Colt Model 1851 Navy Revolver
TITLE: Colt Model 1851 Navy Revolver
MAKER: Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company
MADE IN: Edinburgh, Scotland
CALIBER: .36 Caliber
DATE: 1863
DIMENSIONS: Barrel: 8 ¾” Length: 14 ¼” Height: 5 ¼”
INSCRIPTION: Serial Number 149503 / Barrel: -ADDRESS COL. SAM L COLT NEW-YORK U.S. AMERICA-. / .36 cal. 6 shoot, Navel. Model 1851 New-York U.S. America”. Action Area (bottom): 149503 (4x) 3. Cylinder: etched ships, ENGAGED 16 MAY 1846. Cylinder: OLTS PATENT No. 2476(?).
CREDIT LINE: Guns from the Browning-Cowan Family
OBJECT ID: 986-12-079
Samuel Colt took out the first revolving patent in the United States in February 1836. His first series of revolvers were not successful until the Colt Model 1851 Navy Revolver.
Noted western users were: “Wild Bill” Hickok; Col. John C. Fremont; the James-Younger gang; the Pawnee scouts; Commodore Matthew C. Perry; Capt. Samuel H. Walker, of the Texas Rangers, and the Pinkerton Detectives.