Colt Navy?

[SDM]

Can anyone give me any information about a Colt Navy revolver? I know absolutely nothing about these but I may have a chance to buy one at a reasonable price from a friend of my dad. My dad knows even less than me about them but he is supposed to get some more information today. Here is what I know – the gun is a colt, the word Navy appears in its name, it was supposedly made in the late 1800’s, and it is “38” caliber. I assume this is 38 colt or something, not .38 special. The owner says he was told the gun is worth $2000 but was going to sell it for $1100. I think I could get it for around $1000 if I wanted it. What should I look for? Could this be a replica? Thank you in advance for your help, I’m sorry I don’t have more information.

 

[gunguy05]

Hi,
There are many different variants of the colt navy, is it percussion or metal cartridge? Also, the SN is very important in determining that, the barrel length, and shape (I believe some are round and some octagonal). If you can get me that info today i have a book that has all that info in it that i can look up. The book is "Colt and american legend" by RL Wilson. Also "The history of the colt revolver" by Haven and Belden has great info. I would also look for comparable, once i found out all of this info. Let me know.... Hope this helps....

 

[Old Fuff]

I wouldn't spend any money until I knew EXACTLY what this particular gun was. Your very limited description leaves one probability and several possibilities, all of which have widely varied values.

In 1889 Colt introduced a .38 caliber revolver that they called the "New Navy" model. It replaced guns that the U.S. Navy had been using since the Civil War (1860-65). They also sold civilian counterparts. It remained in production until 1894 when a new, improved model replaced it. In all, some 28,000 revolvers were made. Those that were sold to the Navy were marked U.S.N. with an anchor on the butt.

This may or may not be the kind of revolver you are looking at, but unless there is something very exceptional about it, it would probably not be worth $1,000 let alone $2,000.

 

[SDM]

Thanks,

My dad lives about 5 hours away from me so going through him to get information takes a while as I really can only talk to him in the evenings. That and he doesn't know all that much about guns himself. I told him yesterday to find out as much as he could today, so, tomorrow I should be able to post some more details. It isn't percussion.

I won't spend a dime unless I know what it's worth. In fact the only way I will buy it is if I can make a little on it. I don't really have much interest in the gun itself.

Anyway, I appreciate your help and I will try to get some information.

 

[RON in PA]

Unless you are interested in starting a collection of Colt revolvers and are not much interested in a shooter why get involved with such a revolver. I would tread very cautiosly.

 

[Jim K]

The Navy traditionally used a smaller caliber revolver than the Army, for the reason that the Navy didn't need to shoot horses. The traditional Army caliber was .44/45 and the Navy .36/.38. Colt's advertising called just about anything in .36/.38 a "Navy" revolver, but in fact there were almost none actually marked with that word. Navy contract revolvers in the 1890-1900 era were marked USN, but didn't use the word "Navy". In fact, one of the few pistols actually marked "U.S. Navy" was the Model 1911 when made for the Navy.

We need pictures.

Jim

 

[mec]

This could be very much like the revolver you mention. it is the Army Model Colt that came out in 1892 with very few changes.

Colt developed this swing out cylinder revolver in response to growing competition in solid frame double action revolvers. Shortly after it came out, the United States Navy bought a few thousand and, according to R.L. Wilson, he named the revolver the "Navy " in appreciation possibly combined with the hope of future sales,

The original Colt Revolver- the paterson came in a variety of calibers but the Texas Paterson is reported to be a belt-sized revolver of 36 caliber. A number of these were bought by the Texas Navy and a good many went to the Texas Rangers. by the late 1840s, Colt had advanced the designs of his revolvers and had pocket models in 31 and Holster ( saddle mounted) revolvers in .44 . There was no intermediate "belt revolver" so, he introduced the Navy in 1850 . The date 1851 was later supplied by collectors and stuck. the cylinder scene evoked the Battle of Campeche between Texas and Mexico. The term "Navy" seems to be Samuel Colt's designation because he thought the belt revolver would go to the Navy while the Army would stick with the larger Dragoon revolvers. R.L. Wilson reports that the Military contract 51s were used in all the services and among civilians and not particularly identified with the navy.

 

[SDM]

I still have very little information about the gun. Between the distance and our schedules getting the information from my dad (and the owner) has been tough. I asked dad to have him write down everything he knew about the gun. Still no word back. I may just end up getting the guys phone# and giving him a call. Anyway, thank you to everyone for your help, I will update as soon as I can.

Mec,
You mention the swing out cylinder. The owner mentioned something about this being one of the first colt's with this feature. Does that sound right? As I think about it now this should have clued me in to the fact that it is a DA.

 

[mec]

that just about synches it being a Naval model from the late 80s. The action and some aspects of the profile went through a through changes but the Colt 38s that were made in the 20th century grew out of it and still bear a strong resemblance. There were a few swing out cylinder revolvers before this one but it is the first really successful one and the one that established the pattern for the ones that came later.

 

[Old Fuff]

Colt's "New Navy," was introduced in 1889, and was Colt's first hand ejector ("swing out" cylinder) revolver. But the model 1877 (commonly but incorrectly called the "Lightning") was also a double-action .38 revolver - but it had a solid frame, and loaded cartridges through a gate. Then there was a later model 1892 "New Army" that was also a double-action/hand ejector and either a .38 or .41 caliber.

This is why we need a picture, or a better description to make a correct identification.