Trigger Guard

Excluding the early "sqare back" models, there are four styles of the round trigger guard found across the range of '49s: Small Brass; Large Brass; Small Iron; Large Iron.  The "square back" style is similar in dimensions to the "small round" version shown here.

Identifying iron from brass is straightforward as very few guns remain with 100% of their finish (silver plate; nickel; or in the case of some iron guards, blued) still covering the base metal.

The difference between 'small' and 'large' guards is far more subtle. Generally small guards have a flatter bottom section, as shown in the photos below. The actual sizes (which are approximate) differ by about 0.10 inch (2.5 mm) in each direction (inside dimensions)

Below the photos is a table of serial number ranges for each trigger variant.

Small
Large

Vertical

0.75 inch

(19 mm)

0.85 inch

(22 mm)

   

Horizontal

1.10 inch

(28 mm)

1.20 inch

(30 mm)
Small Trigger Guard
Large Trigger Guard
     
Model
Small
Large
Brass(1)
Iron(1)
Brass
Iron
First
Last
Qty.
First
Last
Qty
First
Last
Qty
First
Last
Qty
Baby Dragoon without rammer
3
14152
13,350
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Baby Dragoon with rammer
11670
15461
1,530
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

"Short Frame"
Wells Fargo
14462
63348
2,200
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

"Long Frame"
Wells Fargo
78488
151434
3,675
147100
147199
75
163878
164182
350
113331
113404
100
"2-Line New York"
14454
152606

136,350(2)
112152
152359
1,450
154021
174537
21,000
112175
157298
1,300
"2-Line Hartford"
-
-
-
-
-
-
174152
206532
18,730
181256
205294
1,270
"1-Line New York"
-
-
-
-
-
-
187131
332993
124,800
268000L
319159L
2,200(3)
"London"
15
1000
650
9082
9705
250
-
-
-
1
10984
9,955
TOTALS
157,755
1,775
164,880
14,825
Notes:
(1)
 Total Brass Guard production (both sizes) = 322,635 (98%) & Total Iron Guard (both sizes) = 16,600 (2%)
(2)
 Qty adjusted from the 131,000 quoted by J&W to bring total to correct estimated production figure for "2-Line New York" models.
(3)
Some "1-Line New York" models assembled for export (marked "L") had large iron guards (approx. 2,200). ALL others had large brass guards.