RE: Question about Am Ry Ex. Co.
Inbox
Mike – I double checked the original hand written record and the entry includes the “Co”.
One thing to always keep in mind with Colt’s shipping ledgers is they weren’t keeping these for us! There are a lot of things like this that happen – shorthand notations, abbreviations that are a letter off from the records vs. the guns, etc. One of my favorite (least favorite?) examples of this was a New Service a few years ago, that had a factory inscription on the sideplate that was quite long, and the shipping ledger essentially said “Presented to Major John Smith from his etc etc…..” and there was about 2 more sentences worth on the gun! They also don’t make much distinction to record all capital letters, lowercase letters, period, etc. The real life examples don’t always precisely match the ledgers.
As an FYI, nearly all of the shipments that I see on these guns (AM RY EXP CO) all include the CO in the ledger entry, even though all the guns appear to not have them. Another example attached here.
From:
Paul, As I was scanning the Colt factory letter for Colt Police Positive SN182277, I noted on the revolver that the engraving on the revolver backstrap does not include "Co.", just "Am. Ry. Exp" (See attached). The archive letter shows "Am. Ry. Ex. Co." Is the addition of the "Co." an archive computer error or did the factory make an entry error? My concern is related to all the confusion about Wells-Fargo and the addition of "Co" or "CO" for verification of the engraving being factory or a fake.
If this is just an archive computer editing mistake, please re-issue the letter with the correct engraving. If it's an oversight by the factory, that is fine, but please verify in writing, to place with the archive letter. I know it's picky, but on down the line in one hundred years, who knows what will be called into question.
Attached: photo of the back-strap engraving (strikes) and your factory letter.
Regards, Mike
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