Designed by William Mason and Charles Brinckerhoff, Colt's factory manager and Superintendent of Engineering, the Model 1878 revolver was intended to be a double action alternative to Colt's legendary Single Action Army revolver. With 51,210 being produced, the 1878 was never nearly as popular as its single action cousin; however, there were still many that favored it in the West for its firepower, including Captain Jack Crawford, who replaced Buffalo Bill Cody as "Chief of Scouts" shortly after the Battle of Little Bighorn. This example was manufactured in 1887 and, interestingly, has the two line Colt Hartford address on the 5 1/2 inch barrel. The small two line address was general used only on 4 3/4 inch or shorter barrels, and the 5 1/2 inch barrel almost always had the one line address. The left side of the barrel has the desirable "COLT FRONTIER SIX SHOOTER" acid etched marking. The underside of the barrel has the caliber marking "44" in tiny font. The left side of the trigger guard is marked "44 CAL." The cylinder is numbered to the gun. The oak partitioned case has a Cogswell & Harrison of London retailer paper label on the interior of the lid and contains a C&JW Hawksley, screwdriver, and cleaning rod. While many think of .44-40 W.C.F. as a cartridge of the American Western Frontier, this particular revolver is evidence that the cartridge also found popularity elsewhere. One can easily imagine the stopping power of .44-40 being highly valued in many corners of the British Empire during the late Victorian period. Provenance: The Tom Selleck Collection