Colt's Cap & Ball Revolvers

Between about 1820 and 1877 Comanche raiders roamed freely over most of what is now the state of Texas. In doing so they killed thousands of frontier settlers. By the late 1830’s a loosely organized group of toughs called Texas Rangers rode after the marauders in an effort to save captives and/or livestock. Usually some warriors continued on with the loot but the more experienced ones peeled off to confront the whites. Armed at most with two muzzleloading pistols and a rifle, Texas Rangers had three shots at most. The Comanches had bows and arrows, war clubs and probably most effective — 14′ lances. Despite their bravery Texas Rangers usually lost the fights.

That was until 1841 when a band of about 50 rangers under Captain Jack Hays engaged a war party said to be in the hundreds. The rangers’ ace in the hole was a new sort of weapon — Colt revolvers. These were what collectors today called Patterson Colts. They were .36 caliber with 5-shot cylinders. After the Comanches received the rangers’ initial volleys they rode close to mix it up with lance and arrow. Then to their great consternation and distress, the rangers kept shooting. The fight was called Battle of Bandera Pass and is considered the turning point of the Texas/Comanche wars.

Afterward, Indians seldom prevailed over Texas Rangers. If the Battle of Bandera Pass was not the first time Colt revolvers were used in combat, it certainly has gone down in history as the most significant one. For the next 30 years, “percussion” or “cap and ball” revolvers became the norm for handgun carrying people, while single shot pistols became as rare as film cameras in the 21st century. Naturally, the US Army was one of the last organizations to catch on, but during the Mexican War they did.

By the 1850’s Sam Colt determined men needed “belt pistols.” His first
was the ultra-famous Colt Navy .36 (top). About 10 years later it was
remodeled into the more graceful Model 1861 .36. Both remained in
production until 1873.

Sam Colt’s first two cap and ball revolvers were the Patterson .36 (bottom)
and the huge Walker .44 at top. This Patterson is a Cimarron/Uberti replica
and the Walker is a 2nd Generation Colt.

Game Changer

Here’s how it played out. Samuel Colt, whose company briefly made those Patterson Colts — so named because the factory was in Patterson, N.J. — was out of the revolver making business. Samuel Walker, a former Texas Ranger and now an officer in the US Army championed the effectiveness of Patterson revolvers in the hands of fighting men. Somehow or the other he convinced someone in authority to send him east to find the revolver’s inventor and prevail on him to make more. Walker wanted them bigger, stronger and more powerful than the early .36’s.

Together the two Sams designed a behemoth of a sixgun. It weighed 41/2 pounds, had a 9″ barrel and fired a .44 caliber conical or round ball projectile. Its massive 19/16″ cylinder could hold up to 60 grains of blackpowder under a 148-gr. round ball. That’s as much powder as later Civil War rifle-muskets used with 450-gr. Minie-balls. Unlike most Patterson 5-shooters, Colt Walkers had a rammer beneath their barrels to facilitate reloading.

Sam Colt was broke at that time in the 1840’s without a facility to make revolvers. He turned to Eli Whitney for manufacturing and provided the US Army with 1,000 Colt Walkers. Rather intelligently he also had Whitney turn out another 100 for him to sell privately. That gave him a stake used to start his own new factory. By his death in 1862 Samuel Colt was considered one of America’s wealthiest men.
After delivering those 1,000 Walkers, Sam Colt was a man consumed with handgun design energy. He developed new and better revolvers. For US Army Dragoons (mounted troops) there were three slightly modified .44’s. Collectors call them 1st, 2nd and 3rd Models, differing only in details. All had 71/2″ barrels, 17/16″ cylinders holding 50 grains of black powder and a latch to secure the rammer to the barrel. In combat Walkers’ rammers tended to flop down, tying up the cylinder at a critical time. These were the only .44 caliber revolvers Colt produced until 1860.

A hot, loaded Walker could give up to 1,200 fps with round balls, and Dragoons could reach about 1,100 fps. That’s .44 Magnum territory.

Although all cap and ball revolvers could be loaded with loose powder and ball,
cartridges containing powder and ball in special flammable paper were also available.

The Model 1860 used a rebated cylinder so a .44 would fit on the same
sized frame as the Model 1851 .36. It was Colt’s first big bore revolver
actually meant for “belt carry.”

Despite very poor sights, such as this hammer notch for a rear,
good shooting can be done by someone with good eyes.

Going Commercial

The US Army was not large and supplying it with revolvers wasn’t going to keep factory workers busy. Therefore at the same time Sam Colt designed a Baby Dragoon. It was the first “pocket revolver.” Only .31 caliber and usually with a 4″ barrel, it took about a 15-gr. powder charge and could easily be carried concealed. For some reason it was designed without a rammer. In order to reload it, after powder was poured into a chamber a ball had to be pressed in using the cylinder’s base pin. As early as 1849 Sam rectified that situation and brought out a new .31. Naturally collectors today call these Model 1849’s.

As history buffs know 1849 was about the start of the great California gold rush. Thousands of young Americans headed there either across the Great Plains or by ship. Either way was dangerous, as were the gold camps once they arrived. It was a great time to be selling personal weapons. Colt Dragoon .44 caliber revolvers were issued to horse soldiers in pairs and were intended for carrying on saddle holsters due to their great weight. Little .31 caliber revolvers were meant for concealment.

Something in between was needed and Sam Colt did that with his next cap and ball revolver. This became the ultra-famous “Navy” Colt; a .36 caliber, 6-shot with 71/2″ barrel weighing only about 21/2 pounds. It was easily carried on a belt in a holster, and for the next 20 years was the premier choice of men who cared not whether someone saw them armed. Men who truly expected a fight carried two.

By today’s standards an 80-gr., .36 caliber round ball launched at about 900 to 1,000 fps would be considered almost laughable for self-defense. Think .380 ACP power. But nobody back in the 1850’s/1860’s laughed when being shot at with a Colt Navy revolver. Both cavalrymen and guerilla fighters during the Civil War were known to pack Navy Colts in multiples, some on themselves and some in saddle holsters. When Missouri guerrilla “Bloody” Bill Anderson was killed, it’s rumored he had six Navy’s on him.

These were Sam Colt’s .36’s. From left: Model 1851 Navy, Model 1861 Navy,
Model 1862 Pocket Navy and Model 1862 Pocket Police.

These were Sam Colt’s .44’s. From left: Walker,
1st Model Dragoon and Model 1860 Army.

The 1860

The US Army desired to stick with .44’s. The next Colt introduced in 1860 used the basic Navy frame but was enlarged to handle .44 caliber projectiles by a rebated cylinder. It was larger at the front but stepped down at the rear. The powder charge for it was about 30 grains with round balls which dropped velocity to about 850 fps. Also the Model 1860, as collectors named it, got a one 1/4" longer grip frame and a more graceful appearance. Prior to 1860 Colt revolvers had a square look, after that they became more rounded in form. Today we would say their edges were “melted.”

A follow-up to the .36 Navy was made that way and became the Model 1861. Also pocket models were remodeled into .36’s by making them 5-shooters. For some reason these were made both square-looking and rounded. Both were called Model 1862’s.

Although cartridge-firing handguns first appeared in the late 1850’s in Smith & Wesson’s tiny .22 revolvers, Colt had to soldier on with cap and ball handguns until S&W’s patents on the bored-through cylinder concept expired. The company’s Models 1851, 1860, 1861 and 1862 all stayed in production until 1873.

Although the Baby Dragoon .31 is considered a pipsqueak by today’s standards
it can launch its round ball through two pine planks and stick it in a third.

Sam Colt was also a marketing genius. He sold his cap and ball revolvers
in cased sets with all necessary accoutrements for loading and shooting.

The First

My first cap and ball revolver came in 1967. It was a Spanish made, brass frame replica of the .36 Navy. I shot it so much its frame stretched to the point of uselessness. At Christmas of 1980, Yvonne was stumped for a gift for me so I showed her some photos of the “Second Generation” Colt revolvers. These were fine quality reproductions of all the ones mentioned above, except the Model 1849 .31. For some reason Colt saw no reason to duplicate it. I ended up that Christmas with a Model 1860 .44.

By the mid-1990’s two things had changed. Colt had dropped the entire line of Second Generation cap and ball revolvers and I had progressed in affluence enough to afford them if they could be found. At the Sahara Gun Show in Las Vegas in January 1995 I found them all. They adorn one wall of my gun vault.

My favorites are the .36’s, the 6-shot Models 1851 and 1861. They all shoot high, but with a little experience a good point of aim can be found which makes hitting easy. Not only are Colt cap and ball revolvers a connection to American history but when ammunition and even reloading components become scarce due to political fears, cap and ball revolvers are not affected.

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