Page 186 - 4093-BOOK2

LOT 1184
Outstanding U.S. Army Contract Colt Model 1851 Navy Percussion Revolver -
Serial no. 80720, 36 cal., 7 1/2 inch octagon bbl., blue/casehardened finish, walnut grips.
The extraordinary Colt ‘51 Navy revolver was manufactured under contract for the U.S.
Army in 1857. The ‘51 Navy or “Revolving Belt Pistol” was Colt’s most popular military
model prior to the Civil War. They were used by both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy. The
“Navy-Navy” revolvers were purchased first in mid-1852, and the “Navy-Army” revolvers
were purchased starting at the beginning of 1855. More were actually purchased for the
Army than the Navy with some 16,778 revolvers purchased for the Army across more
than a dozen contracts in the 1850s plus more than 8,000 more through the commercial
market during the Civil War. Though there were thousands of “Navy-Army” revolvers, very
few of them remain in high condition like this one as they were widely issued during
the Civil War by both sides. They were Colt’s second most widely used revolvers of the
19th century after only the smaller Model 1849 Pocket revolvers. Many of these revolvers
continued to be used in the American West after the war, including by many legendary
figures such as Wild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill. Colt’s famous portrait shows him with a
Model 1851 Navy in his hand.
It features a brass cone front sight, “-ADDRESS SAML COLT HARTFORD CT.-” on top of the barrel,
“COLTS/PATENT/U.S.” on the left side of the frame, the classic Naval Battle of Campeche cylinder
scene showing the Texas Navy and Republic of Yucatan’s vessels defeating the Mexican Navy in
1843 (a scene chosen because the Texas Navy was armed with Colt Paterson revolvers), various
small single letter sub-inspection marks throughout, box with rounded ends script “C.W.H”
inspection cartouche on the left side of the grip, oval script “WAT” (Captain William Anderson
Thornton) cartouche on the right side of the grip, and matching visible serial numbers on the
loading lever, wedge, cylinder pin, cylinder, barrel, frame, trigger guard, and back strap. The
finish is blue on the barrel and cylinder, color casehardened on the frame as well as the loading
lever and hammer, niter blue on the trigger and screws, and bright brass on the trigger guard
and back strap.
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