Extremely Rare L. D. Nimschke Engraved, Silver and Gold Plated Colt Lightning Medium Frame Slide Action Saddle Ring Baby Carbine with Factory Letter
The included factory letter confirms this gun as a “Colt Lightning Magazine Slide Action Baby Carbine,” medium frame, chambered in .44 CLMR (.44-40) with a 20-inch barrel, blue finish, and wood stock. It further states it was one of ten Baby Carbines in an order shipped to A. G. Spalding Brothers in Chicago, Illinois, on September 8, 1885.
This example was subsequently embellished by Master Engraver L. D. Nimschke and exhibits striking scroll engraving with beaded backgrounds. Most notably, the left side of the frame is relief engraved with a prominent Rampant Colt trademark ahead of the saddle ring. The carbine features a silver-plated overall finish, with gold plating on the frame and small parts, a multi-point checkered slide handle, and a deluxe, highly figured, multi-point checkered walnut buttstock. The barrel is fitted with a “barley corn” front sight and a notch and folding ladder rear sight, and is marked with the Colt address and Elliott patent in two lines on top and “44 Cal.” in an oval panel on the left flat at the breech. Matching serial numbers appear on the lower tang and underside of the barrel at the breech.
The engraving, finish, and stock closely parallel Colt Lightning Baby Carbine no. 27981, sold by Rock Island Auction Company in September 2015 and December 2022. Like the present example, it was finished in silver and gold plating and bears nearly identical engraving patterns, the primary difference being the large relief Rampant Colt motif here versus more complex entwined scrollwork on the right side of 27981. That carbine lettered with “fancy wood” and was shipped “soft” to Hartley & Graham in New York on May 9, 1888, for engraving and finishing—work often entrusted to Nimschke. It is illustrated and described on page 192 of The Book of Colt Engraving by R. L. Wilson, where Wilson notes: “Engraved Baby carbines are extreme rarities.”
Fine with 90% plus silver plating remaining on the barrel, magazine tube, and buttplate with darker aged patina on the buttplate; 50% of the original gold plating visible on the frame, strong gold plating on the bolt and hammer, and smooth gray and brown patina on the balance. The wood is also fine and has attractive figure, mild wear on the otherwise crisp checkering, numerous scratches and dings, and most of the finish remaining. Mechanically needs work as the slide only retracts halfway. This is an extremely rare, highly embellished Colt Lightning Baby carbine very similar to another example identified as engraved by L. D. Nimschke.
Related Items
