Make: Colt
Model: 1851 Navy
Serial Number: 68479. All serialized parts match. There is no number on the backstrap inletting.
Year of Manufacture: 1857 / Antique
Caliber: .36 Caliber
Action Type: Single Action, Percussion Cap, Black Powder Revolver
Barrel Length: 7.5"
Sights / Optics: The front sight is a brass post. The rear sight is a notch in the hammer.
Stock Configuration & Condition: The grip is one piece wood. There are compressions, nicks, and scrapes. There is no number on the backstrap inletting. There are minor losses in the bottom edges. There is some finish pooling toward the front of the grip on each side. There are no chips or cracks. The grips rate in Good condition as refinished Antique.
Type of Finish: Blue & Case Hardened
Finish Originality: Original. All serialized parts match.
Bore Condition: The bore is gray with defined rifling. There is light erosion down the length of the bore. In this writer's opinion the bore rates 5/10.
Overall Condition: This revolver retains about 0-5% of its metal finish. Most of the finish has worn to a gray even patina. There is light intermittent oxidation, fine pitting, and erosion. The remaining markings are clear and legible. The scene on the cylinder has mostly worn away. The screws range from sharp to tool marked with serviceable slots. The barrel has some play to the frame. Overall, this revolver rates in Good Antique condition as Antique.
Mechanics: The action functions correctly. We did not fire this revolver. As with all used firearms, a thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance requirements.
Box, Paperwork & Accessories: None.
Our Assessment: The Colt Model 1851 Navy was one of Samuel Colt's most successful percussion revolvers and one of the defining American handguns of the mid-19th century. Its combination of a six-shot .36-caliber cylinder, 7 1/2" octagonal barrel, relatively light Belt Model frame, and excellent balance made it enormously popular with military personnel and civilians alike. Nearly a quarter-million were produced between 1850 and 1873, and the design remained one of Colt's most popular products through the Civil War even after the introduction of the larger Model 1860 Army. This example dates to 1857, placing its manufacture firmly in the antebellum period and giving it the particularly desirable possibility of having been in circulation during the turbulent years immediately preceding and encompassing the Civil War.
This revolver survives with matching serialized components and about 0-5% of its original metal finish, the balance having aged to an even gray patina with intermittent oxidation, fine pitting, and erosion. The wood grip remains in Good antique condition, while the gray bore retains defined rifling with light erosion and rates 5/10. There is some light play between the barrel assembly and frame, though the action continues to function correctly. For the Colt percussion collector, the combination of matching numbers, original surviving configuration, 1857 manufacture, and honest antique condition gives this Navy considerably more historical character than a later altered or mismatched example.
