I know that some of you will tell me to stop the whining but here goes.
I began accumulating black powder revolvers a while ago by building kits. Only kits.That included two kits of 1860 Colts. In those kits the parts were finished to a rough extent and the function of the kit builder was largely to put the final finish on the metal.
Most notably on the barrel of these two kits the toolmarks were very evident and what was also evident was two lines at the intersection of two planes on each side of the barrel. At the factory, part of the process was to machine a flat surface on both sides of the barrel which was a good bit like machining the sides of an 1851. But since the 1860 has surfaces which are either rounded as the rounded top of the barrel or a rather complex concave as is the area just in front of the wedge and down towards the lug, the junction of the flat on the side of the barrel and the round areas had a line in the rough.
Part of the task of the kit builder was to take out the lines so that the finished pistol had the gradual and graceful contours that make the 1860 one of the most attractive pistols ever conceived. It was easy to do with file and sandpaper and the contours are so natural that you did not have to be a genius to know what was right and what was wrong. I am including a photo of an original Colt so it will be clear what I am talking about.
Photo Acquired from an auction on Gunbroker.com (
www.gunbroker.com)