CCA Colt Single Action Army .45

Colt 7 ½" SAA Colt Auction Firearm

2009 Concord North Carolina

Each year we are challenged to create a spectacular and unique Show gun for the Colt Collectors Association auction. The process starts two to three years in advance of the show date. For 2009 the Show Gun Committee decided to create an special firearm with gold scroll, flush and raised gold inlays. Master Engraver Michael W. Dubber was chosen to work his expertise and talent into another one of his highly decorated "one of a kind" Colt Collectors Association Colt Auction Firearms. Concord, North Carolina

This event will mark the Colt Collectors Association's first visit to North Carolina. Our host city for 2009 is Concord (pronounced "conquered), North Carolina. Concord lies less than 20 miles north of Charlotte, North Carolina's largest city.

Sir Walter Raleigh established a colony on Roanoke Island in the late 1580's and the saga of the "Lost Colony" remains one of the great mysteries of early American history. The first English child born in North America, Virginia Dare was born on Roanoke Island in August 1587.

"Carolina" was chartered in 1663 by King Charles II of England and North Carolina became a separate colony in 1712. In April 1776, the colony's delegates to the Continental Congress became the first to vote for independence from Great Britain. In November 1789 North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the Constitution and in May 1861 North Carolina became the last state to join the Confederacy. North Carolina was re-admitted to the Union on July 4, 1868.

In 1903 the Wright Brothers made the first successful controlled, powered and sustained heavier than air flight at Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk on North Carolina's Outer Banks.

North Carolina is the home of the Biltmore House, the largest private residence in the United States. Located near Ashville, it was completed in 1895 in the style of a French Renaissance Chateau by George and Edith Vanderbilt and sits on 8,000 acres of land.

Another famous North Carolina landmark is the WWII era Battleship North Carolina (BB-55), which is moored at Wilmington, NC. She was purchased from the United States Navy in September 1961 for $330,000. The money was raised by the school children of North Carolina to save the ship from the scrapper's torches and provide a permanent home! She was dedicated as a war memorial to North Carolinians killed in WWII on April 29, 1962 and is open daily to the public. She was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986. The engraver, as an honor to this famous landmark Battleship engraved the turret section on the recoil shield in 24k raised gold with NC BB55 in a raised silver banner.

Concord is the home of Lowe's Motor Speedway'the home of NASCAR.

The Colt Collectors Association takes great pride in welcoming you to North Carolina, the south's Variety Vacationland

Article by Earl L. Whitney.

Photography by Paul Goodwin

 

Michael W. Dubber, Master Engraver

Michael has been engraving since 1970, holds a Masters Degree in Fine Arts, is a Master Engraver for Colt Firearms and a F.E.G.A. Master Engraver. He is a founding member of F.E.G.A serving as Vice President for eight years, President for four years and as Editor of the "Engraver Newsletter" for ten years. In 1993 received the James B. Meek award for lifetime contributions to the art of engraving. Michael has created firearms or jewelry engraving for such notable individuals as Norman H. Schwarzkopf, Juan Carlos King of Spain, Pope John Paul II , President Ronald Reagan and other notables. He has engraved industry guns for Colt, Holland and Holland, Purdey, Ducks Unlimited and The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Mike spends his bench time at jewelry and firearms engraving at his home studio. He also fulfills his education background by teaching one week courses in hand engraving at the new "Mike Dubber Engraving Studio & Training Center" in Evansville, In.

For the Colt Collectors Association he engraved the 2003 Tampa, Fl. and the 2006 Louisville, Ky. "Auction Showguns".

Les Yoder- Custom Furniture Maker

Les Yoder has been in the furniture business as a Master Craftsman for over 40 years. Brookfield is this country's oldest and largest manufacturer of custom presentation cases. His experience in early English and French reproductions, high end executive office furniture and fine clock cabinets is seen in every piece Brookfield Case currently builds. Attention to detail, fine hardwoods, plush velvet interiors and the highest quality craftsmanship are cornerstones of his business. Currently he provides cases to many major manufactures, distributors, dealers and collectors.

He is no stranger to designing custom display cases. Les signed on as the official CCA Colt Auction Firearms and Ladies Raffle Case maker over 14 years ago. Working without blueprint or professional design layouts he turns a simple idea into a "One of a Kind" custom signature case. This years donated benchmark custom exhibition firearms glass case with satin finished gold plated hardware on the two French fit drawers is Ebonized Cherry wood with a matte black finish to show its texture and wood grain. The display case includes a custom crafted four-piece accessory tool set including two turn screws, one rod and oil bottle.

Katherine Plumer

Western Fine Artist and Scrimshander

Katherine's background is as an award winning western fine artist and illustrator. She is self-taught in the art of scrimshaw. Scrimshaw is the extreme patience requiring art of incising lines and dots into a wide variety of materials with ink or paint thereby producing a small and detailed image.

Accessory Items

The exhibition display case includes a custom crafted four-piece accessory set including two turn screws, one cleaning rod and oil bottle, all hand made from bar stock and donated by Joe Lozito of Bay City, New York. Ron Nott of Summerdale, Pa donated the scroll engraving on the ferrules and combination of scroll and gold inlay on the oil bottle. The accessories have been finished with the Carbonia Charcoal Blue finish donated by DougTurnbull Restorations of Bloomfield, NY.

The 2009 Concord Colt Auction Firearm also includes the following accessory items donated by Earl L. Whitney, Carol Wilkerson and Jim Parrish: "Wind and Sand-The Story of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk" written by Lynanne Wescott and Paula Degen (2004), The road to Kitty Hawk by Valerie Moolman and the Editors of Time-Life Books (1980), A silver art medal of Wilber and Orville Wright and Three First Day Cover envelopes on the 75th. Anniversary of the Wright Brothers flight.

Catherine Coulter an artist from Maryville, Tennessee donated a photo the "Foothills of North Carolina's Great Smokey Mountains National Park" of her original oil painting used on the poster. An interesting bit of trivia.2009 marks the 75th. Anniversary of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park 1934-2009. The original inhabitants that settled North Carolina were the Cherokee Indians. The Cherokee described these mountains as "shaconage", meaning "blue, like smoke."

Other Artisans

The 2009 CCA Concord Colt is equipped with African ivory one-piece smooth grips fitted by Dan Chesiak. The grips are smooth ivory with scrimshaws by Katherine Plumer. Specializing in the accurate re-creation of historical metal finishes on period firearms; Doug Turnbull Restorations did the final assembly and applied the Carbonia Charcoal Blue finish to the Concord SAA. The 2009 Concord North Carolina gun would not be complete without the photo artistry of Paul Goodwin-Photographer and CCA member Carol Wilkerson.

Special Recognition

The production of a CCA Colt Auction Firearm is a major undertaking, an example of the generosity and cooperation of many people over a number of years. The committee sincerely appreciates the assistance and generous support of Lt. General Wm. M. Keys, USMC (Ret.) President and CEO of Colt Manufacturing Co. LLC; Joyce Rubino Vice President of Colt Manufacturing Co. LLC; Joe Canali, Colt Custom Shop Sales/Historical; Kathleen J. Hoyt, Colt Historical Department; and Beverly Haynes, Archivist. The process starts and ends with the folks at Colt Firearms. A special thanks to the Colt Firearms family for their participation in the creation and historical documentation of the 2009 CCA Concord North Carolina .45 Caliber Colt Single Action Army.

Gurney Brown

Colt Collector, Historian and Musician

Gurney has been in the collectable firearms business for over 25 years and is currently the Vice President of Cherry's FineGuns in Greensboro, N.C. He has been a CCA member for more than 15 years and has served on the Board of Directors. Gurney has written several articles for the Rampant Colt magazine. In 2005 he wrote the extensive memorabilia article "Colt Tie Pins, Lapel Pins and Promotional Pins: A Pictorial Guide to Collecting" on factory authorized pins. He also has to his credit more than 40 writing and editing credits in both the firearms and collectable guitar fields.

The CCA 2009 Concord Show Colt Auction Firearm Specifications

The 2009 Concord CCA Colt Auction Firearm is a .45 caliber Colt 7 ½" Single Action Army. The SAA is finished in "Carbonia Charcoal Blue" and is Master "Exhibition" engraved in a combination of raised and gold inlays with an engraving gold scroll style unique to the engraver Michael W. Dubber.

A flush gold scroll design covers the barrel, frame, backstrap, triggergard, ejector, cylinder and hammer. The barrel at the muzzle and frame has wide and narrow flush gold barrel bands. There's a flush gold narrow and rope design engraved wide cylinder band... There are flush gold lines on the frame. The SAA firearm has gold plated cylinder pin, qualified engraved screws and engraved trigger. Serial Number CCA2009 has been gold flush engraved on the traditional frame location.

To honor the North Carolina WWII Battleship Michael has engraved in raised gold the main turret of the Battleship with the designation in raised silver "NC BB55". The barrel caliber line and Colt Factory address have been flush gold inlaid. Down the backstrap the engraver flush gold engraved the inscription "The Tar Heel State".

Under the barrel in front of the cylinder pin in script is the engravers name "Michael W. Dubber-Engr".

One piece African Ivory grips are scrimshawed with the Wright Bros. "Kitty Hawk Airplane" on the left side and the North Carolina Cape Hatteras Lighhouse on the right side.

Museum Exhibition Grade Ebonized Cherry display case with two drawers having matte finished gold hardware and tan velvet cloth material. French fitted in the tan velvet cloth drawer is a four piece set of engraved accessories consisting of two turn screws, one engraved flush gold oil bottle and a cleaning rod. There's a master-engraved Argentium Silver nameplate. An additional accessory is an autographed poster print #9/20 of the 2009 CCA Concord Show Firearm front cover of "The Rampant Colt" Magazine.

Also included are several books, U. S. Postal First Day Cover envelopes, a silver medallion on the Wright Bros. and a Smokey Mountain photo.

The 2009 Show Gun Committee

Earl L. Whitney-Project Manager
Dave Grunberg-Technical Advisor
Michael W. Dubber- Artistic Coordinator
Dr. Tom Covault-Design Coordinator
Joe Canali-Firearms Coordinator
Kathleen J. Hoyt-Colt Factory Consultant
Carol Wilkerson-Photography/Firearms Wrangler
Gurney Brown-Historian, North Carolina History

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