Is the Colt Navy possibly the coolest gun ever made?

[Captainkirk]

IMHO, could be!
The looks, the feel.....CLASSIC!
While I love the satisfying CLANG! of a .44 slug on a gong, the .375 RB is a proven man-stopper, and pretty much the choice of 90% of all confederate sidearms. There were a lot of technically better Colts produced after the '51, and arguably a lot of better firearms than the open-top Colts for that matter. But few spur the imagination like the classic look of the Navy revolver. Even though it was on it's way to being obsolete by the beginning of the Civil War, it served as a platform for many Confed copies such as the Schneider & Glassick, Griswold & Gunnison and others and earned it's rightful place in history.

[brazosdave]

I love the Navys!  I actually like em better than my 1860, but I do like the lines of the 61 and 62's.  For a pocket gun, it is just impossible to beat the baby dragoon or wells fargo .31's, in my studied opinion. 

[mike116]

People talk about the earlier models (Walker and Dragoon) being the revolvers that started it all for Colt but it can be argued that the '51 Navy is the one that made Colt the country's most popular revolver.  I do not think it is the prettiest of the Colt guns but is one of the classic designs of the Civil War period and probably the most recognized revolver of it's time.

[StrawHat]

I have never been a fan of the Navy Colt, although I do own two of them.  Now, the Improved Navy, well that really gets my heart pumping!

[Don]

The Colt Navy revolver is by far the best looking handgun ever made. The 1851 is a gem but my new fav is the 1861 my wife bought me last Christmas. Its sleek and sexy and shoots a stout load of Swiss powder with accuracy. The Navy Colt will forever be one of my favorite handguns.

Don

[Hawg]

The 60 and 61 are sexy in their own right but there's just something special about the 51 the others can't touch.

[brazosdave]

I sold my last modern rifle, a SKS, to buy this pistol

[Mad Dog Stafford]

I like all Colts. 

[bigted]

I like all Colts. 

I am with ya Mad Dog !!!

[dc7x64]

........In .44 cal there is NO equal IMHO. The gun Sam Colt should have made and easily so.

[Hawg]

........In .44 cal there is NO equal IMHO. The gun Sam Colt should have made and easily so.

Not really. The 51's were made from wrought iron and the chamber walls would have been too thin for .44 pressures. When the 60 came about silver spring steel had been developed by Thomas Firth & Sons in Sheffield, England and was used for the cylinders and barrels. Silver spring steel was a marketing gimmick but the steel used had a controlled carbon content making it stronger than wrought iron. On a side note Colt used wrought iron frames up to the smokeless period.

[Captainkirk]

........In .44 cal there is NO equal IMHO. The gun Sam Colt should have made and easily so.

Not really. The 51's were made from wrought iron and the chamber walls would have been too thin for .44 pressures. When the 60 came about silver spring steel had been developed by Thomas Firth & Sons in Sheffield, England and was used for the cylinders and barrels. Silver spring steel was a marketing gimmick but the steel used had a controlled carbon content making it stronger than wrought iron. On a side note Colt used wrought iron frames up to the smokeless period.

Interesting and good to know, Hawg!

[dc7x64]

Your right Hawg, the technology or rather materials in the 1850's would not have been suitable to build a .44 cal Navy. But after the invent of the 1860 Army would it have not been possible to make  a '51 style .44?  I have always thought it strange that they brought back the '51 style with the Pocket Navy. Sam Colt died in 1862, so I wondered how much he really had to do with business decisions at that time ???

[Fingers McGee]

Is the Colt Navy possibly the coolest gun ever made?

Yep.  '51 or '61, they are both gorgeous guns.

[brazosdave]

you know, I go on my tangents with which guns particularly catch my fancy.  For a minute there, I was enthralled with Confederate styles, then it was the 48-49 pockets, then it was the 73's, then it was 51's, and then I really started likeing the 61, 62's.  I only wish that the guns of today could catch my attention as much as the guns of the 18th and 19th Centurys do.  I like some of the turn of the 1900's guns, but from then on, it's pretty much a dearth.