Collector’s Dream: A Visit to the Colt Archives
While visiting Colt in Connecticut recently, we were within striking distance of the Colt Archives, so you know we had to stop in and check it out.
We visited Colt historian Beverly Haynes and her staff of dedicated archivists, who have decades of historical research experience within the Colt factory records. And the demand is fierce, with more than 7,000 research requests filed per year. That’s 150 to 200 letters a week. The average turnaround time is 120 days, and requests, unless expedited, are researched on a first-come, first-served basis.
Samuel Colt’s Firearms Manufacturing Company dates to 1855, and while some of the earliest records of production books, invoices, and shipments have been lost to history, the Archives has a tremendous amount of data on hand.
On a personal note, I have sent in requests in the past for research letters from the Archives and have been delighted with the results. However, keep in mind that the historians can only report what they find, which may be very detailed and interesting, or scant. The books only hold so much data.
As it was, I had a pending record with the Archives that I had sent in months prior that was nearing completion when we visited. It was on a circa-1967 Colt Agent.
Check out the full 16-minute video we made at the Archives, here.
We want to thank Beverly and her crew at the Colt Archives for opening their doors to us.
