Colt Single Action Army Frontier Six Shooter with a copy of a letter on letterhead stationary from Colt's Manufacturing Company to Mel Torme dated April 16, 1951. The letter states in part: "Have located our record on your Single Action Army Revolver bearing serial #356967. This left our plant as a 7 1/2" barrel, 44/40 calibre, and was engraved with Grade "A" design , and fitted with pearl stocks. Shipment was made on June 27th, 1939, to G.Van Guilder, Sun Valley, Idaho." A copy of a second, notarized, letter dated August 3, 1950, states that "Geo Strickler" won "Engraved Frontier model Colt revolver, 44-40 calibre, serial number 356967" at the Pioneer Pistol Shoot at Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 21, 1940. This revolver was engraved by Wilbur A. Glahn; the "Grade A" scroll engraving on the revolver is nearly identical to the Grade A engraving on Colt Single Actions #355179 and #357114 illustrated on pages 579 and 583 of "THE COLT ENGRAVING BOOK, VOLUME TWO" by R.L. Wilson This revolver and the two illustrated revolvers have the distinctive arrow engraved behind each cylinder flute. Factory engraved Colt Single Actions are rare; only about 1000 Colt Single Action Army revolvers were factory engraved between 1879 and 1940. The revolver barrel, ejector housing, cylinder, trigger guard and back strap have the Colt commercial blue finish. The frame and loading gate are color casehardened. The top of the hammer is blued, and the sides and back are polished bright. The hammer has borderless knurling on the spur. The ejector rod had the late oval head. The pearl grips have inlaid silver-plated Rampant Colt medallions. The top of the barrel is roll-stamped: "COLT'S PT. F.A. MFG. Co. HARTFORD CT. U.S.A." in one line, and "COLT FRONTIER SIX SHOOTER .44-40" is roll-stamped on the left side. The left side of the frame is roll-stamped with the Colt three-date/two-line address followed by the Rampant Colt trademark. The left front trigger guard bow is stamped with the assembler's number "4" above the Colt "Triangle/VP" proofmark. The full serial number, "356967", is stamped on the bottom of the frame and right side of the trigger guard and back strap underneath the grip. The partial serial number "67" is stamped on the rear face of the cylinder. All of the visible serial numbers match. The assembly number "713" is stamped on the inside of the loading gate and on the right side of the frame beneath the grip.

Excellent plus. The revolver is all original and retains 97% of the original blue and color casehardened finish. There is some light edge wear at the muzzle, along the top of the rear sight and on the leading edge of the ejector housing that suggest the revolver was holstered on one or more occasions. The balance of the barrel and ejector housing retain all of the high polish blue finish and show minimal handling wear. The cylinder has 98% of the commercial blue finish with very faint turn marks between the stops. The trigger guard and back strap show minimal storage and handling wear. The frame and loading gate have 99% of the casehardened finish with strong case colors. The polished sides of the hammer have some light scuff marks; nearly all of the blue finish is present on the top of the hammer. The factory engraving on the barrel, ejector housing, cylinder, frame, loading gate, trigger guard and back strap is extremely sharp. All of the markings and serial numbers are crisp. The action functions perfectly. The factory pearl grips are in the same excellent condition as the rest of the revolver; the only wear is a tiny chip in the back of each grip at the junction with the back strap. This is an exceptional well- documented example of a rare factory engraved pre-war Colt Single Action Army revolver from one of the top Colt single action collections.