This revolver was manufactured on the eve of the Civil War during the tense presidential election year of 1860. Tensions between the northern and southern states had been building for decades but accelerated that year over the issue of slavery and its expansion into territories in the West during the election. When Republican Abraham Lincoln emerged the victor with nearly 40% of the popular vote and 180 of the electors despite not even being on the ticket in ten southern states, secession movements accelerated, and South Carolina became the first of the southern states to secede, doing so on December 2, 1860. Additional states in the South soon followed prior to Lincoln taking office setting the stage for armed conflict. During this tense period, Samuel Colt continued to market his arms to both the federal government and the South. Chief among the arms he marketed was his "New Model Army" revolver introduced in 1860, and many of the revolvers manufactured that year and in early 1861 were shipped south of the Mason-Dixon Line, even after the bombardment of Fort Sumter. The potential Confederate connections along with these revolvers being a rare and early variation of an important Colt model have made these fluted cylinder Model 1860 Army revolvers highly sought after by collectors, especially rare examples with considerable finish like this very early example. Charles Pate in his book "The Colt Model 1860 Army Revolver" estimates that between 5,000 and 6,300 fluted cylinders were originally produced, and some of these cylinders were changed by the factory to the standard non-fluted cylinders if they were returned to the factory which has limited the number that have survived. By his estimates, the 7 1/2 inch barrel on this revolver is actually rarer than the fluted cylinder as he estimated that only 2,800 Model 1860 Army revolvers had this barrel length. Regardless of the exact numbers, only a very small portion of the 200,500 revolvers manufactured between 1860 and 1873 were in this configuration. The revolver has the distinctive blued, six-shot, fluted cylinder that defines this desirable variation. The cylinder is marked the serial number and "PATENTED SEPT. 10th 1850" in one of flute in the same location which is rather unusual. The cylinder has the early straight bored chambers. Colt later introduced a taper to the chamber at the breech end after report of failures do to the thinness of the barrel wall at the cylinder stops on these early revolvers. The rare early production barrel is 7 1/2 inches in length and has a German silver blade front sight, "-ADDRESS SAML COLT HARTFORD CT.-" roll-stamped on top, a casehardened "creeping" loading lever mounted underneath, "2" no the left side of the barrel lug, and the matching serial number "539" on the bottom. The brilliantly color casehardened "four screw" frame has the matching serial number "539" on the bottom at the front, "COLTS/PATENT" stamped on the left side of the frame, slightly projecting "fourth" screws, flush hammer screw head, shoulder stock cuts on the recoil shield, and a capping groove on the right. The hammer is also color casehardened and features borderless knurling. The silver plated brass front strap has the matching serial number "539" at the front of the trigger guard along with "S" and "G" on the left side, and the iron back strap has "539" at the toe and a slot at the heel for mounting a shoulder stock. The wedge and arbor are also numbered "538." The "piano" varnished grip is "Army sized" rather than the smaller "Navy" sized grip seen on some early examples.

Very fine with 95% plus original silver plating on the trigger guard and front strap, 60% plus original case colors, 50% original blue finish on the barrel, strong original blue in the cylinder flutes, gray and brown patina on the balance of the iron, some light oxidation and pitting, and general mild overall wear. The grip is also very fine and retains 80% plus of the original varnish and has some minor edge wear, light scratches and dings, and small dents. The action occasionally locks up, but it otherwise mechanically functions. This is both an exceptional and scarce Colt Model 1860 Army with three-digit serial number and desirable fluted cylinder and 7 1/2 inch barrel. Most of these early revolvers were used during the Civil War making them very difficult to find in this level of condition.