Description
Some guns tell a story. This one whispers the beginning of a legend.
The Colt Peacemaker Prototype, chambered in .22LR, isn’t just another rare piece; it’s a glimpse behind the curtain at the birth of one of America’s most enduring revolvers. Before the Peacemaker became “the gun that won the West,” it had to earn its name through trial and iteration. This prototype was part of that process, an early sketch of greatness, carved in steel and imagination.
You can see the lineage right away: that unmistakable Colt profile, the sturdy frame, the perfect balance between strength and grace. But there’s something a little different here. The .22LR chambering scales the legend down, suggesting it may have been built for training, testing, or fine-tuning design concepts. It’s Colt in experimentation mode, practical yet bold enough to play with tradition.
And it’s gorgeous. The polished silver finish catches light like it remembers the frontier sun, and the grip work? Far too elegant for a simple prototype. You can tell it was built with pride as much for the eye as for the hand.
Mechanically, it still feels like a Peacemaker: tight timing, clean action, that mechanical honesty that made Colt a household name. But look closely, and you’ll see hints of deviation, subtle choices that mark this as a one-off moment in Colt’s evolution.
For collectors, it’s not just rare. It’s personal. A tangible snapshot of Colt’s creative process, sitting somewhere between art and innovation. Whether you see it as a prototype, a relic, or a piece of American mythology, one thing’s clear: this revolver doesn’t just represent history. It is history.
