Hi,
I have an Colt Model 1878 ca 1994 that has a recoil bushing. Was this a standard feature on the mod 1878. On another board they are discussing a problem that the Texas rangers had with the 44-40 Saa. The cartridges would back out of the chambers when fired and lock the action.
Regards
Colt
Recoil plates were standard starting on the Colt SAA. The design was first implemented the year before by S&W at the behest of the Russian inspectors in house at their plant for the Russian Model.
The infamous Colt 44-40 story is misunderstood by many today. It had nothing to do with the gun and everything to do with the primitive ammo of the time in the 1870's. However, recently I had the same thing happen in a modern Ruger GP100 .357 Magnum using factory Win. ammo in that a primer ruptured thereby locking up the gun solid as a rock. I had to beat the cylinder open with a large plastic gunsmithing hammer. Although far less common today due to better manuf. processes & metals, this was far more common in the 19th century when metallic cartridges were in their infancy.