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Colt Single Action Army revolver

The Colt .45, single-action revolver with revolving cylinder holding six metallic cartridges, designed for the U. S. government by Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company in 1872.[1]

The favored sidearm of Bret Maverick.[2]

Stampede: On the Dakota Queen,[4] bound for Fort Pierre on April 23, 1877,[3] Madame Pompey warned Bret Maverick that Tony Cadiz, with whom he was playing poker, kept a derringer up his sleeve. Bret had already noticed, but he revealed his own sidearm, a Colt Single Action Army revolver, just so Cadiz would know the he, too, was armed.[4]

The Long Hunt: On December 5, 1877,[3] Bret Maverick used his Colt Single Action Army revolver in a shoot-out with Rex Clark and Whitey Brandon. During the gunplay, Brandon accidentally shot and killed his partner, Clark, and fled the scene. The sheriff confiscated Bret's and Clark's guns to determine whether it was Bret or Brandon's gun that delivered the fatal shot to Clark. Since both guns were .45s, the sheriff determined it was impossible to tell which gun killed Clark in a trial and both parties would be acquitted. So he decided it would be pointless to pursue Brandon or hold Bret.[5]