This is a rare, previously identified L-shaped spanner style gun tool that was previously listed as “Unknown Combination Tool – Spanner Wrench” in Gun Tools: Their History and Identification Volume I by Shaffer, Rutledge and Dorsey. It is pictured on page 208 and the dimensions are given and the tool is described. They note that the tool is of the “typical Colt style” but also note it has a spanner style wrench and that very few percussion revolvers had spanner style cones. The only one that immediately comes to mind is the Wesson & Leavitt Dragoon revolver. In Volume II of Gun Tools: Their History and Identification there are numerous corrections and updated identifications for the tools shown in Volume I, but no changes are noted for page 208. In conversation with Jim Shaffer a few years ago he mentioned that they had finally determined that these very “Colt Style” tools were in fact Colt tools and the spanner wrench was designed to remove the firing pin bushing from the Richards cartridge conversion Colt Revolvers.

In 1871 Colt introduced their Richards cartridge conversion of their Model 1860 Army Revolvers. This was a more traditional alteration from percussion to cartridge than its immediate predecessor the Thuer alteration. The Thuer models had utilized a front-loading cylinder rather than a more conventional “bored through” cylinder, in an attempt to evade the Rollin White patent for the bored through cylinder which was controlled by Smith & Wesson. One of the features of the new Richards conversion was newly manufactured conversion breechplate that was installed forward of the recoil shield. This breechplate had a firing pin installed in it, which was struck by the hammer when the gun was fired. Later Colt cartridge alterations and Colt cartridge revolvers would use fixed firing pins mounted on the hammer face. The breechplate firing pin was retained by a bushing with a spanner face, and this tool was used to remove that bushing to access the firing pin. As black powder was a dirty and high residue propellant, it was necessary to have a way to keep the firing pin channel clear and clean so that any debris or fouling would not impede its forward motion and result in a failure to fire. The L-shaped bushing wrench was the solution to providing a tool to the owners of a Richards to be able to perform necessary maintenance on their handguns. As the authors noted in the first volume of their gun tool books, the tool was “of typical Colt style” and was no doubt simply a redesigned variant of the standard Model 1851 Navy and 1860 Army tool. Only about 9,000 Colt Model 1860 Army revolvers were altered by the Richards system, but of those only the Type I revolvers had the Richards breechplate with a firing pin. The later “Type II” or “Transitional” guns produced at the end of the Richards production run and the beginning of the Richards-Mason production run, had the Richards-Mason type breech area with the firing pin mounted on the hammer, thus they did not require bushing wrenches. As a result, only a few thousand of these tools would have been produced due to the relatively small production run of Richards revolvers with the breech plate mounted firing pins.

The Colt Richards Conversion Firing Pin Bushing Tool offered here is in NEAR FINE condition and retains some strong traces of the original bright blued finish with the majority of the tool having a dull blue color, with some mottled gray patina and showing scattered light surface oxidation and discoloration. The tool measures 3 5/32” in overall length. The shorter “L” shaped part of the tool with the bushing wrench measures 1 5/16” in length and diameter of the face of the bushing tool is 17/64”. The screwdriver blade measures 3/16” wide. The tool remains crisp and sharp with good edges and the spanner tips on the face of the tool are also crisp and sharp and not chipped or damaged. 

Overall, this is a very scarce Colt tool not often seen on the market and a great accessory to add to the display of your Richards conversion Colt 1860 Army Revolver. It is a particularly nice addition to a cased Richards Conversion Colt Army, as even cased sets rarely retain this tool and often have an incorrect 1874 L-shaped screwdriver in it, or even a percussion revolver tool. Don’t miss your chance to add this rare tool to your collection, as I have only had one of these in the last 25 years and don’t know if I’ll ever find another again.

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