Colt Single-Action Revolvers by Martin Pegler

Author:Martin Pegler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2016-04-12T04:00:00+00:00

In the 1976 movie The Outlaw Josey Wales, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, the eponymous character used two Colt Model 1847 Walker revolvers (albeit subtly converted to fire blank cartridges); numerous Model 1860 Army revolvers also feature in the movie. (Bettmann)

THE DRAGOON AND THE MODEL 1851 NAVY

The Dragoons were undoubtedly an improvement over the Walkers, the officer responsible for their inspection, Major William A. Thornton, reporting that in 1848, of 1,060 tested, there were only 53 burst cylinders and six defective barrels. Two years later, 2,082 were tested with only one barrel and one cylinder failing. In reality, no troopers received these revolvers until 1849, with the first issues going to regular Army units, namely two regiments of Dragoons and one of mounted riflemen. One small but important detail was the increase in the supply of spare cylinders; from the Paterson days these had been available as an optional extra, but were seldom required for civilian use. The Army, on the other hand, understood only too well that there was seldom time available to stop and reload an empty cylinder: about 90 seconds assuming perfect conditions. Being able to drop out an empty cylinder and insert a new one took about 30 seconds and could be done on horseback – a feat that was, if not impossible, certainly very difficult to achieve with refilling a cylinder.

The new revolvers appeared to meet the Army’s criteria, Brigadier General William S. Harney writing in 1850 that he now considered “the arm perfect for Dragoon service, particularly when opposed to western prairie Indians. It is the only weapon with which we can subdue these wild and daring tribes” (quoted in Garavaglia 1984: 148). Despite this eulogy, even into the mid-1850s many mounted units still did not have revolvers, two companies of Dragoons being recorded as having single-shot percussion holster pistols and one as having no pistols at all. In 1854, of the 1,257 percussion pistols held on charge, only 417 were Colt revolvers. This was partly due to the fact that the Army still held very large stocks of the old single-shot pistols and wanted to use them up before being forced to buy the new, relatively expensive revolvers; this attitude continued up to the Civil War. Many soldiers were prepared to provide themselves with their own privately purchased revolvers, however, and from their introduction in 1851, the new .36-caliber Navy models became especially popular.

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