Three Generations of Colt Black Powder Revolvers
Still shooting almost 190 years later
John’s quartet of 2nd Generation Colts consists of the 1860 Army
and 1851 Navy in stainless steel, full-fluted blued 1860 Army and 1862 Pocket Navy.
Sam Colt started producing single actions with his five-shot cap and ball Paterson revolver in 1836. These were well received, especially by the Texas Rangers. In their battles with the Comanches, the Indians would wait for the Rangers to fire their single-shot rifles and pistols and then charge in. They received quite a rude awakening when they met the repeated fire of the Rangers.
But, Colt went bankrupt and closed his factory. Ten years later, former Ranger Sam Walker went East to find Colt to get him to start producing revolvers again. The fragile five-shot Paterson was replaced by the 4 ½” lb. six-shot .44 Walker. Colt did not have a factory so these guns were produced by Eli Whitney Jr. in his factory. Colt soon acquired the machinery and tooling and set up his own factory and over the years would produce the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Model Dragoons with all of these basically being “horse pistols,” meaning they were so large they were best carried in pairs using pommel holsters and letting the horse carry the weight.
Stainless steel versions of the 1860 Army and 1851 Navy rest
on a copy of Eric Deaton’s excellent and exhaustively researched
book on modern Colts.
Take Another Road
Then Colt took two different paths, namely pocket pistols and belt pistols. The pocket pistols were .31 five-shooters and today are more commonly known as the Baby Dragoon, 1848 Wells Fargo and the 1849 Pocket Pistol. About the same time, Colt brought forth the first really true belt pistol, the 1851 Navy .36. Whereas the Dragoons weighed over 4 lbs., the 1851 Navy was closer to 2 ½ lbs. and easily carried in a holster on the belt.
In 1860, Colt used the 1851 Navy as the basic platform for the .44 Army. To allow the larger chambering, a step was cut in the water table of the frame of the 1851 and the cylinder was made larger at the front. The 1860 Army also used a longer, more comfortable shooting grip frame and streamlined the barrel/loading lever assembly. Then in 1861, Colt made a slight step backwards and used the same style barrel and loading lever assembly to come up with the .36 caliber 1861 Navy. While the 1851 Navy used an octagon barrel, both the 1860 and 1861 Colts went with the cheaper-to-produce round barrel.
The last of the percussion pistols from Colt arrived in 1862 with two variations. The Pocket Police .36 used the same style round barrel and loading lever assembly as the 1860 and 1861 while the Pocket Navy .36 reverted back to the octagon barrel configuration. These final Pocket Pistols utilized the frame of the .31 Pocket Pistols by doing the same thing as had been done to the 1851 Navy to come up with the 1860 Army. That is, a step was cut in the water table and the cylinder was made larger at the front to accept the .36 round ball. These Pocket Pistols were the last of the Colt line of percussion revolvers and all production ceased with all of these Colts with the arrival of the cartridge-firing Single Action Army of 1873.
The 2nd Generation of the Single Action Army arrived approximately 15 years after the first run ceased. The Colt Percussion Pistols also came back in a 2nd Generation offering but it took nearly 100 years from 1872 to 1971 for this to happen. Although all of the generations of the Single Action Army were actually made by Colt with all Colt parts, this is not true of the return of the cap & ball revolvers.
Second Generation stainless steel Colts with
everything needed for their operation.
A 2nd Generation stainless steel 1851 Navy rests on
beautifully carved saddlebags from El Paso Saddlery.
Disagreement
In fact, it is not easy to find just what did take place. The story requires diligent research and then also one finds all experts do not agree. Until recently I accepted the so-called prevailing wisdom that the return of the Percussion Pistols was carried out by using all Italian parts from Uberti that were assembled by Colt in this country. This is definitely not true and I hereby correct my mistake.
Here is what I have been able to find as far as the manufacturing of the “modern Colts.” The story begins with Val Forgett Jr. in 1959. He teamed up with Aldo Uberti and the result was the first replica 1851 Navy, marketed through a new company, Navy Arms. Interest was high as 1961 marked the 100th Anniversary of the Civil War.
In the early 1970s, Forgett met with representatives from Colt and the result was the resurrection of the Colt percussion sixguns. The first batch known as the C-Series was manufactured from 1971 to 1973. Navy Arms imported Uberti parts inspected and approved by Colt. They were beautifully fitted and finished in Colt Royal Blue and case hardening as only Colt could do it.
From 1973 to 1976, Colt contracted with Lou Imperato at Iver Johnson to supply rough parts. In 1976, Iver Johnson supplied the parts and also assembled the finished sixguns. Everything was under Colt’s inspection and direction. One source says Colt supplied a 120-page book outlining just how these guns were to be made. In 1977, the F-Series began with the Colt Royal Blue finish replaced by Colt Blue. The 2nd Generation run lasted until the early 1980s.
In 1994 Imperato formed Colt Black Powder Arms Company, beginning the 3rd Generation, which is also known as the “Signature Series” as Sam Colt’s signature is on the backstrap. From 1994 to 2002 Imperato’s John Jovino company assembled the percussion sixguns at the Brooklyn factory. This same factory would become Henry Repeating Arms Co., which is now headed by Lou Imperato’s son Anthony.
All of these percussion sixguns from both generations are beautifully fitted and finished and Colt made sure they were up to their standards. Virtually every original model from the Colt percussion era from 1836 to 1862 has been duplicated, not only standard models but also commemoratives and stainless steel versions. The latter were in the 2nd Generation grouping with several models planned; however, only three were ever manufactured and only two of these were actually produced for public consumption. Less than 500 stainless steel 1851 Navies and less than 2,000 stainless steel 1860 Armies were produced and only eight 1861 Navies.
In 65+ years of shooting, I have had two 1st Generation black powder Colts. Both of them were 1860 Army .44s. The first one was in excellent shooting shape; however, I was still a teenager and too dumb to hold onto it. In later years I had another 1860 Army, well-worn and well used, and I hesitated to shoot it. It was sold to a friend who wanted it for display in his collection.
