Late in life, when sports writing didn't pay well, he'd go to a store and buy a used Colt and sell it as a gun he carried in the hey-day. There are lots of Bat Masterson Colts in private collections.
You're correct, Dan. I've read accounts where Masterson bought a bunch of old Colts at pawn shops for a couple bucks each.
By the way, boys and girls, the length of the barrel on the Colt's Single Action Frontier Model was/is
4¾" , not 4 5/8".
L.W.
