Are FRT#s helpful?

41 Colt

41 Colt

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For a gun like the Colt SAA that goes into the 1900s for manufacture and has many calibers that are not antique would having a letter stating the FRT# be helpful? I'm thinking of adding it to my home-made antique letters.

Also, can anyone confirm the FRT# for a Colt DA 1896 New Model Army & Navy? Does anyone know if the 1889/1892/1894/1895/1896 were all different FRT#s?

Also, do they relate to specific calibers, or just the gun overall?
 
41 Colt said:
For a gun like the Colt SAA that goes into the 1900s for manufacture and has many calibers that are not antique would having a letter stating the FRT# be helpful? I'm thinking of adding it to my home-made antique letters.

Also, can anyone confirm the FRT# for a Colt DA 1896 New Model Army & Navy? Does anyone know if the 1889/1892/1894/1895/1896 were all different FRT#s?

Also, do they relate to specific calibers, or just the gun overall?
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Different FRT numbers for different bbl lengths, calibre. Probably dozens of FRT numbers for SAA.

FRT is most helpful for the purely antique models, like webley MkI or II, because it says the model is antique. In the case of a SAA FRT, there should/might be some reference to a serial number range that is antique,

Too bad the FRT is kept secret - makes you wonder what they are trying to hide.
 
You also have to be careful that the FRT number is a recent one. Many of the numbers issued in the first few years have been changed and a search for the old number does not turn up a result. The program is kind of clumsly and you cannot (or at least I cannot) turn up the list of choices by typing in the root number. Ie if the full FRT number is 123-2, a search for 123 will not work and will not give a list of all of the variations under the 123 root description. Also the slightest error in spelling or simply listing a make as a manufacturer will block a hit. Often common names such as a Remington Hepburn might or might not work vs a Remington #3 or however that gun is currently listed.

cheers mooncoon
 
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A Remington #4 is not a Remington Hepburn. A Remington Hepburn is a #3. Makes you wonder what other errors are in the FRT system.

How does someone find out the secret FRT numbers?

Regards.
Powderman
 
powderman said:
.....How does someone find out the secret FRT numbers?

Regards.
Powderman
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By asking?

You may find that the FRT alone is perhaps not the single best reference for establishing antique status. Some firearms are listed as antique, others, which qualify for antique status may be overlooked, particualrly if the firearm was in production pre and post 1898. If a firearm FaRTs as antique, a printout of the FRT entry would be useful.
 
powderman said:
A Remington #4 is not a Remington Hepburn. A Remington Hepburn is a #3. Makes you wonder what other errors are in the FRT system.

How does someone find out the secret FRT numbers?
Click to expand...

That one was my mistake not the registry. I was too lazy to check Flaydermann and remembered after I was away from the computer, that the number 4 is the smallest of the rolling blocks

cheers mooncoon
 
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