Colt 1851 “Navy” Revolver
The Gun of Legends
Historian D.L. Rhea tells of how soldiers dropped the loading
lever and used it to steady the revolver for 100-yard shots.
The history of the Colt 1851 belt pistol is long and storied, but many don’t realize just what a formidable firearm it was in the right hands — so much so it was the second most produced revolver in Colt’s glorious history. Samuel Colt wanted to name it the Ranger, most likely as a hat tip to the Texas Rangers who put his company on the map. But Ranger didn’t roll off the tongue like Colt’s Revolving Belt Pistol of the 36 Caliber! As catchy as a tongue twister it is, the name didn’t stick. What stuck in people’s minds was the engraved cylinder scene of the victory of the Second Texas Navy at the Battle of Campeche in May 1843, so it became known as the Colt 1851 Navy.
Captain Davis made headline news when he killed 11 bandits
in a matter of seconds with his Colt revolvers and a Bowie knife.
The Colt 1851 Navy got its name from the Texas Naval Battle
engraved on the cylinder. Pietta made this reproduction.
Photo: Alan Garbers
For the Belt, But Capable
The 1851 Navy was considered the first of Colt’s belt revolvers. Their predecessors, the Colt Dragoon, weighed over 4 lbs. each and were considered horse pistols, meaning they were to be carried in holsters straddling the saddle’s pommel. The 1851 Navy was light enough to be carried on the belt but made a formidable weapon in trained hands. The 1851 was a true 6-shooter and packed a punch most other guns of the period didn’t have. When loaded fully, the ball was cooking at 1,000 fps — close to some modern cartridges.
Wild Bill Hickok was a fan and showcased its accuracy when he dueled with former friend David Tutt, killing him with a shot at 75 yards.
Some may find such a shot more luck than skill, but D.L. Rhea suggested many Civil War veterans learned they could drop the loading lever and use it as a forearm, not unlike what is found on modern AR-style rifles. Shooting the 1851 Navy in this manner hits out to 100 yards were made consistently. Some may claim such a stance would prevent the cylinder from moving when cocking the hammer. From my experiment, only a slight forward motion of the loading lever releases the cylinder to move freely.
While very worn, this 1851 Colt is in better shape than most.
Did zealot John Brown supply this revolver to a
Kansas freedom fighter? We may never know.
The frame’s COLT PATENT marking is often
hard to read due to corrosion. The rolled Texas
Navy engraving was light and easily worn away.
Three Vs. 14
Another 1851 Navy pistolero almost singlehandedly rid the gold fields of California of an entire outlaw gang who had killed 10 men in the days leading up to their last fight.
Captain JR Davis was a Mexican War veteran well acquainted with Colt revolvers. He and his two companions were walking a trail, prospecting in the gold-rich region of California. Suddenly, 14 bandits sprung from hiding, firing upon the trio. One prospector fell dead instantly and another was hit hard. Davis unleashed his Colts and commenced reducing the ranks of their attackers. Seven of the bandits fell dead. Four bandits rushed forward with knives and swords. Davis jerked his Bowie knife and waded into the fight, killing three more and hacking the nose off one who later died. The rest of the bandits fled the demon they had awakened.
With the threat over, Davis ignored his wounds to bind the wounds of his dying companion. Another group of prospectors saw the desperate battle but arrived too late to join in.
Many questioned the details when word got out about the battle, claiming it was too fantastic, even for the press. Davis was a man of honor, and what was being printed shed doubt on his reputation, so he did what any man of honor would do: He gathered the signatures of all the witnesses on a statement telling the facts of the case. When the editor still wasn’t convinced, Davis traveled to the newspaper with a few witnesses in tow.
Sliding the wedge outward frees the barrel assembly
from the arbor for cleaning.
The front sight has been replaced, possibly with a silver dime,
and the muzzle appears refreshed with a file.
John Brown’s Civil War
The American Civil War was one of the most romanticized times in our nation’s history, and the Colt 1851 Navy saw heavy use on both sides. People crave all things Civil War, especially weapons. The first thing any collector does when they find a potential battle-used firearm is to check when it was made and where it went. A Civil War-period firearm dramatically exceeds the value of an identical gun produced afterward. If a firearm can be connected to a notable person in history, the sky is the limit.
Few realize a civil war occurred almost a decade before the official War Between the States. The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed the citizens of the territories of Nebraska and Kansas to decide whether to be admitted into the Union as free or slave-owning. Both sides knew they had to act swiftly to strengthen their positions.
Radical firebrand John Brown excelled at motivating abolitionists to donate to the Free State Kansas cause. He promoted the idea of arming every Free State man in Kansas with a Sharps rifle and a brace of Colt pistols and started doing so. But, as the conflicts in Kansas subsided, Brown’s focus changed. His new plan was to capture the armory in Harper’s Ferry, Va., but he needed weapons.
Brown still claimed to support Kansas Free State settlers, a cause many were willing to fund. In reality, he channeled their money to purchase 200 Sharps rifles for his attack on Harper’s Ferry. In addition, Brown wanted his Colt revolvers back. In August 1858, he wrote to a fellow Kansas abolitionist, William Hutchinson.
The loading lever used mechanical advantage to seat the
projectile and, in some cases, was used as a forearm for aiming.
The address on this barrel is in very good condition,
considering the gun’s age.
Dear Sir:
Please send me the names of the persons to whom my revolvers were loaned; the time at which they were given out, if convenient; the residence of the borrowers, and the (serial) No. of each revolver.
If the No. of each cannot be given, please give all the numbers you can, together with the highest and lowest — of the whole lot, so that I may know anyone bearing an intermediate No. to be mine.
I have not yet succeeded in obtaining or recovering any …
Respectfully yours
John Brown
The golden nugget for Colt historians is the partial list Hutchinson replied with:
Bloomington, A. Curtis, Navy Revolver No. 50400
Osawatomie, N. King, Navy Revolver No. 49860 and J. B. Way, Navy Revolver No. 50966
Keokuk, J. M. Arthur, Eight (Navy Revolvers) with accoutrements. (Numbers not documented.)
Pottawatomie, Wm. Partridge, No. 50410
Lawrence, S. C. Harrington, No. 51171 and A. Cutler, No. 50995
Minniola, O. A. Bassett, No. 51140
The following are the numbers of others given to the Stubbs: 49986, 51208, 50992, 50410, 51203, 50963, 49947, 51101, 50998, 50969, 50944, 51043, 51021, 51033, 51195, 50994, 50980, 49741, 50446, 50040, 51019, 51218, 51200, 51204, 51059, 50948, 51149, 50958, 51255
Mr. Whitman has one, and I think the others were distributed by Eldridge without taking scripts (serial numbers) …
Yours again,
Wm Hutchinson
If we are to take Brown’s comments requesting the first and last serial numbers so he can determine any revolver in between to be his at face value, the count is 1,500 revolvers! While this is not impossible, it is improbable. The logistics of moving so many revolvers and accoutrements into Kansas without pro-slavery forces finding out would have been a miracle in itself. And, based on Hutchinson’s response to Brown’s request, we should assume the actual number is far lower.
In many cases, Colt didn’t ship guns sequentially, something Brown most likely didn’t know. Most likely, the lot was far smaller, perhaps 50 to 100. Of the lot, 35 serial numbers are listed (50410 is listed twice), with others unknown. A few of the guns listed were issued to the Stubbs, a militia group formed to protect the lives and interests of those working to assure Kansas would enter the Union as a free state. At one point, their records listed 70 Colt Navy-sized revolvers in their inventory, and a few of those serial numbers were listed in the inventory letter to John Brown.
If we count the guns with known serial numbers and those with unknown numbers, we arrive at 67 Colt revolvers, a number very close to what the Stubbs said they had at one point. Coincidence?
So, are all the Colt revolvers in the Stubbs’ inventory from John Brown? I could not find anything stated in one way or another. By now, some of you are screaming at me to check with the Colt Archives’ shipping records. Doing so was my first thought. Unfortunately, the records for Colt’s 1851 Navy revolvers before serial number 98,000 are lost, making verification impossible.
This brings us to Colt’s 1851 Navy revolver, serial number 50457. This revolver is in the range of the known numbers from John Brown. Was it part of the lot John Brown transported to Kansas? Did it see action in the fight to make Kansas a free state? Maybe. Brown wasn’t the only abolitionist taking guns to Kansas. We don’t know and may never know unless a lost ledger, letter, or journal is found in some dusty attic stating so.
But we also can’t positively say it wasn’t, which is part of the thrill of collecting and researching old guns, especially the formidable Colt 1851 Navy.
