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Outstanding Pre-Civil War U.S. Army Contract Colt Model 1851 Navy Percussion Revolver - Serial no. 80387, 36 cal., 7 1/2 inch octagon bbl., blue/casehardened finish, walnut grips. The extraordinary antebellum era Colt ‘51 Navy 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.
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