GUNS Magazine January 1958

HE SCENE in the library was one of mellow beauty,
T of firelight flickering on the white of paneled woodwork
and on the richer coloring of ceiling-high shelves of
smooth-backed leather books, most of them books on guns
and gun history. But all was not sweetness and light between
the two men seated in that room. There was tension
there, and it was my fault. I had ventured to differ in an
opinion on guns with one of the finest gentlemen, one of
the best informed gentlemen in the field of gun collecting
and gun study. The question was, "What is the meaning of
the letters 'KM' found stamped on certain old Colt revolvers,
powder flasks, and kit accessories?"
We had been discussing Samuel Colt and his travels in
Europe in 1849; the travels which laid the foundations for
many of his future commercial triumphs. The dipagreement
above mentioned took place just 100 years later, in 1949,
the evening before I was to leave for a summer of
gun study in Europe. I had suggested that the letters "KM"
were of European origin, might stand for Koeningen
Marine or possibly Kriegs Marine, meaning (in both versions)
"Royal Navy." But my host believed that the letters
THE MYSTERY OF THE
were American, and meant "kit, mounted."
I failed to find proof of my belief that summer of 1949,
but by January of 1953, I had connected the "KM" stamp-
ing on Colt guns with certain KM-stamped Colt flasks and
an odd capping device characterized as "German" by the
New York dealer, Francis Bannerman. A combination of
deductive logic, fortunate contacts abroad, and pure cussed-
ness on my part finally uncovered the full story of the
mysterious KM stamping, and also confirmed as a licensed
copy a scarce "imitation" Colt made under foreign con-
tract. I was wrong on one score: the "KM" was not
Prussian, but Austrian.
My book, "The Story of Colt's Revolver," mentioned the
KM Colts and the odd Austrian imitations marked "KKP"
and "Patent 1849." At the time I did not connect the two,
and it was not until GUNS Vienna correspondent, Fred
Baer, started searching that the historical link was dis-
covered. The KM Colts are Royal Austrian Navy, "Koenigen
Marine" revolvers purchased in 1859 and 1860. The KKP
pistols are Austria's first attempt to get Colts, at a time
when Sam Colt could not supply them immediately. There