Navy

The Colt Navy revolver refers primarily to the Colt Model 1851 Navy, a .36-caliber percussion revolver that was among the most widely produced and historically significant American firearms of the mid-19th century. Introduced in 1851 and produced through 1873, the 1851 Navy was manufactured in quantities exceeding 215,000 examples and was adopted by both the U.S. Army and Navy, as well as finding widespread commercial distribution among civilians, frontiersmen, and military forces of numerous other nations. The “Navy” designation derived not from naval service specifically but from the naval battle scene engraved on the cylinder of production examples.

The 1851 Navy was Samuel Colt’s commercial breakthrough in many respects, representing a refined and elegant design that corrected many of the mechanical vulnerabilities of his earlier Patterson and Dragoon models while maintaining the fundamental reliability of the percussion revolver. Its .36-caliber chambering provided a balance of manageable recoil, adequate stopping power for the standards of the era, and practical size that made it comfortable to carry and shoot. The octagonal barrel, graceful lines, and balanced proportions of the 1851 Navy gave it an aesthetic character that made it popular far beyond purely military users.

Among the most famous historical users of the 1851 Navy were Wild Bill Hickok, who carried a pair of ivory-handled examples, and Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The pistol saw service on both sides of the American Civil War and was widely carried in the American West following the conflict. Samuel Colt himself often presented engraved examples to heads of state and notable visitors as diplomatic gifts.

Today, the 1851 Navy is reproduced by several manufacturers—most notably Uberti—for Cowboy Action Shooting and historical collecting, and genuine original examples in good condition are highly prized American antique arms.