Colt 1851 Navy Revolver

The Colt Navy remained in production until 1873, being replaced in the Colt line with what would become one of the manufacturer's most famous handguns, the Colt Single Action Army (also known as the Peacemaker and Colt 45). Total production numbers of the Colt 1851 Navy Revolver were exceeded only by the Colt Pocket models in concurrent development, and numbered some 215,000 domestic units and about 42,000 produced in the Colt London Armory.

• Name — 1851 Colt Revolving Navy Pistol • Origin — United States • Type — Revolver • Is Ranged — yes • Service — 1851–1873 • Designer — Samuel Colt • Design Date — 1850 • Manufacturer — Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, Hartford, Conn. Liege Tula Arsenal • Production Date — 1851–1873 • Number — 272,000 • Variants — Squareback trigger guard Navy, serial number 1 - c. 4200 • Action — Single-action • Cartridge —.38 rimfire /.38 centerfire (conversions) • Caliber —.36

The six-round.36-caliber Navy revolver was much lighter than the contemporary Colt Dragoon Revolvers developed from the.44 Colt Walker revolvers of 1847, which, given their size and weight, were generally carried in saddle holsters. It was an enlarged version of the.31-caliber Colt Pocket Percussion Revolvers, that evolved from the earlier Baby Dragoon, and, like them, was a mechanically improved and simplified descendant of the 1836 Paterson revolver. As the factory designation implied, the Navy revolver was suitably sized for carrying in a belt holster. It became very popular in North America during the Western expansion. Colt's aggressive promotions distributed the Navy and his other revolvers across Europe, Asia, and Africa. The cylinder of this revolver is engraved with a scene of the victory of the Second Texas Navy at the Battle of Campeche on May 16, 1843. The Texas Navy had purchased the earlier Colt Paterson Revolver, but this was Colt's first major success in the gun trade; the naval theme of the engraved cylinder of the Colt 1851 Navy revolver was Colt's gesture of appreciation. The engraving was provided by Waterman Ormsby. Despite the "Navy" designation, the revolver was chiefly purchased by civilians and military land forces. The.36-caliber (0.375 -) round lead ball weighs 80 grains and, at a velocity of 1000 ft per second, is comparable to the modern.380 pistol cartridge in power. Loads consist of loose powder and ball or bullet, metallic foil cartridges (early), and combustible paper cartridges (Civil War era), all of which are ignited by a fulminate percussion cap applied to the nipples at the rear of the chambers. A very small number of Navy revolvers were produced in.34 caliber, and are so marked. Another rarity in the 1851 Navy production is the.40-caliber model; only 5 were made in 1858 for testing by the U.S. Navy Bureau of Ordnance. Identifying features of the First Model Squareback (Serial 1 to ~1250) are the wedge screw beneath the wedge and the wedge notch on top of the cylinder pin (Photo Serial No. 2). Sighting consists of a tapered brass cone front sight pressed into the muzzle end of the top barrel flat with a notch in the top of the hammer, as with most Colt percussion revolvers. In spite of the relative crudity of the sighting arrangement, these original revolvers are generally quite accurate. However, the same cannot always be said for the reproductions.

The first metallic cartridge revolver made by Colt was the Thuer-Conversion Model Revolver, a design that did not require a cylinder with cylindrical chambers to avoid infringing on the Rollin White patent. A small number (about 1000–1500) of Model 1851 Navy revolvers were converted, using front-loaded, slightly tapered cartridges to fit the cylinder chambers, which were reamed to a slight taper. After the expiration of the Rollin White patent (April 3, 1869), Colt 1851 (and 1861 Navy) Revolvers were converted or newly made to fire.38 rimfire or centerfire cartridges, the Colt Model 1851 Richards- Mason Conversion by the Colt factory.

Famous "Navy" users included Wild Bill Hickok, William Buffalo Bill Cody, John Henry "Doc" Holliday, Richard Francis Burton, Ned Kelly, Bully Hayes, Ben Pease, Blackbirders, Metis, Seth Kinman, Emir Abdelkader, Boer Commando, Bushrangers, Cowboys, Richard H. Barter, Charlie Goodnight, Robert E. Lee, Nathan B. Forrest, John O'Neill, John O'Mahony, Frank Gardiner, Ulysses S. Grant, Quantrill's Raiders, Tom Bell, Kootenay Brown, Ivan Turchin, John Coffee "Jack" Hays, "Bigfoot" Wallace, Frederick Townsend Ward, Ben McCulloch, Robert Addison Gillespie, John "Rip" Ford, "Sul" Ross and most Texas Rangers prior to the Civil War. Use continued long after more modern cartridge revolvers were introduced. The Ottoman Empire used the revolver as late as the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, even though it was quite antiquated compared to the Russians' Smith & Wesson Model 3. Fictional movie character The Man With No Name also uses a Navy conversion in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

• Illustration — Colt Navy 51 Gustav Young engraving • Illustration — Top: Navy 51.38 Conversion Below: Colt Open Top • Illustration — Loading sequence percussion revolvers • Illustration — Early Colt Navy Mod 1851 Second Model squareback trigger guard • Illustration — Combustible paper cartridges six to a box • Illustration — Post 1851 Colt Revolvers • Illustration — Safety peg between cylinder chambers