Manufactured by Colt's Firearms Co. circa 1866-1870. The Colt Berdan rifle was designed by General Hiram Berdan who organized and led the famous 1st and 2nd U.S. Volunteer Sharpshooters (Berdan's Sharpshooters) during the Civil War. The Colt Berdan single-shot rifles featured a "trapdoor" breech system and were chambered for the .42 caliber (10.75x58R) bottleneck cartridge. This was the first military cartridge with an outside centerfire (Berdan) primer and bottle neck case. The rifle has a 32-1/2-inch barrel with thick point blade front sight on an iron base and adjustable folding leaf rear with elevation marked in yards. The barrel is designed to accommodate a socket bayonet and is secured by two screw-fastened bands. Sling swivels are mounted on the front barrel band and trigger guard. The barrel accepts a Springfield style socket bayonet. The rifle is fitted with a cleaning rod with short, pierced, cylindrical end. The one-piece trigger guard has a short finger spur. The rifle has a one-piece, straight grain American walnut stock. The top of the barrel is roll-stamped between the lower barrel band and the rear sight with a one-line Cyrillic legend which translates: "Colt's Firearms Factory Hartford America No." No serial number was ever applied to this rifle. The rifle has a full nickel-plated finish. The nickel-plated finish and lack of a serial number indicate that this rifle was manufactured by Colt as a display or presentation piece. Colt manufactured nearly 30,000 Berdan Breech-Loading rifles for Czarist Russia. These Russian contract Colt Berdan rifles were subject to heavy attrition and are very scarce in any condition.

Excellent. The rifle is all original and retains 95% of the nickel-plated finish. Wear is limited to some flaking on the breech block hinge and some finish loss and light scratches on the buttplate heel and toe. The barrel legend is sharp. The stock is in excellent overall condition with a few scattered and insignificant handling and storage marks. This is an excellent example of a rare and historically significant Colt Russian Contract Berdan Breech-Loading rifle with special factory nickel-plated finish. One need not look any further for an extraordinary example of this seldom encountered Colt longarm variation!