The Savage “Navy” Self-Cocking Revolver is one of the weirdest, and possibly most ungainly handguns of the Civil War era but also has one of the most recognizable silhouettes. The .36 caliber, 6-chambered revolver had a 7” octagonal barrel and an innovative ring-cocking action and a moving gas seal cylinder. The gun featured a unique ring-shaped cocking lever inside the heart shaped trigger guard, which was used to advance the cylinder and cock the hammer. The shooter could then fire the gun with the traditional trigger. The design was similar to the lock work employed in William Tranter’s “double trigger” revolvers. The gun was the final version of a family of self-cocking revolvers that were built upon the “Figure-8” design of JS North. Beyond its unique action, the gun was revolutionary in that was a “gas seal” revolver. The cylinder moved forward when the action cocked, and the chamfered chamber mouth engaged the tapered forcing cone at the rear of the barrel. The effect was a gas seal between the chamber and the barrel, which practically eliminated the loss of gas and pressure from the usual gap between the barrel and cylinder. This meant that the gas created from the ignition of the powder charge was more effectively converted into propulsion for the bullet. This increased the velocity of the bullet for a given powder charge over convectional revolver designs, which allowed much of the propulsive force of the gasses to escape in the space between the cylinder and the barrel. This innovative design would not be revisited again on a widespread basis for a military revolver until the adoption of the M1895 Nagant revolver by the Russian military. The revolvers were blued overall with color casehardened small parts that included the loading lever, triggerguard, cocking ring and hammer. Grips were smooth oil finished walnut panels that were very thin and as a result were prone to cracking, chipping and breaking. Sights were rudimentary with a notch rear sight on the topstrap and a tall brass cone front sight. The offset hammer struck the percussion cones centrally through a hole in the top of the topstrap, so the sight pictured was only visible when the hammer was cocked and its nose did not obstruct the front sight.

From the very beginning, the revolver had been intended as a martial arm by its inventors and manufacturers, and significant effort was put forth in the years preceding the war to obtain a US military contract for the innovative, if somewhat cumbersome revolvers. With the coming of the Civil War, the need for revolvers outweighed any misgivings that the military may have had about the design, and the coveted military contracts were almost immediately forthcoming. The state of Massachusetts procured 285 of the Savage revolvers early in the conflict. Additional arms were sold to military outfitters and New York based arms retailers like Schuyler, Hartley & Graham and William Syms & Brothers. Both of these companies sold Savage Navy revolvers to the US government during early 1862, for as much as $25 per revolver. The Savage Revolving Firearms Company secured its first official US military contract directly with the US government on October 16, 1861. This contract called for Savage to deliver 5,000 pistols between October 1861 and March 1862 at the price of $20 per revolver. Another contract was received from the government in November of 1861 to supply an additional 5,000 revolvers, at $20 each, between November 1861 and May of 1862. Savage completed their initial contract in a timely fashion but had trouble delivering the guns for the second contract on the agreed to schedule. The second contract was temporarily voided by the Ordnance Department, but after negotiating with Savage, an agreement was reached where the 4,500 outstanding guns from that contract would be delivered at the lower rate of $19.00 per pistol. The deliveries under the second contract were completed by July of 1862. Of the approximately 20,000 Savage “Navy” models produced during the Civil War, the US Ordnance Department took delivery of 11,384 of the guns, and the Navy took delivery of 1,126. The balance of approximately 8,500 guns were offered for civilian sale, although most of those revolvers no doubt ended up seeing service during the war as well, with many likely being obtained by the various states on the open market. The pistols saw significant field service during the war and were issued to at least twenty-six different US cavalry regiments and were listed among the arms of some half dozen or more Confederate cavalry regiments. US volunteer cavalry regiments that were issued Savage Navy revolvers included the 6^th, 10^th & 13^th Illinois, the 5^th & 15^th Kansas, 11^th Kentucky, the 3^rd, 4^th & 7^th Missouri, 7^th New York 3^rd Ohio, 7^th Pennsylvania, 1^st & 2^nd Wisconsin, 1^st Vermont and the Potomac Brigade. The revolvers were also issued to the 1^st through 9^th Missouri State Militia Cavalry. The two regiments who carried the most Savages on their ordnance rolls were the 4^th Missouri State Militia Cavalry with 714 and the 2^nd Wisconsin with 400. Confederate cavalry units that listed the Savage Navy among their arms were the 11^th Texas, 7^th Virginia, and the 34^th & 35^thVirginia Cavalry Battalions. After the war, the Ordnance Department disposed of the Savage Navy revolvers rather quickly. They sold some 773 during 1866 at prices varying from $1.50 to $3.45 each. During 1875, they sold an additional 3,951 of the revolvers for prices as low as $0.35 to as high as $0.58 each; a far cry from the $19 to $25 each they paid for the guns during the war years.

This example of the Savage Revolving Firearms Company “Navy” Revolver is in VERY FINE condition overall. It is an extremely crisp, martially sub-inspected example that is 100% complete and correct in every way and retains a significant amount of finish. The topstrap of the revolver is clearly marked in three lines:

SAVAGE R.F.A. Co. MIDDLETOWN. CT

H. S. NORTH PATENTED JUNE 17 1856

JANUARY 10 1859. MAY 15 1860

The revolver shows small, single letter “H” sub-inspection marks on the cylinder and on the barrel on both sides, forward of the frame. The grips do no show acceptance cartouches, but the presence of the sub-inspection marks suggest the revolver was part of one of the two Ordnance Department contracts, or at least the parts were inspected at the factory by an Ordnance Department inspector, prior to assembly. The revolver is serial number 969, with the number found on the right grip frame, under the grip. The revolver is also sub-assembly numbered 77 with that number present on the grip frame under the grip, under the barrel where it is concealed by the loading lever and inside both grips. Due to the complicated mechanism, the revolver was not further disassembled to look for other assembly marks, but they are likely present on the rear of the cylinder and on the rotational plate that actuates the cylinder.

Savage Navy revolvers have a reputation for being difficult to find with any amount of original finish, or with grips that are not in relatively rough shape. This gun retains a significant amount of original blue with something in the neighborhood of 40%+ being present overall. The largest amount of blue is present on the cylinder, which retains about 85%+ of that bright blue. The frame retains about 35%+ of its blue, primarily in the protected areas on the flat behind the recoil shield and on the frame web forward of the cylinder. The barrel retains the least amount of blue, with a streaky appearance and about 15% of its original blue. The balance of the metal has a pleasing, moderately oxidized plum brown patina that has blended with the remaining blue to give the revolver the appearance of a gun with much more finish remaining on it. As such the gun presents as a 60%+ gun, rather than the 40%+ gun that it is. The metal is mostly smooth with some scattered light surface oxidation and freckles of minor surface roughness. Some lightly scattered pinpricking is present as well. The case-hardened hammer retains about 50%+ dulling, mottled colors, and the triggerguard and ring lever retain some strong traces of the case coloring, which has dulled and mixed with a mottled dark bluish-gray patina. The loading lever retains a similar amount of faded and dulled mottled colors.

These .36 caliber, six shot revolvers a had a reputation for being very temperamental mechanically during the period of use, and finding one that is in perfect mechanical working order today is quite difficult. This pistol is mechanically excellent and functions exactly as it should in every way. A long, heavy pull of the ring beneath the trigger indexes the cylinder to the rear, rotating it and then locking it into the forward position and cocking the hammer. A single pull of this lever prepares the six shot, .36-caliber (hence the name “Navy”) revolver, to fire. Pulling the trigger releases the hammer as it should. The revolver times, indexes and locks up exactly as it should. Savage Navy revolvers are notorious for having heavily battered and damaged percussion cones (nipples), probably because of the way the hammer strikes them and because there is potential for the hammer to drag on the cone if the operating lever is not pulled briskly. As such, broken and shattered cones are a common condition issue with these revolvers. This gun is the exception to that rule, and all the cones are all in very crisp and completely usable condition. The gun retains the original tall, pointed brass cone shaped front sight, which is still full height and remains quite crisp. This is nice as these tall front sights are typically worn down to a mere bead or missing completely. The brass cone is thicker on the early production revolvers than on the guns produced later in the contract series, and this gun shows the thick sight as it should. All the edges of the metal are still very sharp, and crisp and the bore is in about FINE condition as well. It is mostly bright, with crisp rifling, showing only some lightly scattered oxidation, some frosting and some very light pitting scattered along its length. The original loading lever is in place under the barrel and remains fully functional, operating smoothly as it should. The lever and its retaining catch both function perfectly and the lever locks securely into place when not in use. The two-piece smooth walnut grips rate about FINE overall as well and match the condition of the revolver very well. They are some of the best original Savage Navy grips that I have ever seen. They show only the most minor wear and handling marks and are free of any breaks, cracks or repairs. The thin panels are often severely cracked, damaged, repaired or even replaced. These grips are simply in fantastic condition and other than a few small dings and some scuffed edge wear along the lower edges, they have no real condition issues.

Overall, this a really great example of a scarce and desirable, martially sub-inspected Savage Navy Revolver. The revolver remains in fine condition, significantly better condition than the large majority of surviving examples. Finding a Savage Navy with any amount of original finish is very difficult and finding an inspected example that is this crisp with fine grips is a real rarity. Even though the gun remains in such very nice and crisp condition, it clearly saw at least some real-world use and is sort of the perfect balance between a minty gun that saw no action and a heavily used and abused gun that is now in rough shape. The pistol is mechanically excellent, is extremely well marked and displays wonderfully. This is a Savage Navy that is head and shoulders better than the ones that are seen for sale these days and it would take a lot of money and luck to find one that was crisper with more finish and such fine grips. This is a really great, no excuses, revolver that will be a wonderful addition to any Civil War handgun collection, that you will certainly be very proud to own and display.

ON HOLD / LAYAWAY