Pietta 1851 Griswold & Gunnison

About the Pietta 1851 Griswold & Gunnison

The Pietta 1851 Griswold & Gunnison is a modern .36 caliber percussion (cap-and-ball) single-action, six-shot revolver made in Italy by F.lli Pietta as a shooting reproduction of the Confederate-era Griswold & Gunnison. Like the Civil War original, it is a brass-framed copy of the Colt Model 1851 Navy fitted with a round 7.5-inch barrel in place of Colt's octagonal one. Each chamber is charged from the front of the cylinder with loose black powder and a lead ball seated by the under-barrel loading lever, and a percussion cap is fitted to each nipple; the hammer is manually cocked for every shot. It is a popular choice for black-powder target shooting, cowboy-action events, and Civil War reenactment.

The original Griswold & Gunnison was the most numerous Confederate-made revolver, built at Griswoldville, Georgia until Union cavalry burned the town during Sherman's March to the Sea. Pietta's modern reproduction keeps the design's signature brass frame and round barrel alive for reenactors and black-powder shooters more than a century and a half later.

Pietta 1851 Griswold & Gunnison specifications

Empty weight of roughly 1,106 g is derived from the advertised catalog figure of 2 lb 7 oz. Overall length (about 337 mm) and barrel length (about 191 mm / 7.5 in) come from retailer listings. Muzzle velocity and energy are generic modern-chronograph estimates for .36 cap-and-ball loads, not Pietta factory data. Pietta's Italian model codes for this pattern include the RB-series brass-frame 1851 Navy variants; year of introduction for the specific Griswold & Gunnison branding is not documented.