Collector guides · Hartford legends

Colt legends: Single Action Army, 1911 and the snake guns

The Colts collectors chase most, how to tell the generations apart, and why a factory letter is the first thing to ask for.

Updated 2026-09-29

The Single Action Army

The Army’s first order of 8,000 Single Action Army revolvers shipped in 1873. Collectors divide production into three generations: the first ran from 1873 to 1941, with 357,859 made; the postwar second generation is identified by an “SA” serial suffix; the third began in 1976.

Under federal law, a firearm made in or before 1898 is an antique, so many first-generation guns fall outside the rules that apply to modern firearms. That changes how they can be bought and transferred.

The 1911

The US Army adopted the Model 1911 on 29 March 1911, and the Navy and Marine Corps followed in 1913. Military-contract and commercial guns, and the many variants since, each have their own collector following.

The snake guns

The Python is the one most collectors want. Its Royal Blue finish is a mirror polish applied before bluing. Colt announced the end of regular Python production in 1999, and its Custom Shop kept making them until 2005. A new stainless Python arrived in 2020 and a blued one in 2024. An original Python and a 2020-or-later gun are different collectibles, priced accordingly.

Cobra (1950)
Python (1955)
Diamondback (1966)
Viper (1977)
Boa (1985, a Lew Horton edition)
King Cobra (1986)
Anaconda (1990)

Factory letters

Colt Archive Properties issues archive letters from Colt’s shipping records, which go back to 1861. A letter states the calibre, barrel length, finish, stocks, special features, shipping date and destination recorded for that serial number. It does not trace later owners and does not confirm markings or packaging. When the gun matches its letter, the letter adds confidence and value. When it does not, you have found a problem.

Before you buy: checklist

Ask for a Colt factory letter, or budget to order one, and check the gun matches it.
Refinishing lowers value: look for softened edges, blurred roll marks and uneven bluing.
Second-generation Single Action Army revolvers carry the rampant-colt mark on the rear of the cylinder.
“New in box” should mean no cylinder drag line, plus the original box and papers.
For a Python, establish whether it is an original (1955 to 2005) or a 2020-or-later gun.
Check whether a Single Action Army was made in or before 1898, which makes it an antique under federal law.

Buying one on GunMister

GunMister is a classified-advertising site: sellers set their own prices and you deal with them directly. Ask the seller for close-up photographs of the markings and serial numbers before you agree a price, and complete the transfer as the law requires, through a licensed dealer where one is needed. See what is listed now in the Colt Legends collection.