Colt 1851 Navy Revolver

{{Short description|1851 revolver by Samuel Colt}} {{Use mdy dates |date= February 2023}} {{Use American English|date=February 2023}}

{{Infobox weapon |name=1851 Colt Revolving Navy Pistol |image=300px|Colt Navy Model 1851 |caption= Colt 1851 Navy Revolving Pistol, serial no 2 |origin= United States |type=Revolver |is_ranged=yes |service=1851–1873 |used_by={{indented plainlist| * United States * Confederate States * Native Americans * First Nations in Canada * Hawaiian Kingdom * United Kingdom * Canada * Australia * South Africa * France * Austrian Empire * Austria-Hungary * German Empire * Russian Empire<ref>{{cite web |title=The First Russian Revolvers - Colt |url= http://russianrevolvers.com/rp3a.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180829064325/http://russianrevolvers.com/rp3a.html |archive-date= August 29, 2018 |url-status= dead}}</ref> * Ottoman Empire * Poland * Norway * Sweden * Brazil * Argentina * Kingdom of Italy * Denmark * Netherlands * Dutch Empire * Belgium<ref>{{cite web | url=https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/387913 | title=Revolver - Colt Brevete, Belgium, 1850s }}</ref> * Qing dynasty * Joseon dynasty * Empire of Japan * Empire of Brazil * Second Mexican Empire * Mexico * Tokugawa Shogunate }} |wars={{collapsible list |Taiping Rebellion 1850–1864 |Crimean War 1853–1856 |Indian Mutiny 1857–1858 |Bleeding Kansas 1854-1859 |Second Italian War of Independence 1859 |Expedition of the Thousand 1860–1861 |American Civil War 1861–1865 |American Indian Wars |Second French intervention in Mexico |New Zealand wars |January Uprising 1863–1864 |Second Schleswig War 1864 |Paraguayan War 1864–1870 |Austro-Prussian War 1866 |Third Italian War of Independence 1866 |Boshin War 1868-1869 |Fenian Raids |Red River Rebellion |Krivošije uprising 1869 |Franco-Prussian War 1870–1871 |Satsuma Rebellion 1877 |Russo-Turkish War 1877–1878 |Australian frontier wars |Free State-Basotho Wars |Transvaal Civil War |Eureka Rebellion |Fenian Rising |Reform War }}

|designer=Samuel Colt |design_date=1850 |manufacturer=Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, Hartford, Conn.<br />Liege<ref name="brevete">{{cite book |last1=Marcot, Paxton |first1=Roy, Ron |title=Colt Brevete Revolvers |date=2011 |publisher=Northwood Heritage Press |isbn=9780961149444}}</ref><br />Tula Arsenal<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hermitage Museum |first1=The State |title=The Russian Colts - From Colonel Samuel Colt to The Russian Imperial Court |date=1979 |publisher=Beinfield Publishing |isbn=9780917714269}}</ref> |production_date=1851–1873 |number= 272,000 |variants=Squareback trigger guard Navy, serial number 1 - c. 4200 |velocity= {{cvt|840|ft/s|m/s|0}} |weight={{cvt|2.6|lb}} |length= {{cvt|13|in|mm}} |part_length= {{cvt|7.5|in|mm}} |action= Single-action |cartridge= .38 rimfire / .38 centerfire (conversions) |caliber=.36 }}

The '''Colt Revolving Belt Pistol''' or '''Navy Pistol''', sometimes erroneously referred to as "Colt Revolving Belt Pistol of Naval Caliber" or "of Navy Caliber" (Naval is heavy gun and Navy Size Caliber was termed later for another Colt model), is a .36 caliber, six-round cap and ball revolver that was designed by Samuel Colt between 1847 and 1850. Colt first referred to this Revolver as the '''Ranger Size''' model, and then Revolving Belt, but the designation "Navy" quickly took over.

After the Civil War, revolvers using fixed metallic cartridges came into widespread use. 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.{{sfn|Wilson|1985|p=78}}

==Characteristics== The six-round .36-caliber Navy revolver was much lighter than the contemporary Colt Dragoon Revolvers developed from the .44 Walker Colt revolvers of 1847, which, given their size and weight, were generally carried in saddle holsters.{{sfn|Hounshell|1984|p=47}} 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 at the time of 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.{{sfn|Chicoine|2005|p=50}} Despite the "Navy" designation, the revolver was chiefly purchased by civilians and military land forces.{{sfn|Hounshell|1984|p=47}}

The .36-caliber ({{convert|0.375|-|0.380|in|mm|adj=on|disp=sqbr}}) round lead ball weighs 80 grains and, at a velocity of {{convert|1000|ft|m}} 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 combinations being 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 be always said for the reproductions.

==Colt 1851 Navy conversions== The first metallic cartridge revolver made by Colt was the Thuer-Conversion Model Revolver, a design that would not require a cylinder with cylindrical chambers so as not to infringe 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 chambers of the cylinder 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.

==Use== 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, Addison Gillespie, John "Rip" Ford, "Sul" Ross and most Texas Rangers prior to the Civil War.{{sfn|Norris|1990|p=161}}{{sfn|Herring|2008|p=21}}{{sfn|Roberts|2011|p=54}}<ref>{{cite episode |title= Buffalo Bill's 1851 Colt Navy |episode-link= |url= |access-date= |series= Midway USA's Gun Stories |series-link= |first= |last= |network= The Outdoor Channel |station= |date= December 10, 2019 |season= 9 |series-no= |number= 4 |minutes= |time= |transcript= |transcript-url= |quote= |language=}}</ref> 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''.

<gallery> File:Cartridgebox.jpg|Combustible paper cartridges; six to a box File:Colt pegs.jpg|Safety peg between cylinder chambers File:Coltdiag.jpg|Post 1851 Colt Revolvers File:Loadseq.jpg|Loading sequence for percussion revolvers File:Colt Navy 51 Squarebeck.JPG|Early Colt Navy Mod 1851, Second Model squareback trigger guard File:Colt Navy 51 engraved.JPG|Colt Navy 51, Gustav Young engraving File:Colt Navy 51 Conversion - Colt Open Top 1872.JPG|Top: Navy 51 .38 Conversion, below Colt Model 1871-72 Open Top </gallery>

==References==

===Citations=== {{Reflist|30em}}

===Sources=== {{refbegin |40em}} * {{cite book |last= Bates |first= Johnny |last2= Cumpston |first2= Mike |date= 2005 |title=Percussion Pistols and Revolvers: History, Performance and Practical Use |location= Lincoln, Nebraska|publisher= iUniverse}} * {{cite book |last= Burton |first= Sir Richard Francis |date= 2003 |title=First Footsteps in East Africa|publisher=The University of Adelaide Library}} * {{cite book |last= Chicoine |first= David |date= 10 June 2005 |title= Guns of the New West: A Close Up Look at Modern Replica Firearms |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=jNuEWcNOjjgC&pg=PA50 |publisher= Krause Publications |location= Iola |isbn= 0-87349-768-6 |page= 50 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} * {{cite book |last= Herring |first= Hal |date= 2008 |title= Famous Firearms of the Old West: From Wild Bill Hickok's Colt Revolvers to Geronimo's Winchester, Twelve Guns That Shaped Our History|publisher= Globe Pequot |isbn= 978-0-7627-4508-1}} * {{Hounshell1984|mode=cs1}} * {{cite book |last= Jordan |first= Robert M. |title=Colt 1851 and 1861 Navies & Conversions}} * {{cite book |last= Keith |first= Elmer |date= 1956 |title=Sixguns: The Standard Reference Work |place=New York |publisher=Bonanza Books}} * {{cite book |last= Norris |first= Keith |date= 1990 |title= Australia's heritage sketchbook |publisher= PR Books|isbn = 978-1-875113-37-8}} * {{cite book |last= Roberts |first= Gary L. |date= 2011 |title= Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend |publisher= John Wiley and Sons |isbn = 978-1-118-13097-1}} * {{cite book |last= Wilson |first= R. L. |date=1985 |title= Colt: An American Legend |location=New York; London |publisher=Atabras, A Division of Abbeville Publishing Group}} {{refend}}

==External links== * [http://collections.theautry.org/mwebcgi/mweb.exe?request=record;id=T208558;type=801 The Colt Revolver in the American West] – Exhibition of Colt revolvers at The Autry Museum * [http://www.civilwar.si.edu/weapons_1861navycolt.html Smithsonian Article on the M1861 Navy] * [http://www.civilwarguns.com/0111.html Shooting Characteristics of the M1861 Navy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126182207/http://www.civilwarguns.com/0111.html |date=2019-01-26 }} {{Colt's Manufacturing Company}}

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