Colt Model 1848 Baby Dragoon

About the Colt Model 1848 Baby Dragoon

The Colt Model 1848 Baby Dragoon is a five-shot, .31 caliber single-action percussion revolver and Colt's first true pocket-sized handgun. A scaled-down civilian derivative of the massive .44 Colt Dragoon, it retained the Dragoon's square-backed trigger guard and spur hammer but weighed roughly a third as much, making it a highly concealable personal-defense arm. Fitted with an octagonal barrel offered in 3, 4, 5 and 6 inch lengths and an unfluted cylinder, most were built without a loading lever. Though intended for the civilian market, many were pressed into service during the American Civil War.

Introduced amid the California Gold Rush, the Baby Dragoon gave prospectors and travelers a genuine Colt revolver small enough to carry in a coat pocket. Its commercial success convinced Samuel Colt that a compact pocket revolver could outsell his heavy military horse pistols, leading directly to the record-setting Model 1849 Pocket.

Colt Model 1848 Baby Dragoon specifications

The Baby Dragoon was the direct forerunner of the enormously successful Colt Model 1849 Pocket, which added a hinged loading lever and increased capacity options. Early examples lacked an attached loading lever, requiring a separate loading tool.