Colt Handguns
Kerry Barlow
Colt 1861 navy
The Colt Model 1860 army was probably the largest produced and
most widely used of all handguns in the civil war by both sides. This weapon
was issued to the US cavalry at the time as well. There were many differant
models and variations made of this basic model as well as other Colt handguns
that were used. Interestingly the Union forces liked the Colt 1851 navy
so much they purchased many of these handguns to be used by both the army
and the navy troops. The Colt 1860 Army was very similar to the above Navy
model,however the cylinder barrel would have a differant scene engraved
in it.
Colt used the engraved barrel as a form of copy protection. Many
reproductions were being made in other countrys and by other companies
in America as well. By useing an engraved scene on the barrel it was proof
that you had an original Colt handgun. There were so many similar styles
and designs of these two models it is hard at times to differentiate between
them all.
The Colt 1861 navy and 1860 army models used a round barrel with
internal rifling,they came in both .36 caliber and .44 caliber for the
navy and .44 caliber for the Army versions. I will start off with the original
Colt weapons as they led up to the production of the Civil war handguns
I hope the reader will find this interesting. I have done considerable research
into these weapons and there history if I make a mistake I apologize to
everyone.
- 1836 Patterson .36 caliber 5 shot revolver
Originally manufactured in Patterson NJ the model 1836 was the first succesfull
revolver designed by Sam Colt. It had a folding trigger guard which folded
out of the frame when the hammer was drawn back,making the trigger accesable
for shooting.
- Walker Revolver .44 caliber 1847, Designed
by Capt.Samuel Walker this was a famous handgun in its day and still is
considerd a remarkable handgun. Only 1100 of these weapons were produced
at the time. 1000 were issued to Walkers dragoons by company designation
A,B,C,etc the remaining 100 were sold to civilians. This weapon weighed
a whopping 4 lbs 8 oz and was truly considerd a Horse pistol,meaning this
weapon was meant to be carried on a holster attached to the horse;s harness
and not carried in a holster by the man. It had a rifled barrel, 1 in 60"
twist. This was the first revolver to have an attached loading lever. This
was a specification by Sam Walker as well as the rest of its design. This
weapon was probably NOT used extensively in the civil war, however it is
included here because it was the direct and immediate forerunner of the
dragoon models which were used. Notice the square back trigger guard and
the loading rod that does not have a holder at the front of the barrel.
It has been said that the gun was so powerful when it fired the gun jerked
up vertically and the loading rod was left hanging down from the sheer
force of the explosion. Needless to say Colt rectified this problem in
the Dragoon and subsequent models.
- Colt 1851 navy: The 1851 navy was quite a differant shape gun then the 1861 pictured above.
The 1851 navy had an octagon barrel,squared back trigger guard
and no front sight,it would be more similar in looks to the walker style weapons.The 1851 navy
was also only produced in .36 caliber.
- 1st 2nd and 3rd model Dragoons. all .44 caliber
weight around 4 lbs 6 oz;s These were all modifications and improvements
on the Walker design. The 3rd model dragoon now had a round back trigger
guard as well. These all led up to the production of the 1851 navy and the
1860 army models. Here again these weapons were most likely not widely used
by either side,but they were available and certainly were the mose powerful
handguns of there time. It is interesting to note that even todays modern
.44 magnum revolvers are only slightly more powerful then these Walker
style weapons.
- Colt Navy 1861 ( as pictured above) was
produced from 1861-1873 in .36 and .44 caliber. The gun weighed around 2
lbs 12 oz. It was a lighter handgun then the walkers and dragoons so was
a favorite of both confederate and union troops during the war. The handgun
had a naval battle scene engraved on the cylinder,if
you look closely you can see two sailing ships in the scene. The ships are
sailing to the right with large masts,the far ship on left of cylinder
is only half a ship in this picture. Many waves and clouds can be seen as
well in the photo.
- Colt Army model 1860 caliber .44 weight 2 lbs 9 oz. This is a succesor
to the 3rd model Dragoon. It and its brother the 1851 were some of the most
widely used handguns in the war. This is considerd a holster revolver instead
of a horse pistol which is what it replaced. This gun again had a battle
scene on the cylinder, however it was an army battle this time not a naval
battle.
- Reb model 1860 .38 or .44 caliber. Basically
this gun was a copy of the 1851 navy. This handgun was manufactured by Samuel
Griswold of Griswold and Gunnison arms. The handgun had a brass frame a round barrel
and an unengraved cylinder.
- There were many more Colt handguns designed and sold thruout the civil
war period and before,however they were not specifically designed as an
army weapon. Some of these include the following.
