M1851 Martially Marked Colt Navy Revolver

M1851 Martially Marked Colt Navy Revolver – The Colt company initiated production of the M1851 Navy Revolver in late 1850, with production reaching a total of over 200,000 revolvers by the end of production in 1873. Of the total production, some 42,000 pistols were manufactured in Colt’s London facility, with the bulk of the revolvers produced in New York and Hartford. This Navy, with all matching serial numbers (including the wedge)  – 50,782, was produced in New York City, around 1857. As a martially marked “Navy-Army”, this revolver is stamped “U.S.” on the lower left side of the frame, under the marking “Colt’s / Patent”; two single sub-inspection letters – both “K” stamped on the brass trigger guard. On the right walnut grip is the cartouche / stamp of the US government accepting officer from the Ordnance Department – on these pistols, although the cartouche is visible, they were lightly stamped and somewhat difficult to discern, as the case is with this example. As with Colt Navy revolvers, the standard caliber is .36, with a six-shot cylinder; the cylinder is engraved with a scene depicting a naval battle between the U.S. and the Mexican Navy. The octagonal barrel is 7.5” in length, with an attached loading lever. The grips are one-piece, varnished walnut, with brass gripstraps indicating probable issuance to the Army, as opposed to the Navy – the latter wanted triggerguards and backstraps made of iron, while the Army accepted brass for both elements. The frame, loading lever and hammer are casehardened, with the other steel elements blued. Most of the martially marked Colt Navy revolvers, like this example, were 3^rd Model revolvers with noticeably smaller triggerguards, a large or wide capping cut in the recoil shield and narrower lever catch. Stamped on the top of the barrel of this pistol is the following:

“ADDRESS SAM^L COLT NEW-YORK CITY”

The pistol remains in overall very good to excellent condition, with some bluing and minor amounts of casehardening remaining; there is an abundance of cylinder scene visible; the grips are in good condition and the firing mechanism is crisp, with strong indexing.

*** 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 (which started that year’s production at about #40,000) and late 1857 (which ended that year’s production around #85,000). Many of the early M1851 Navies that were delivered to the Army were issued to the newly formed 1^st and 2^nd 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 the various states under the Militia Act of 1808, with the three largest batches going to Indiana (who receiving 250 in September 1857), New Hampshire (who received 300 in October 1857) and Texas (who receiving 368 in August 1858). Of course, the M1851 Army-Navies remained in use during the American Civil War as well, with at least fifty-six US and volunteer regiments being armed with .36 Colt revolvers. These included the 1^st, 3^rd, 4^th & 6^th US Cavalry, the 1^st Arkansas Volunteer Cavalry, 9 regiments of Illinois Volunteer Cavalry (1^st-3^rd, 6^th, 8^th-11^th & 13^th), 1^st-3^rd & 10^th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, 6 regiments of Kansas Volunteer Cavalry (5^th-7^th, 9^th, 11^th & 15^th), 6 regiments of Michigan Cavalry (1^st-4^th, 7^th& 9^th) and five regiments of New York Volunteer Cavalry (1^st, 5^th, 6^th, 10^th & 11^th), just to name a few. (from the impressive research of Tim Prince of The College Hill Arsenal.)