The factory letters confirm this revolver was shipped to William B. Edwards, Technical Editor of GUNS Magazine, in Skokie, Illinois, on December 17, 1957, as a 12 inch barreled Buntline Special. Some of the more recent letters note that the revolver was shipped on the loan account. Edwards was a former Colt employee and also one of the owners and founders of Centennial Arms Corp. Also included are various documents and display pieces, an American Display Co. "SHERIFF'S MODEL" pine case (one of 52 made), the prototype lid for the former case with notes on it discussing the fact that Colt would not allow their logo to be used on these cases, and a one-of-a-kind luggage style case marked "* COLT*/SHERIFF"S MODELS/Colt 1960 Sheriff's Model/Post-War 2nd. Generation/'Prototype'/Colt .45 Buntline Special/S.N. 18307SA" over the Rampant Colt trademark on the lid made by A. R. Minkoff Leather Goods Corp. The latter case has the original Buntline barrel numbered "BB 471" on the bottom, display plaques, golden handcuff pins, and a pewter Colt revolver pin inside. Other documents discussing the genesis of the 503 gun run of Sheriff's Model revolvers for Centennial note that the revolver was rebarreled by George Pearsall to test out the idea of a Sheriff's Model. Centennial was able to convince Colt to produce them by placing a large enough order. The gun is pictured and discussed in "The 1960 Colt Sheriff's Model-Second Generation" by Earl Whitney in the Spring 2006 issue of "The Rampant Colt." The short barrel has no markings and is equipped with a round blade front sight. The rest of the gun has the standard Second Generation markings and features including all matching numbers.

Very fine with 90% plus factory blue finish including both barrels, some minor thinning, moderate cylinder rotation marks, slight spotting, and general handling and storage marks. The cases and other items are very good with generally minor handling and storage wear.