The mid-1850s was a revolutionary time for small arms development around the world, and the United States was no exception. The US Army had already adopted the percussion revolver in limited numbers for the US Mounted Rifles and US Dragoons by acquiring Colt “Dragoon”, .44 caliber “holster” (as in pommel holster) revolvers in 1848. The US Navy, however, remained steadfast in their belief that single shot, muzzle-loading pistols were sufficient for the use of their seamen. In 1851 Colt introduced his “Belt Revolver”, a slimmed down, lighter weight, 6-shot .36 caliber handgun that would become known by its year of introduction as the Model 1851 revolver, or simply by its nickname, the Colt “Navy” revolver. 

The number of Colt’s .36 caliber Model 1851 “Navy” revolvers purchased by the US Navy was rather limited. While Colt had vigorously lobbied the Navy to purchase his revolving pistols during the early 1850s, he met with significant resistance. He did manage to secure an order for 100 revolvers in June of 1852 for the use of Commodore Matthew Perry’s command on his voyage to open Japan. This order included fifty Colt Model 1851 Navy revolvers, which correspondence notes were to be “plated”, 25 “Army Pistols – brass mounted” and what appear to be a small selection of Colt Model 1849 Pocket Revolvers, likely for presentation as gifts. The correspondence requests “6 Four-inch barrel….6 Five-inch barrel….13 Six-inch barrel” and all are noted as being “plated” as well. Despite these inroads, the general belief of the Naval Ordnance Department was that pistols were only of use while boarding an enemy ship, and in those circumstances edged weapons such as sabers or axes were of more practical use to the average seaman. In fact, the chief of Naval Ordnance, Commodore Morris, wrote to Secretary of the Navy James Dobbin on June 21, 1854, noting in part:

“It has not been considered advisable heretofore, to purchase Colt’s revolvers for general service……….Pistols can seldom be used with effect in the Navy, except when boarding vessels, with the view to their capture, which very rarely occurs. At such time, the contest soon becomes hand to hand when sword or boarding hatchets could be used by seamen, with equal, if not greater certainty and effect than pistols.”

Colt was not to be discouraged, and ever the consummate salesman, he did manage to sell the Navy fifty of his Model 1851 revolvers in June of 1856 and an additional fifty revolvers in May of 1857. In September of that year, the Navy finally placed a larger order for Model 1851 revolvers. They purchased 2,000, less the one hundred that had been previously ordered, and deliveries began in November of 1857. These “1^st Contract” guns appear in the 55500 to 62000 serial number range. The first 615 were delivered for inspection at the Norfolk Naval Yard on November 9, 1857. The next batch of 667 were delivered to the Boston Naval Yard on December 6, and rest of the guns were delivered to the New York Navy Yard later that same month. The Navy placed a second order for an additional 600 Model 1851s in August of 1859. These guns were in the 89000 to 91000 serial number range, with half of the guns delivered to the New York Naval Yard and the other half delivered to the Boston Naval Yard. 

The US Navy purchased Colt Model 1851 revolvers were somewhat unique in that they were specifically ordered with iron backstraps and triggerguards. This is particularly interesting because the standard production revolvers had brass backstraps and triggerguards, which were less likely to be damaged by the corrosive salt air environment the revolvers would be exposed to in naval service. John D McAulay’s research reveals that by 1860, Colt Model 1851 revolvers were listed in the small arms inventories of nearly thirty US Naval vessels, including the USS Caledonia, USS Colorado, USS Congress, USS Crusader, USS Cumberland, USS Decatur, USS Fennimore Cooper, USS Fulton, USS Independence, USS John Adams, USS Lancaster, USS Merrimack, USS Mississippi, USS Pawnee, USS Plymouth, USS Porpoise, USS Powhatan, USS Portsmouth, USS Roanoke, USS Sabine, USS Saranac, USS Saratoga, USS St. Mary’s, USS Susquehanna, USS Vincennes, USS Wabash, USS Water Witch and USS Westernport. 

The Colt Model 1851 “Navy-Navy” Contract revolver offered here was part of the second order for 600 guns placed in August of 1851 and was one of the 300 that were delivered to the Boston Navy Yard later that year. The revolver has the matching serial number 89630 on all of the major parts, with the loading lever, the barrel wedge and the cylinder arbor having the matching abbreviated number 9630, omitting the first digit. The inside rear channel of the walnut grip is numbered in period ink and reads 9630 as well. Like all of the Colt Model 1851s delivered under US Navy contract, the revolver has an iron backstrap and triggerguard. While the first contract guns utilized the London stye parts with a triggerguard that is somewhat boxy, these later contract guns utilized the Hartford style iron backstrap and triggerguard which was more rounded. The lower front portion of the left side of the frame is marked in three lines: 

COLT’S

PATENT

U. S.

The octagonal barrel is marked with the single line Hartford barrel address that reads

— ADDRESS SAML COLT HARTFORD CT.—

The bottom of the iron gripstrap is clearly marked U S N and the bottom of the wooden grip is marked I over GWR, indicating inspection by Lieutenant George Washington Rogers at the Boston Naval Yard. 

These are original percussion Navy contract revolvers are very scarce guns today, as only a total of 2,600 were procured via contract with the Navy prior to the Civil War, and approximately 1,000 of them were subsequently altered to cartridge revolvers. The second contract guns are even less common, as there were only 600 in that contract, and this was one of only 300 delivered to the Boston Navy Yard under that contract.

The gun remains in VERY GOOD condition overall and is relatively crisp throughout, with sharps edges on the octagon barrel and very clear markings in the metal and the wood. The pistol’s grips are particularly nice and far better than most Navy-Navy revolvers encountered today. The revolver appears to have suffered from the ravages of poor storage over time, as the metal is not as nice as the accompanying wood grip.

The pistol retains none of its original finish and has a mostly dull pewter patina with scattered surface oxidation, age discoloration and some pitting. While most of this appears as simple mottled freckling on the metal, and much of the discoloration does not include any significant etching into the metal surfaces, there are a few patches of real pitting, most notably on the obverse of the barrel, near the muzzle and tip of the loading lever. The cylinder retains about 70%+ of the roll engraved Mexican War naval battle scene. The front edge of the cylinder retains a small portion of the legend that reads:

ENGAGED 16 MAY 1843

This mark is rarely even visible on the crispest of examples but remains visible on this revolver. All of the cones (nipples) in the cylinder are original and they are in very good condition, but do show use, with some pitting and moderate amounts of surface oxidation visible in their recesses. There is also some light pitting on the face of the cylinder from firing and use. Two of the safety pins on the rear face of the cylinder are in very nice condition, crisp condition as well. The other four are battered into submission with little more than their outlines on the rear of the cylinder remaining. The screws appear to be original to the gun, with the exception of the wedge screw, which is a more recent replacement. The screws remain relatively crisp with good slots, with only the butt screw showing significant slot wear. The pistol remains in fine mechanical condition and functions perfectly. The gun indexes, times, and locks up exactly as it should. The bore of the pistol rates about good.  The bore is moderately oxidized and shows light to moderate pitting along its length with a couple of patches of heavier pitting. Despite the pitting the rifling remains in good condition. The one-piece, oil finished, black walnut grip is in about fine condition, and is free of any breaks, cracks or repairs. The grip does show some handling marks from use and some dings and surface mars, but even the leading edges remain in very crisp condition. The inspection marks in the bottom of the grip are in wonderful condition and are much better than are normally encountered on Colt “Navy-Navies”. The bottom of the grip does show some impact marks, as are often found on the bottoms of revolver grips from this period.

Overall, this is a very solid, all matching Colt Model 1851 Navy-Navy Revolver. As noted, these are rather scarce guns, with only 2,600 of the guns being procured via contract with the Navy. At least 1,000 of the Navy purchased Colt’s were subsequently altered from percussion to .38 Center Fire by Colt, for the Navy, in 1873. This makes the original percussion “Navy-Navies” even rarer. Considering that Colt produced over 215,000 of the Model 1851 revolvers in Hartford, these USN marked Model 1851 Navy revolvers represent only 1% of the total production. This gun has a wonderful look and has not been messed with in any way. It is in much better condition than most Navy purchased Model 1851’s encountered these days, and it would be hard to imagine finding one with crisper and clearer inspector markings, particularly in the grip. All of the Navy purchased revolvers saw use on board ships, and the harsh environment they were exposed to is likely the reason for the metal condition of this example. A Colt Navy-Navy is a real coup for any serious collector of US marital percussion revolvers to acquire. This gun would be a great addition to any such collection or to a Civil War USN collection. This is simply a great gun that you will be very proud to own and to display.

SOLD