A Man of Letters: John Kopec's Legacy

The tropical fish industry’s loss was the Colt Single Action Army revolver’s gain when John Kopec sold Hacienda Aquatics in the early 1970s to pursue his passion. Kopec’s scholarship and knowledge of the legendary revolver was unmatched, offering his expertise in authenticating them for more than 50 years.

John Kopec died at the age of 97 on Feb. 16. He had retired completely a month earlier after a semi-retirement where he continued authenticating SAAs exclusively for Rock Island Auction Company. Kopec wrote more than 2,600 letters since the 1970s, authored “A Study of the Colt Single Action Army Revolver,” with Ron Graham and C. Kenneth Moore in 1976, and “Colt Cavalry & Artillery Revolvers… a Continuing Study,” with H. Sterling Fenn in 1994. He contributed to Texas Gun Collector and Rampant Colt publications. He was also published in The Arms Gazette, The American Rifleman and The Gun Report.

His letters lent weight and authenticity through his extensive survey of martial Colt Single Action Army revolvers. Among Rock Island Auction’s highest selling items are the guns of kings, presidents, a space pirate -- and a standard Colt Cavalry revolver manufactured in 1891 that earned a Kopec Gold Seal letter that gushed over its “unbelievable unfired and basically untouched condition.”

When news of Kopec’s death reached the Colt Forum, commenters recalled their interactions with him, describing him as a “true gentleman” and remembering his “enthusiasm, knowledge and generosity of spirit and willingness to talk revolvers with a complete stranger.”

This Colt Single Action Army, described as the finest known 1891 production Rinaldo A. Carr-inspected U.S. Colt Cavalry Model Single Action Army received a gold seal letter from Kopec noting this “extraordinary revolver” is in “remarkable unissued condition.” It sold for $763,750 in Rock Island Auction Company’s August 2022 Premier Auction and is the second most expensive SAA sold by the company behind the engraved revolver of Theodore Roosevelt.

John Kopec Letters

After leaving Hacienda Aquatics, Kopec ran a parts and service business for the Colt Single Action Army and began gathering data about the martial revolver. He retired from that business in 1991 to focus on the study of the SAA.

Kopec’s authentication letters offered gold or silver seals. A gold seal was granted to a gun found “authentic in every respect regardless of the percent of original finish,” would qualify for his personal collection and require “no excuses.” These letters were written on parchment paper.

This Colt SAA earned a gold seal letter from John Kopec who wrote that it may be “the finest representation of a “Lot Five” revolver we have ever had the privilege to examine.” The gun, sold in RIAC’s May 2022 Premier Auction for the same price as the gun mentioned earlier, $763,750.

A silver seal letter is for a revolver that is not as high conditioned but “in reality were nice, honest examples worthy of any collection. A bronze seal met the criteria that the gun was basically original but may have a few replaced components, been refinished or experienced some other modifications “of the distant past.”

Restored revolvers or with new parts, re-stamped serial number or some type of counterfeiting earned a standard blind embossed seal at Kopec’s discretion, verifying his inspection.

According to his website, he would tell collectors “not to be discouraged in their search, that there are some great Cavalry and Artillery revolvers surfacing out of estates and families on a regular basis, and that maybe they would find the next one.”

This Colt Single Action Army in the 7th Cavalry Lot Six serial number range received a silver letter. In the letter, Kopec noted that the gun’s serial number fell in the range for Lot Six and was in “remarkable original condition” but the base-pin screw was replaced and the missing ejector assembly, previously reported missing, was restored.

John Kopec’s Books

Kopec teamed with Ron Graham and C. Kenneth Moore on “A Study of the Colt Single Action Army Revolver” that showed the depths of Kopec’s scholarship on the subject. The 1976 book is beyond comprehensive on the topic of the Colt Single Action Army, touching on the civilian model, the Cavalry Models and their inspectors, the contracts and what they meant – and dozens and dozens of pictures. Among the book’s acknowledgements are easily recognizable names in Colt circles, like George S. Lewis Jr., H. Sterlng Fenn, Keith Cochran and Wallace Beinfeld.

Jazz singer and gun collector Mel Tormé wrote an introduction to the book, concluding “A truly comprehensive work on the Single Action Army has long been hoped for and sadly missing from the bookshelves. With this exhaustive study by Ron Graham, John Kopec and Kenneth Moore, the need is finally filled. All are first and foremost avid and avowed worshipers of the SAA and I know, first hand, that this book was a labor of love.”

On page XI of “A Study of the Colt Single Action Army Revolver” three pages past singer and collector Mel Torme’s introduction is a photo of this Colt Single Action Army, from Torme’s collection manufactured in 1925 and shipped to Abercrombie & Fitch. It is engraved on the barrel, cylinder and backstrap only.

Writing “Cavalry & Artillery Revolvers… A Continuing Study,” Kopec teamed with Fenn, a firearms collector and a scholar of the Indian Wars who participated in a number of archeological digs. He penned the second section of the book on Gen. George Custer’s 7th Cavalry Colts.

Don Wilkerson, a Colt historian and author, called Kopec “the single author uniquely qualified to examine new information on military revolvers.”

“His section on U.S. Cavalry Models in “A Study of the Colt Single Action Army Revolver” is considered the definitive work by pre-war collectors,” Wilkerson wrote. “John has the knowledge and discipline necessary to study new, primary sources, and to present the results in an accurate manner.”

Kopec examined this Lot 5 Single Action Army revolver and noted the serial number falls within the Lot 5 revolvers issued. “We feel very confident that our subject revolver #4936 may have also participated in this battle, but has survived to this day because of having been issued to either the Reno or Benteen troops which had a greater survival route."

Kopec continued to compile data that showed grouping and trends in the martial Colts. He also humbly wrote of more work to do in his introduction to the 1994 book. “We of course welcome your comments and suggestions. Our survey is a continuing study. We do not pretend to suggest that this is the “final word” on this vast subject; we realize that many new insights are yet to be discovered.”

This black powder Colt Single Action Army received a gold seal letter from Kopec who noted the gun was made from components pulled from U.S. military production and is known as a "late assemby" in collectors circles.

John Kopec’s Legacy

Rock Island Auction President Kevin Hogan summed up what Kopec meant to the collecting community and Colts, writing in the catalog to the upcoming May 2-4 Premier Auction, “John Kopec will forever be the definitive voice on Colt Cavalry Single Actions. His passion, scholarship, research and letters will continue to educate and inspire future generations of collectors, and for that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude. When Mr. Kopec passed earlier this year, the world lost an amazing human being and the gun business lost an icon.”

Known for his scholarship of the Colt Single Action Army, he also had an opinion on Colt’s Model 1878 double action revolver, like this rare Omnipotent. “The Colt Model 1878 Double Action Army revolver has always held a more or less secondary place in the Colt collecting field. That is until now!”