Colt Pocket and Navy Percussion Revolvers

The majority of revolvers were blued with casehardened hammer and loading lever. The grips were of one-piece varnished walnut or select burl walnut, ivory on engraved or special order guns. The most sought after grips came from the famous Charter Oak tree.

The Colt Model 1855 Root Side-hammer percussion Pocket Revolver was manufactured from 1855 through to 1870 in both .28 and .31 caliber. It was designed by Samuel Colt even-though it was named after Elisha K. Root who was Colt’s factory foreman and general superintendent.

The Colt Model 1851 London revolver was manufactured in London at Samuel Colt’s only manufacturer outside the U.S. from 1853 through to 1857. The revolvers were numbered in their own serial range from serial number 1 through to 42,910.

The Colt Model 1851 Navy Revolver was introduced in 1850 and manufactured through to 1873. As many as 215,348 of this model were produced at the Hartford factory in Connecticut with serial numbers beginning at serial number I through to 215348 which is the highest number known.

The Colt Model 1849 London Pocket revolver was manufactured at the London factory from circa 1853 through to 1857 with its own serial range from 1 through to approximately 11000. The quality of the London Pocket was thought to be better than its American counterpart.

The production of the Colt Model 1849 Pocket revolver in America commenced in 1850 and continued through to 1873. This was the successor to the Baby Dragoon and a total of approximately 326,000 ’49 Pockets were manufactured at the Hartford factory.