1850 Colt Army

by A K Church, Saturday, January 20, 2024, 06:20 (106 days ago)

Seeing the photo of Jared's .36 squareback Colt repro reminds me of long forgotten factoids when I learned when I had one. Not a squareback, and not an original.

Production started in 1850. It's sort of unclear where the 1851 name came from.

The early early early .36s had a notch in the top of the arbor the wedge engaged, and since the wedge sat higher, the wedge screw was underneath. That arrangement was dropped pretty quickly for a slot through the arbor, and the screw above. So squarebacks had both arrangements. Not many squareback .36s of either setup were made.

And the US Army bought more of these revolvers than the US Navy, so the source of the "Navy" term is a little obscure, too. I state this as opinion only, but no explanation I've seen has the ring of truth to me.

Not sure what the most gorgeous gun Colt ever made was, since the .32/.380 pocket autos, and the Woodsman would be in the running. But the squareback .36s are just breathtakingly good looking.

The term "1850 Colt Army" will never catch on, and I still call 'em " '51 Navies", but it's still an odd term to me.