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The barrel has a brass cone front sight and is marked with “DRESS SAML COLT NEW-YORK CITY-” on top. The “AD” at the front of the address may have been lightly struck and polished off when the revolver was finished. The left side of the frame has the “COLTS/PATENT” marking. The six-shot cylinder has the standard “COLTS PATENT No” marking and roll-scene. The iron/steel trigger guard has a large round bow. The back strap is also iron. The left side of ther trigger guard has a “K” at the front and an “M” at the rear where the caliber is usually marked (meaning “Model” per Flayderman). A “1/SUPICA” and “SERIAL/NUMBER/ONE” marked tag and a “LOAN/to/NRA” tag accompany the revolver. The basic history of this rare revolver is explained well in “Guns of the NRA National Sporting Arms Museum” on page 195 which states: “In the 1850s, Colt attempted to develop a model with more power than their handy holster size .36 caliber Model 1851 Navy that was also smaller than their massive .44 caliber Dragoon. Before settling on the rebated cylinder Model 1860 Army, they experimented with a .40 caliber revolver on the 1851 Navy frame. This is s/n 1 of four produced.”
This incredibly rare experimental .40 caliber Colt Model 1851 Navy won the NRA Silver Medal #349 in 1995 for Ten Best Arms (medal, box, and display plaque included); was loaned to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming for the Colt Collector Association display from July 2002 through late 2003; is pictured and discussed in Wilson’s “Book of Colt Firearms” on pages 120, 121, & 130; “Evolution of the the Colt: Firearms from the Robert Q. Sutherland Collection” by Wilson on page 10; displayed at NRA National Sporting Arms Museum from 2013 to 2022; is pictured in “Guns of the NRA National Sporting Arms Museum” on page 195; was featured on the Season 4, Episode 16 “Serial Number One Guns” of “Gun Stories” on the Outdoor Channel; and was featured in Season 3, Episode 5 “The .40 cal Solution” of the NRA Gun Gurus.
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