Jim Martin – Pop Warner’s Mexican Colt
by Jim Martin
This Colt has a Colt letter with it and was originally sent to a Mexican Railway in 1903. The backstrap is engraved with the abbreviated letters of the railway, Ex. Nat. Mex. I made the grips for it from whale jawbone. When I bought the gun it was in need of work. The barrel & cylinder were pretty rough so I decided to replace them.
This is where it gets interesting… many years ago when E.L. (Pop) Warner first started shooting he had John Phillips change his Colt from 44/40 to 45 so he could use it in fast draw. The 44/40 is the one he carried when he was young and got in the gunfights that you can read about in Tom Blasgen’s book “Fast Draw Yesterday & Today”. He also carried it when he was a Mercenary soldier for a while with Pancho Villa. As luck would have it John had kept his original .44 barrel and cylinder all these years. They were in fair shape, better than what was in the gun, so I called John and bought them from him to put in the Mexican Colt. It just seemed like a fitting idea because of his tie in with Villa. Al and I were friends from the first day we met back in the early 60′s until the day he died.
Click Here for a movie clip of Jim talking about this special Colt.
NOTE… Jim is an expert at the art of fancy gunhandling. In this clip he demonstrates spinning an unloaded single action revolver with the hammer at full cock. DO NOT try this at home!