Colt 1851 Navy Revolver

1851 Colt Revolving Navy Pistol
Colt 1851 Navy Revolving Pistol, serial no 2
Type	Revolver
Place of origin	United States (also made in Colt's London Armoury, near Vauxhall Bridge, London, England) Belgium[1] Russian Empire[2] (unlicensed copies)
Service history
In service	1851–1873
Used by	United States Confederate States Native Americans First Nations in Canada Hawaiian Kingdom United Kingdom Canada Australia South Africa France Austrian Empire Austria-Hungary German Empire Russian Empire Ottoman Empire Poland Norway Sweden Brazil Argentina Kingdom of Italy Denmark Netherlands Dutch Empire Belgium Qing Dynasty Joseon Dynasty Empire of Japan Empire of Brazil Second Mexican Empire Mexico
Wars	List Taiping Rebellion 1850–1864 Crimean War 1853–1856 Indian Mutiny 1857–1858 Bleeding Kansas 1854-1859 Second Italian War of Independence 1859 Expedition of the Thousand 1860–1861 American Civil War 1861–1865 American Indian Wars Second French intervention in Mexico New Zealand wars January Uprising 1863–1864 Second Schleswig War 1864 Paraguayan War 1864–1870 Austro-Prussian War 1866 Third Italian War of Independence 1866 Boshin War 1868-1869 Fenian Raids Red River Rebellion Krivošije uprising 1869 Franco-Prussian War 1870–1871 Satsuma Rebellion 1877 Russo-Turkish War 1877–1878 Australian frontier wars Free State-Basotho Wars Transvaal Civil War Eureka Rebellion Fenian Rising Reform War
Production history
Designer	Samuel Colt
Designed	1850
Manufacturer	Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, Hartford, Conn.
Produced	1851–1873
No. built	272,000
Variants	Squareback trigger guard Navy, serial number 1 - c. 4200
Specifications
Mass	2.6 lb (1.2 kg)
Length	13 in (330 mm)
Barrel length	7.5 in (190 mm)
Cartridge	.38 rimfire / .38 centerfire (conversions)
Caliber	.36
Action	Single-action
Muzzle velocity	840 ft/s (256 m/s)

The Colt Revolving Belt Pistol or Navy Pistol, sometimes erroneously referred to as "Colt Revolving Belt Pistol of Naval Caliber" or "of Navy Caliber" (Naval is heavy gun and Navy Size Caliber was termed later for another Colt model), is a .36 caliber, six-round cap and ball revolver that was designed by Samuel Colt between 1847 and 1850. Colt first referred to this Revolver as the Ranger Size model, and then Revolving Belt, but the designation "Navy" quickly took over.

After the Civil War, revolvers using fixed metallic cartridges came into widespread use. The Colt Navy remained in production until 1873, being replaced in the Colt line with what would become one of the manufacturer's most famous handguns, the Colt Single Action Army (also known as the Peacemaker and Colt 45).

Total production numbers of the Colt 1851 Navy Revolver were exceeded only by the Colt Pocket models in concurrent development, and numbered some 215,000 domestic units and about 42,000 produced in the Colt London Armory.^[3]