Pocket Colt.31 caliber revolvers?

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ZVP

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i bought a copy of "Packin Iron" due to being a holster fan and for the great pistol photography within!
I expected many Army and Navy pix but was sure suprised with the vast array of different Hip, and Pommel holsters (and great gun pix) for the little .31 Colt Open Tops!
From what I have seen, the little revolvers were indeed second sellers to the Navy's!
What suprises me is that such an anemic revolver would have been so popular? With the heavy clothing, the low powder charges andlight balls, the little .31's were most likely more of a security blanket than a serius defensive arm.
I know 'ol Clint Eastwood plugged that Bad Marshall in the forehead with one and dropped him like a sledgehammer, but that's movies, In real life i'td probablly have skipped-off!
Still page upon page, I saw many, many examples of different holsters for the Pocket Models1 Everybody must have had one! This was "real life" too!
Perhaps just the presentation of a defensive gun was enough to thwart trouble, afterall they didn't have penicillin or anti-biotics so getting shot was serius stuff!
I would't have been so suprised seeing that many Navy holsters ( and I wasn't!) but wow, the little revolvers sure were popular!
I wonder, could anyone with experience with a Pocket .31 Colt give me some info about how it preformes? Is it even "near" a .22short in power?
Doggone-it, one of these days I really want to get one to play with myself!
BTW, I highly suggest getting a copy of Packing Iron just to read all the info and see all the revolvers and related gear!
Somewher just recently on line, I sw a picture of an array of .31's including a Spur Trigger Remington which was even smaller than the Colt's were!
Before anyone asks, YES I have quite a collection of "Pocket" .22 and .25 semi-autos... I've always liked small guns!
ZVP
 
Well, I have heard of one shooting with a .31 that was done from only a few feet away and the recipient of the bullet was DRT. It hit square to the chest and penetrated into the heart. That'll likely spoil the day regardless of caliber.
These pocket guns were intended for close quarters defense and worked OK in that realm.
I doubt a .31 bullet would bounce off a skull unless it hit at an oblique angle.
 
The small frame .31 Pocket Model in its various versions were Colt's biggest commercial seller, so it's understandable that more leather gear for them would survive to this day. Also they were less likely to be carried openly where both the revolvers and holsters would be exposed to the elements.
 
One fellow with a Remington Pocket showed his was able to penetrate into the mid 700's of a phone book using Triple 7 powder and a ball that expanded to .40". Not too shabby.

I've also heard of someone having the balls bounce off of a sheet of plywood and strike him in the arm leaving a small bruise.

One thing I've seen with the Remington is that a large ball is necessary, and a non energetic powder leaves them whimpy.

http://poconoshooting.com/blackpowderballistics.html

For a similar size I'd just get a Colt Police in .36 cal. It's about on par with .380 ACP performance. But I do like the Remington Pocket...
 
I haven't chrono'd mine, but here's a fun story about the first time i shot it.

My mold throws 57-58 grain bullets, which i seated over 15 grains of Pyrodex P for the first time out. Being a rainy day, i went into the stable (no horses anymore) where i have my .22 bullet trap. Well, i was five yards from the box, and squeezed off the first shot...it happens that this particular gun has a short arbor and was about 10" high at 5 yards...oops. The round grazed the top of the bullet box and proceeded through the 5/8" interior plywood and exterior 5/8" clapboard siding...taking off some splinters on the outside just so that the wife can't miss it when going by....

So, i can hit the broad side of a barn from the inside...and it'll penetrate a sturdy wall. :D
 
Tommy,I was being sarcastic about it bouncing off the bad guys head.
Wow, I didn't realise the .31 Ball was churning that sort of velocity! Maybe it was better than I expected!
Back in the wild and wolly days, it made sense to have somthing with a loud bang on your person, always! Life was a lot more lawless and it usually took a few days to catch the bad guys (no computers and ID referances like today, so ya almost HAD to shoot em!
I have herd that 777 works best in those .31's also the NAA. 22BP revolvers too,
I tried a can of 777 in my .44's and even with adjusted loads, that stuff makes a lot of power! Really loud too.
That settles it, I'm gonna save up and get a little Colt .31! I have herd bad stuff about the Remington brass frames stretching, If I bought one of those it'd have to be a steel frame.

Thanks for the answers guys!
DO try and get a look at that book Packin Iron, it's great!
ZVP
 
Great story Desidog. I was once shooting at a small range using mine. This small club used a stack of rail road ties with a dirt fill behind. targets were tacked to the ties. I had a ball bounce off a tie and hit me in the shin. No permanent damage but it stung.
 
So, i can hit the broad side of a barn from the inside...and it'll penetrate a sturdy wall.

I'd pay good money to be able to honestly tell that story myself... well done ;)


Willie

.
 
I have one. It's an accurate enough little gun and let's just say if I was playing poker with somebody likely to have one of those I would keep that extra ace up my sleeve. I would think the deterrent effect would be pretty good, especially pre-antibiotics.

Now, if you need to drop somebody really determined to kill you, yeah, you would probably wish you brought something more substantial. Like a rifle.

But that's the classic dilemma, isn't it? You want to carry the most powerful gun you're actually willing to carry around all the time and fits in with your social circumstances and local laws and whatever other constraints you have. If you don't really expect to be attacked some kind of pocket pistol has been a popular compromise since they invented the things.
 
I just wish they would offer longer barrels for it maybe as long as a 5 1/2 incher.
Click to expand...

Like the little guy in the middle here?

5bve9t.jpg

Yup. that's the one i wounded my barn with...
 
Desidog, is that an ASM? I can remember Navy Arms and CVA and Euroarms offering all sorts of combinations in years past. Not anymore.
 
Thanks guys! I am learning a LOT about the little revolvers!
ZVP
 
Crawdad1, I believe it's a Navy Arms, but quite frankly i don't know for sure.

I do know that the hammer spring is about 1/4" shorter than the Uberti's... i had to replace it; and had to saw and file off the whole groove for the roller wheel on the hammer, i was thinking about dremelling the groove back in, but it works just fine now... so i haven't bothered.
 
Then, as now, most of the time you only needed to show a weapon in order to defuse a threat. Especially when it was a foregone conclusion that you would probably die from sepsis or gangrene from a gunshot even if you survived the shooting. A .31 in the pocket beats a .44 hanging from your pommel.
 
I had one in 1968 that I used occaisionally for hunting jackrabbits and for shooting rats and mice.

I would not underestimate a well loaded 1848.
 
Then, as now, most of the time you only needed to show a weapon in order to defuse a threat. Especially when it was a foregone conclusion that you would probably die from sepsis or gangrene from a gunshot even if you survived the shooting. A .31 in the pocket beats a .44 hanging from your pommel.
Click to expand...

I agree there. But let me throw this out for you guys to chew on. I would guess that the Pockets were very popular east of the Mississippi river in the more populated urban areas that increased their sales numbers substantially while the bigger caliber revolvers such as the 51' Navy were more popular west of the Mississippi.
 
I agree there. But let me throw this out for you guys to chew on. I would guess that the Pockets were very popular east of the Mississippi river in the more populated urban areas that increased their sales numbers substantially while the bigger caliber revolvers such as the 51' Navy were more popular west of the Mississippi.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. The Pocket Model was often carried openly as a belt revolver in both the pre-Civil War South as well as the frontier West. By 1848 Colt was getting a substantial number of letters from Texas begging for something that would be easier to carry then a Walker or Dragoon. He responded by introducing the Pocket Model in 1847 and the Navy Model in 1850. Note the order of introduction. In fact the demand was so great Colt seriously considered building a second factory in Saint Louis, MO. to help supply the western trade.

In most of the central and northen states that were east of the Mississippi there was relatively little demand for handguns of any kind until the Civil War.
 
The various .32 caliber revolvers and auto pistols are the direct descendants of the .31 percussion revolvers, and quite a few of those are still being made and being sold. Not everyone wants or feels he or she needs a .500 S&W.

Jim
 
But I'd take a .380 ACP over a .32 ACP. Not much size difference in the platform, but a slightly larger hole.

I really like the Remington Pocket, but I think I'd prefer a Colt Police just because it has more authority. If only someone made a repro of the .36 Remington Police...
 
I really like the Remington Pocket, but I think I'd prefer a Colt Police just because it has more authority. If only someone made a repro of the .36 Remington Police...
Click to expand...

Not to mention the lines of the '62 Police and it is probably the sweetest .36 caliber revolver ever built. :)
 
There's certainly that too!

But for some reason I'm slightly more drawn to the Remington. Maybe because it doesn't seem to need so much work out of the box.
 
Most bad guys will stop an attack at the sight of a gun. A few of those will press on until shots are fired. A few of those will press on until actually shot. A very few of those will press on until they or their victim is dead. The .31 will work perfectly for the first three categories and not much of anything is guaranteed to work for the fourth category.
 
Long barrelled 31s.

36caliber006_zpsa9ca618e.gif

I recall a quote from somewhere, "...if you're going to shoot, shoot to kill. They've all been shot before and they weren't impressed... " or something close to that.

The 31 was the best selling revolver Colts made. Getting shot was a seriuos problem back then because while the bullet might not kill you, the state of Medicne at the time very well might finish you off. Infection, amputation, etc., were very real consequences of a shooting. Not like today where medical practitioners can save lot's of people who's wound should have proved mortal.
 
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