frame shows the patent dates with the rampant colt stamped beside them. Standard 5.5 inch barrel, the four click single action that every SAA owner knows, and the rampant colt riding the left frame.

This is a display piece first and foremost. If you collect engraved Colts or build a case around presentation-grade single actions, a fully covered, gold-plated SAA in the less common .44-40 chambering earns a spot most guns can't.