In 1850, Samuel Colt introduced what would become his most successful large frame percussion revolver, a revolver that would be second only to his incredibly successful Model 1849 Pocket Model in sales of all Colt percussion handguns. The Colt “Belt Model of Navy Caliber”, better known to collectors as the Colt Model 1851 Navy Revolver went into production in 1850 and remained a mainstay of the Colt product line until 1873, when it was finally dropped due to its obsolescence and low sales numbers when compared to self-contained cartridge revolvers. During that time Colt produced 215,348 of the M1851 navy pistols at Hartford and another 42,000+ at his short-lived London manufactory.
Colt was always trying to obtain military contracts for his firearms, as they not only represented sales, but also publicity and notoriety. Colt felt there was no better marketing message than to tell perspective customers that they could buy the same firearms used by the U.S. military from him. The U.S. Navy had been using Colt’s Patent revolvers on a very limited basis since they first bought some No. 5 Patterson Belt Model revolvers in 1841. The U.S. Army had acquired the Model 1847 “Walker” revolvers in 1847 for use by the Texas Rangers who were subsequently absorbed into the U.S. Mounted Rifles when the Mexican American War started in 1846.
It was not, however, until 1848 with the first contract for Colt’s .44 Dragoon revolvers that the U.S. Army started to acquire Colt revolvers in any significant numbers. This is somewhat amazing in view of the fact that the Ordnance Department was notoriously conservative. Ordering these percussion revolvers only a decade after adopting the U.S. Model 1836 single shot flintlock pistol suggests that at least some officers were more forward thinking than we usually give them credit for. Over the next five years, nearly 7,000 .44 caliber Colt “Holster” pistols would be delivered to the Ordnance Department, most of which were Colt “Dragoon” models.
With the introduction of his new “Belt Model”, Sam Colt immediately tried to get additional Ordnance Department contracts. In the fall of 1850, the Board of Ordnance convened to test the new Colt “Navy” model pistol. The handgun was significantly smaller than the Dragoon model and almost half the weight, at only 2 pounds, 10 ounces, versus 4 pounds 2 ounces for the Dragoon. This explained Colt’s name for his new handgun, the “Belt Model.” The smaller, lighter revolver could easily be carried in a belt worn holster, rather than the large pommel holsters necessary to support the much heavier Dragoon revolver. The gun was also a reduced caliber, at .36 instead of .44, giving it slightly less equivalent stopping power than the modern .38 Special cartridge. This single factor convinced the Board of Ordnance to continue purchasing the larger and more powerful .44 caliber Dragoon pistols, at least for the time being. The Navy was the first U.S. service branch to purchase the M1851 “Navy Caliber” revolver, as being able to carry a handgun on your belt was an important feature for sailors, who had little use for guns so massive that they required pommel holsters.
The revolvers had 7.5-inch octagonal barrels, 6-shot cylinders, brass triggerguards and backstraps, and one-piece walnut grips. The standard finish was blue on the barrel and cylinder with color casehardened frames and hammers. Revolvers intended for the civilian market usually had silver plating on the brass backstrap and triggerguard and the walnut grip was varnished. U.S. military contract arms dispensed with the silver plating and the grips were oil finished, rather than varnished. The famous Colt “naval engagement” roll engraved cylinder scene that would also appear on other Colt pattern revolvers was introduced with the M1851 Navy. It depicted the May 16, 1843, naval battle of Campeche, a fight between the Republic of Texas and Republic of the Yucatan’s navies and the Mexican Navy. The rear face of the cylinder also included small safety pins between the chambers, to allow the hammer to be lowered onto one of the pins for “safe” carry with all of the chambers loaded.
The first 100 Colt “Navy- Navy” revolvers were delivered on July 10, 1852, and after a 4-year hiatus, purchases and deliveries of the revolvers continued with some regularity through September 1859, when purchases of 1851 Navy revolvers ceased. During that time 2,750 M1851 Colt Navy revolvers were obtained by the sea service. The Navy’s acceptance of the smaller “Navy” caliber revolver may have influenced the Army, as on Jan. 1, 1855, an order was placed for the .36 belt revolvers. The first contract deliveries were made on May 2 that year, with 500 revolvers being delivered. Over the next three years, Colt would deliver some 16,778 M1851 Navy revolvers to the U.S. Army under at least fourteen separate contracts. This number includes a few revolvers ordered by the Ordnance Department for Maine (6) and Ohio (60).
With the outbreak of the Civil War, the Ordnance Department contracted for additional revolvers from Colt, but these were the primarily for the new Model 1860 “Army” .44 caliber revolver and a small number of New Model Navy M1861 revolvers. The Army did, however, procure some additional 8,117 M1851 Navy revolvers on the open market from retailers like Schuyler, Hartley & Graham of New York and B. Kittredge & Company of Cincinnati. These open market purchases are typically devoid of inspection or U.S. ownership marks, however, the pre-Civil War Colt contract deliveries were stringently inspected and marked, and those guns not up to snuff were rejected.
The martially marked “Navy- Army” revolvers that were part of the pre-Civil War Ordnance Department contracts were stamped U.S. on the lower left side of the frame, under the standard COLT’S / PATENT marking, and single sub-inspection letters were stamped on most major components. After passing the inspection process, the one-piece oil finished walnut grip received two cartouches, the one on the left side being that of the arsenal sub-inspector who passed the gun; the one on the right side was the Ordnance Department officer who accepted the gun for the U.S. government, and the bill associated with that gun.
The majority of the martially marked, pre-Civil War contract M1851 Navy revolvers are found in the serial number range from about 42,000 to about 80,000 placing their production between early 1855 (that year’s production started at about #40,000) and late 1857 (that year’s production ended around #85,000). The majority of the martially marked U.S. Army “Navies” are 3rd Model revolvers with small brass triggerguards, a wide capping cut out in the recoil shield, and a narrow lever catch.
While the U.S. Navy specifically requested iron backstraps and triggerguards for their M1851 revolvers, the Army accepted the standard brass backstraps and triggerguards on their guns. Many early M1851 Navies delivered to the Army were issued to the newly formed 1st and 2nd Cavalry regiments, who used them to good effect, fighting hostile natives on the western plains. Some 7,800 Colt Navy revolvers had been issued for use by troops in the field by the end of fiscal year 1859 (June 30, 1859). Additionally, some 2,000 were issued to various states under the Militia Act of 1808, with the three largest batches going to Indiana (250 in September 1857), New Hampshire (300 in October 1857) and Texas (368 in August 1858).
Of course, the M1851 Army- Navies remained in use during the Civil War, with at least fifty-six U.S. and volunteer regiments being at least partially armed with the .36 Colt revolvers. These included the 1st, 3rd, 4th & 6th U.S. Cavalry, the 1st Arkansas Volunteer Cavalry, 9 regiments of Illinois Volunteer Cavalry (1st-3rd, 6th, 8th-11th & 13th), 1st-3rd & 10th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, 6 regiments of Kansas Volunteer Cavalry (5th-7th, 9th, 11th & 15th), 6 regiments of Michigan Cavalry (1st- 4th, 7th & 9th) and five regiments of New York Volunteer Cavalry (1st, 5th, 6th, 10th & 11th), just to name a few.
Since many pre-war purchased guns saw frontier duty before the Civil War, and most saw significant action during the war, it is difficult to find high condition, or even crisp and complete, examples of U.S. martially marked “Navy-Army” revolvers today. With the conclusion of the War, the M1851 Navy revolver was considered obsolete and removed from service. The larger .44 M1860 Army was available in more than sufficient supplies to arm the much smaller, peace time army.
Tim Prince is a full-time dealer in fine & collectible military arms from the Colonial Period through WWII. He operates College Hill Arsenal, a web-based antique arms retail site. A long time collector & researcher, Tim has been a contributing author to two major book projects about Civil War era arms including The English Connection and a new book on southern retailer marked and Confederate used shotguns. Tim is also a featured Arms & Militaria appraiser on the PBS Series Antiques Roadshow.
Reverse details of the same revolver, showing the various sub-inspection markings, as well as the “US” mark under the Colts Patent mark and the script ADK sub-inspection cartouche of U.S. Ordnance Department inspector Andrew D. King
Close up of the barrel address, also showing part of the Campeche naval battle scene. Obverse detail view of a U.S. military contract Colt Navy, showing the cylinder scene and the script RHKW final inspection cartouche of U.S. Ordnance receiving officer Robert HK Whitely.
Reverse view of a U.S. military contract Colt Navy revolver.
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Obverse view of a U.S. military contract Colt Navy revolver. (All photos by Tim Prince)