Neat old Colt 3rd Model Dragoon, marked U.S. This is the neatest old dragoon I've had in years, all serial #'s match, It looks to be untouched or cleaned since the War between the states. It has a nice even brown color, with a very small spot of silvery case on the frame, + a little blue on the Barrel wedge, there could have been Blue + case colors on the pistol when it was put up, + it turned brown over the years , the brass parts have a nice uncleaned patina, though hard to see through the brown, the cartouches around the serial # on cylinder are visible, as are some of the main figures of the cylinder scene, If the cylinder was cleaned I would think it may have 50% cyl scene or more, I took the pistol to pieces, looked at the inside of the pistol, was probably the first one to do so since it left the factory, or a soldier cleaned it. It is pretty dirty on the inside dust, grease, there are a couple of percussion caps mashed up behind the mainspring in the grip cut out, . The grips are full with no loss to the heels or toes + are numbered to the pistol with ink in the backstrap cut out, the left side of grip has a partial cartouche visible, all the screws are nice + the original ones, as are all the internal parts. The 7+1/2" barrel has a strong address is strong with a small nicely made rear sight, that is installed between the words "YORK" + "CITY", so the address is complete. Overall the pistol has very little wear, was well taken care of, ser# 12517 mfg in 1853, it surfaced in the south, may have been in a southern arsenal when the war broke out. Very hard to find a Dragoon in this untouched condition .