Colt 1860 Army

About the Colt 1860 Army

The Colt 1860 Army is a six-shot, single-action .44 caliber cap-and-ball percussion revolver designed by Samuel Colt. Building on the lighter Navy-size frame fitted with a rebated, enlarged cylinder, it delivered .44 caliber stopping power in a more portable package than the earlier Dragoon revolvers. With its 8-inch round barrel, open-top frame and creeping loading lever, it became the most widely used sidearm of the American Civil War, with more than 127,000 examples delivered to the Union Army.

Adopted by the U.S. Cavalry in 1860, the 1860 Army became the principal sidearm of the Union during the Civil War. Samuel Colt did not live to see its wartime dominance, dying in January 1862; production continued at the Colt armory in Hartford until 1873.

Colt 1860 Army specifications

Combined the Navy-size grip frame and lock work with an enlarged, rebated cylinder to fire .44 caliber projectiles. Most were made with a fluted or rebated cylinder roll-engraved with a naval battle scene. Production ceased in 1873 as metallic-cartridge revolvers superseded percussion designs.