RARE COLT “BLACKPOWDER” S.A.A. IN .455 ELEY CTG. WITH RARE WINANS FRONT SIGHT AND MEDFORD RIFLING.

.455 Eley ctg., 7 1/2″ barrel with rare Winans front sight.   Factory Medford rifling with right hand twist.  Blue and casehardened finish and wooden grips.  The barrel retains 80-85% plus blue, the cylinder more.  The straps have 95% plus blue and frame with excellent case colors remaining.  Mint bore.  In it’s original London Agency box and label with accessories, all excellent.   A similar Walter Winans revolver was offered  in 2009 at Morphy’s Auction and is 15 numbers apart from this one.  Walter Winans was born April 5, 1852 in St. Petersburg, Russia to American parents while his father was working on the Russian railroad system.  He was immensely talented in a number of fields including art, sculpting, equestrian and pistol & rifle shooting. In the 1908 Summer Olympics he won an Olympic Gold Medal for rifle shooting and in the 1912 Olympics he won a silver medal in a similar event. Over his career Mr. Winans won numerous shooting matches in both rifle & pistol and inventing several different styles of sights for handguns like the one on this revolver.  He was also a noted author writing several works relating to firearms and shooting.   He died in 1920 while participating in a trotting race in London.