Colt Model 1855 Revolving Shotgun manufactured c. 1861. The shotgun has a 27-inch, 20 gauge (60 caliber), barrel with five-shot fluted cylinder and small oval trigger guard. The barrel, frame, cylinder and trigger guard are blued and the loading lever, hammer, and cylinder pin are color casehardened. The round barrel has an under-rib with two pipes and an ebony cleaning rod with knurled, nickel-silver tip. The shotgun has a 6 1/2-inch, varnished walnut forearm with nickel silver tip and oval wedge escutcheon. The varnished walnut stock has an iron, shotgun style buttplate. The barrel has a nickel-silver front sight bead, The top of the barrel flat has the standard Colt markings: "{COLT'S PT./1856} {ADDRESS COL. COLT/HARTFORD CT.U.S.A.}". The top strap, cylinder flute and left side of the frame are not marked. The serial number, "286" is stamped on the bottom of the frame, trigger guard and buttplate. All of the visible serial numbers match. Colt manufactured approximately 1100 Model 1855 Revolving Shotguns between 1860 and 1863. Good examples of this limited production shotgun are scarce.

Fine. The barrel and under-rib retain 60% of the faded original blue finish with some scattered patches of surface rust. The frame retains about 30% of the original blue finish with scattered flash pitting and handling marks. The cylinder has a blue-brown patina and shows moderate firing wear. The nipples and rear face of the cylinder are flash pitted. There is deep pitting on one cylinder chamber and scratch marks on several other cylinders. The trigger guard and buttplate have a dark patina. The hammer has a mottled silver-gray patina with patches of age discoloration and light pitting. The stock and forearm are both in fine condition with 60% of the varnish. The stock has several deep scratches on the right side near the buttplate and there are scattered minor handling marks on both the stock and forearm. Mechanically excellent. This is a fine original example of a scarce Colt Model 1855 Revolving Shotgun