Colt’s Armory press ca 1888

Just completed, 1888 Colt’s Quarto-Medium style 1 (10 x 15”). We thought what better way to connect the dots than have a pistol. So here we have a 1887 Thunderer .41 cal. Both were made at the Colt’s factory in Hartford.

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Congratz a real artwork.!
Are the bronze parts original?

thanks and yes they are save the two oilers for the main bull gear.more pics at www.howardironworks.org or https://twitter.com/NickNhoward

I’d be more than delighted to follow a blog where you detail the work being done to the press, maybe include tech tips on how to best restore certain parts, how to accomplish such a clean look.

That’d be something I’d sign up for!

Congratulations, impeccable work.

thanks, we should do that. great idea, These platens are pretty basic, but we’ll try and include more before and during photos on our website

Beautiful job on a very desirable press, Nick

Wow! Can you make mine look that nice? Gorgeous job.

Absolutely stunning.

Thanks very much for the kind comments. We will work to post photos of the process on subsequent rebuilds so anyone interested can see before-during and after.

So is the press as much of a nightmare to keep in operation as the gun is? That was Colt’s first double-action revolver and they hadn’t really gotten the design right yet. Word is that Doc Holiday liked them. His preference was supposedly for the .38 Long Colt version, which was called the “Lightning”. Gunsmiths like them best… they kept them busy with repairs. Beautiful press!