Number on gate.

[Grizzly Adams]

I have seen some 1873 SAA with three digit numbers on the loading gate.  The number is not part of the serial number.  Is this found on 2nd generation Colts as well as the 1st?  I have seen some 2nd generations without this number.

Thanks,

GA

[Abilene]

Howdy Grizz,
The only 2nd Gen I have is an NRA Centennial, so I don't know if that makes a difference, but it has a two digit number on the loading gate.  Neither of my third gen's has a number there, and my 1st gen has 3 digits.  I think this is an assembly number and seems to me it matches another number stamped somewhere inside (have to pull the grip frame I think).  I've seen it before but it's been a good while.

On the TV show Pawn Stars several months ago they had a nickled Colt from 1880's, and the "expert" (not the same guy they usually use for old guns) pointed out that the loading gate number was different than the other matching numbers, so this meant the gate had been replaced and somewhat lowered the value.  Some "expert"!

[Sagebrush Burns]

Abilene has it right, it is an assembly number.

[Pettifogger]

Saw that show.  Guy that doesn't know the gate isn't a serial numbered part isn't much of an expert.

[Flint]

Yes, assembly numbers keep the parts together during assembly and finishing before a Serial Number is assigned.

[Tascosa Joe]

Usually the matching number is on the bottom of the frame under the trigger guard.  I saw the "expert" as well.

[Grizzly Adams]

Actually, the program and the "expert" is just what prompted my post!  We must hang out in the same places!

I was discussing that program with a fella in my local toy store last week.  He is a big time Colt collector and seems knowledgeable about them.  He was showing me a 2nd generation SAA that had the assembly number on the gate and said that all 2nd generations had the number, but that Colts does not put it on the 3rd generation arms.  I have a 2nd generation, and it does not have the assembly number on the gate.  Since some have it, and others don't, I am wondering if and when Colts stopped using the assembly number on the 2nd generation guns?

[Old Doc]

Don't have all my references in front of me but I do know that some late second generation Colts did not have the assembly numbers on the loading gate. Others can correct me but isn't it true that around the same time, some late second generations has the "SA" as a prefix instead of a suffix?
I too saw that Pawn Stars episode and it made me wonder about the credentials of the so-called "experts" Rick calls in.

[Abilene]

Old Doc, actually it was the early 3rd gen where the SA went from the suffix to the prefix.  Main reason I can remember this is because my two early 3rd gen .44 Spcl SAA's were both made in 1978.  One is 97xxxSA and the other is SA07xxxx.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I have two 2nd Gen Colts, one made in 1968, the other made in 1973. They both have a three digit assembly number on the loading gate.

[Buck Stinson]

My 1960 vintage second generation SA also has an assembly number on the gate.  I don't know where they found the "expert" they used on that episode of Pawn Stars.  Sounds like the guys here know more about Colt single actions than he does. 

[Fox Creek Kid]

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. 

[River Jordan]

I seem to remember that the new FSS has the number on the gate as well