Colt Model 1851 Navy Revolver

About the Colt Model 1851 Navy Revolver

The Colt Model 1851 Navy Revolver is a percussion cap-and-ball, single-action revolver designed by Samuel Colt and produced at the Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company in Hartford, Connecticut between 1850 and 1873. Chambered for a nominal .36 caliber round ball seated over loose black powder with percussion caps providing ignition, it feeds from a six-shot revolving cylinder that is loaded individually at the front of each chamber via an integral rammer (loading lever) beneath the octagonal barrel - a true muzzle-loading cap-and-ball system with no self-contained cartridge. Lighter, slimmer, and more natural-pointing than the heavier Colt Dragoon that preceded it, the 1851 Navy quickly became one of the most popular sidearms of the mid-19th century. Its frame is of open-top design in forged steel with a color case-hardened finish, paired with a blued octagonal barrel, brass trigger guard and backstrap, and one-piece walnut grips. The cylinder is characteristically roll-engraved with a naval battle scene depicting the 1843 Battle of Campeche between the Republic of Texas Navy and Mexican forces, which - together with the .36 caliber (considered the "Navy" caliber of the era) - gave the revolver its enduring "Navy" designation despite being used at least as widely by land forces as at sea. The hammer must be manually thumb-cocked for each shot, which rotates the cylinder and exposes safety notches between chambers that allow the hammer to rest safely between loaded cylinders. Across its production life roughly 215,000 were manufactured at Hartford with an additional 42,000 at Colt's London works, and it served extensively through the American Civil War, the American Indian Wars, and the frontier period, becoming one of the defining firearms of the Wild West and a favorite of civilian, military, and lawman alike.

Wild Bill Hickok famously carried a pair of ivory-gripped 1851 Navy revolvers tucked butt-forward into a crimson sash, preferring a reverse "cavalry twist" draw - and he was wearing them when he was shot in the back of the head during a poker game in Deadwood on August 2, 1876, still holding the black aces and eights that became known as the "Dead Man's Hand." Robert E. Lee carried a Colt 1851 Navy through the Civil War, and it remained popular well after the larger .44 Colt 1860 Army arrived simply because the slim .36 Navy was more comfortable to wear all day than its heavier brother.

Colt Model 1851 Navy Revolver specifications

Model designation reflects the .36 caliber (the U.S. Navy's sidearm caliber of the era) and the roll-engraved naval cylinder scene, not exclusive naval service. The 1851 Navy remained a favorite carry gun even after the heavier .44 Colt 1860 Army arrived, because its slimmer frame and lighter weight made it more comfortable for all-day wear. Confederate arsenals produced copies throughout the Civil War due to severe supply shortages in the South, most notably by Griswold & Gunnison (brass-framed), Leech & Rigdon, and Spiller & Burr.