Make: Colt

Model: 1849 Pocket

Serial Number: 331534

Year of Manufacture: 1873

Caliber: .31

Action Type: Single Action, Percussion Revolver, Black Powder, with 5 Shot Cylinder

Barrel Length: 4"

Sights / Optics: The front sight is a brass bead drilled and tapped into the barrel. The rear sight is a V notch on the nose of the hammer.

Stock Configuration & Condition: The grip is one piece smooth walnut. There are scratches and compression dents throughout. There is heavier finish wear on the high spots of the grip. There is a small chip on the rear lower left of the grip. There are no cracks. Overall this grip is in Good to Very Good condition for Antique.

Type of Finish: Blued, Silver Plated Brass, Case Hardening.

Finish Originality: Original, numbered parts match. The grip serial marking has worn off.

Bore Condition: The bore is mostly bright. The rifling is well defined. There is some very minor pitting in the bore. In this writer's opinion this bore rates 8.5/10.

Overall Condition: This revolver retains about 5% of its original finish. The bluing has worn to brown patina with corrosion stains. There is some minor pitting. The case color is muted with corrosion stains. Most of the silver plating has worn with the only remaining being in protected areas. There is tool marking mostly around the wedge. The screw heads are tooled but serviceable. The markings range from faint to legible. Overall this revolver is in Good to Very Good condition for Antique.

Mechanics: The action functions correctly. We did not fire this revolver. As with any used guns a full cleaning may be necessary to meet your standards.

Box, Paperwork & Accessories: None.

Our Assessment: The Colt Model 1849 Pocket Revolver is one of Samuel Colt's most enduring percussion handgun designs, valued for its compact size, reliable single-action mechanism, and practical five-shot .31 caliber cylinder. This late-production example was manufactured in 1873, the final year of Model 1849 production, and features the desirable one-line New York barrel address, 4" barrel, and matching serialized components. The original walnut grip remains fitted to the revolver, though its serial number has worn away from years of handling.

Introduced in 1850, the Model 1849 Pocket became the best-selling percussion revolver of the 19th century, with more than 325,000 produced during its twenty-three-year production run. It earned a reputation as the ideal personal-defense revolver for civilians, merchants, travelers, and military officers, seeing widespread use from the California Gold Rush through the Civil War and into the early cartridge era. By 1873, metallic-cartridge revolvers had largely supplanted percussion designs, making final-year production examples especially interesting as the closing chapter of Colt's most commercially successful cap-and-ball revolver.

This revolver retains approximately 5% of its original finish, now primarily a brown patina with muted case colors, worn silver plating, and honest handling wear. The walnut grip remains in Good to Very Good antique condition with only a small chip and no cracks, while the mostly bright bore retains well-defined rifling and rates 8.5/10. The action functions correctly, and despite finish loss and light tool marks, this matching final-year Colt 1849 Pocket remains a solid antique with strong historical and collector appeal. Please see our photos for a better understanding of the condition and good luck with your bids!