The Colt Dragoon used by Arthur "The Gentleman" Bourter, better known colloquially as "The Damned Gun", was a First Model, .44 caliber revolver which earned its name through its sordid history. The pistol was originally manufactured as part of an order by the US Army Calvary in 1849. The gun was officially labeled in company records as being "defective" although no reason is given. Archival evidence suggests that it may have been involved in an accidental death at the testing range. The gun officially disappears until its sudden appearance in a gun shop in Arizona. It was purchased for the sum of 5 dollars, by a man named Joshua McCrane, there is no evidence to suggest that the firearm was used in the sudden and unexplained murder the 12 members of his family, but it was still collected as evidence by the authorities on his arrest that night. Again the gun disappears, this time ending up in the hands of Finn Claghey, allegedly the lone survivor of the St. Patricks Battalion. The gun gained the majority of its reputation as part of Claghey's assassination attempt of the Governor of Texas. It was finally passed on to Arthur Bourter, who would wield the gun until his death. It is during its this time the gun gained the "mythical" status it had, supposedly due to the innocent blood it shed and the seeming invincibility of its user. The gun was purchased, possibly illegally, and displayed next to Bourter's body in Abner Kilroy's Carnival of Killed Killers. The location of the gun, along with the owner's body, is not currently known.
The gun was customized over the years by Bourter the changes include:
-Bored bullet chambers to allow self contained cartridges instead of the original powder and ball.
- Removal of gun sights
-Shortened barrel length
- According to popular accounts the gun was inscribed by Claghey with a number of bible and song verses, but Bourter allegedly never had them on his gun describing such markings as "obtuse". This led to speculation that the gun changed to fit the personality of its user. Although because of the long life of the gun and many changes made, it is far more likely that the gun's handle and frame were changed out at a different time.
The gun was customized over the years by Bourter the changes include:
-Bored bullet chambers to allow self contained cartridges instead of the original powder and ball.
- Removal of gun sights
-Shortened barrel length
- According to popular accounts the gun was inscribed by Claghey with a number of bible and song verses, but Bourter allegedly never had them on his gun describing such markings as "obtuse". This led to speculation that the gun changed to fit the personality of its user. Although because of the long life of the gun and many changes made, it is far more likely that the gun's handle and frame were changed out at a different time.
This is an example of a Colt Dragoon First Model, no known photograph of the "The Damned Gun" exists