228 
G.B. Trotter 
Figure 2 The butt strap of this Colt revolver is engraved "Police Force - Western Australia". Some revolvers from 
this shipment are engraved "Police Force W. Australia" (Photo D. Elford). 
correct "Police Force Western Australia". This 
shipment was packed in one tin-lined case 4 (see 
Figure 5). There is no doubt that the three cases 
containing revolvers and swords for the Police 
Force, described in the P.G. Julyan advice of 18th 
August 1859, are these three cases. 
No swords by this maker and with this marking 
are known as yet, but the revolver residing in the 
W.A. Museum collection is certainly one of the 24 
belt pistols ordered in 1859. The engraved legend 
"Police Force Western Australia" and the place of 
manufacture, name of manufacturer and date of 
manufacture all conform to the date of this 
shipment. The revolver was obviously produced in 
1856 and remained in store until ordered by W.A. 
in 1859. 
It was decided to canvas the private and 
institutional Colt collections in Australia to 
ascertain whether any other of the 23 companion 
revolvers had survived. This was done by informal 
inquiries culminating in telephone contact with 
eastern states collectors. The result was, including 
the W.A. Museum revolver, a total of six survivors, 
and possibly a seventh. It was discovered that 
many of these revolvers contained mismatched 
parts, that is, the major components such as frame, 
butt strap, barrel, cylinder, barrel wedge and 
loading lever, which are all numbered to conform 
to the serial number allocated to the frame of the 
revolver, were found not to match. 
The W.A. Museum revolver has a mismatched 
cylinder, and with three exceptions, all other 
revolvers are also mismatched (see Table 1). The 
reason for this mismatching is determined to be 
probably a result of a Police armourer who was not 
particular in re-assembling these revolvers when 
they were sent in for stripping and servicing, or 
equally possible, they were kept in service for so 
long that it eventually became necessary to 
"cannibalise" some to keep the others operative. It 
is possible of course that these mismatched parts 
are from revolvers other than police arms, but two 
factors mitigate against this being the case. Firstly, 
* Battye Library, C.S.O. Correspondence, Acc. 36/419/47. 
of the Australian survivors, all mismatched parts 
are from a 900 digit range of numbers in the 37,400 
- 38,300 serial range of the revolvers themselves. 
Secondly, if these parts were installed years later 
from various sources, they would either be 
unnumbered spare parts, or would include at least 
one high serial number from revolvers current 
when these arms were wearing out. It is believed 
Figure 3 The shipping advice dated 18th August 1859 
advising the W.A. Government that three 
cases of "Revolvers and Swords for the Police 
Force" have been dispatched (Battye Library). 
