1850 Colt Army
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.
The actual name
Colt called it was the Revolving Belt Pistol. Differentiating it from the Dragoons and the Pocket Pistols Colt was producing at the time.
The cylinder of this revolver is engraved with a scene of the victory of the Second Texas Navy at the Battle of Campeche on May 16, 1843. The Texas Navy had purchased the earlier Colt Paterson Revolver, but this was Colt's first major success in the gun trade; the naval theme of the engraved cylinder of the Colt 1851 Navy revolver was Colt's gesture of appreciation. The engraving was provided by Waterman Ormsby. Despite the "Navy" designation, the revolver was chiefly purchased by civilians and military land forces.
This is most likely where the term "Navy" came from.
Serial Number 2
![[image]](images/uploaded/2024012014253665abd7e0a138d.jpg)
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Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.