Colt Lightweight Commander Owned By El Solo Lobo - Texas Ranger

Captain Manuel T. Gonzaullas owned 580 guns in his lifetime, and almost none of them surface today. That fact alone is what makes this early Lightweight Commander stop you. The slide carries his story in engraving, from the dates of his Ranger service to the nickname Texas earned him, and a documentation letter from Robert D. Moser, author of Texas Iron, Guns of the Texas Rangers, builds a careful case tying it to the Lone Wolf himself.

This is one of the first Lightweight Commanders Colt built, shipped in 1950 during the model's second year. It's chambered in .38 Super with the 4.25 inch barrel and the alloy frame that gave the Commander its name. The slide wears a dark blue finish that throws light along the flats, and the engraving runs across both sides. On the left, you'll read El Solo Lobo just ahead of the Colt rollmark, with Texas Rangers 1920 to 1951 cut into the front and a detailed outline of Texas standing behind the serrations. The right side carries a Texas Rangers star, the words Presented Upon Retirement near the ejection port, and Captain Manuel T. Gonzaullas etched alongside a Christian cross. The man was a devout Mason and Presbyterian deacon. The cross fits.

The grips are carved elephant ivory. One panel bears his MTG cattle brand framed in scrollwork. The other shows a Colt rampant horse trotting through a desert scene, surrounded by the same flowing cuts. Look at the trigger guard and you'll notice it's been bobbed, the face left exposed. Gonzaullas was known to set his guns up that way for a faster draw.

It comes in a padded leather presentation case tooled with the Texas Rangers star, along with Moser's signed documentation letter. For a collector chasing Ranger provenance, this is the kind of piece that rarely leaves a private collection once it lands there.