This is a solid representative example of a rare and desirable Colt Model 1839 Paterson percussion revolving carbine. Reportedly, less than 950 of Samuel Colt's Model 1839 Paterson revolving Carbines were manufactured at the Patent Arms Manufacturing Co.'s Paterson, New Jersey factory circa 1838-1841, according to page 47 of "The Book of Colt Firearms" (1971) by R.L. Wilson. There are far less surviving today. They were the most successful of the Paterson firearms and were used by both the Republic of Texas and the U.S. Army. R.L. Wilson wrote this model was "The most practical and popular of all Colts longarms from the Paterson period," and also indicated that Samuel Colt continued to sell and display this model into the 1850s. The Model 1839 is featured in multiple paintings by famous frontier artist George Catlin that were used to promote Colt's early firearms. On top of being the best of the Paterson long guns, this model is also significant as one of the first practical repeating long gun designs. There had been other repeating firearms in the past, but none of these were remotely as useful and many were unsuited to production on a large scale. This exact example is photographed and described on page 212 of "The Paterson Colt Book" by R.L. Wilson. This carbine has a smoothbore part-round/part-beveled barrel with brazed lug. The right side of the barrel lug has a professionally made replacement loading lever and has a flat, two-groove wedge, a post front sight, and a dovetail mounted replacement notch rear sight. The left side of the barrel lug is roll-stamped "*Patent-Arms M'g. Co. Paterson, NJ.-Colt's Pt.*" with wavy lines at the ends. The cylinder is 2 1/2 inches long, with roll-engraved scenery, and retains visible patent and address markings. The serial number "808" is visible on the rear face of the barrel lug, wedge, rear of the cylinder, cylinder arbor pin, cylinder turning ring, and lower tang screw, with an illegible faded number at the toe of the buttplate. Provenance: The Charles Marx Collection

Good, exhibits a mix of artificial brown and gray patina on most of the iron surfaces, scattered mild freckling, a few scattered patches of minor pitting, and mostly legible markings. The slightly undersize, refinished stock is very good, with numerous scattered dings and scratches, a few small minor chips at some of the edges, and a few small minor cracks behind both the upper tang and lower tang. Mechanically fine. This rare Paterson Model 1839 carbine is an important piece necessary for any complete Colt percussion collection.