Tactical Life Gun Magazine: Gun News and Gun Reviews
  • Guns
    • Rifles
      • Semi-Automatic Rifles
      • Bolt Action
      • Lever Action
    • Handguns
      • Semi-Automatic Handguns
      • Revolvers
    • Shotguns
    • Airguns
    • Specialty Guns
    • Custom Guns
  • Ammo
    • Handgun Ammo
    • Rifle Ammo
    • Reloading
  • Parts
    • Handgun Parts
    • Rifle Parts
  • Accessories
    • Optics & Sights
      • Night Vision
      • Thermal Vision
    • Lasers & Lights
    • Suppressors
    • Holsters
    • Slings
    • Shooting Rests
  • Gear
    • Ears & Eyes
    • Knives
      • Tactical Knives
    • Apparel
    • Tactical Gear
    • Storage
    • Flashlights
    • Electronics
    • Less Lethal
  • Lifestyle
    • Sport Shooting
      • Hunting
    • Competition Shooting
    • Precision Shooting/Long Range Shooting
    • Training
    • First Aid
    • Pop Culture
    • History
  • News
    • New Products & Industry News
    • Gun Facts & Laws
    • Police News
    • Military News
    • Politics
  • Videos
No Result
View All Result
Tactical Life Gun Magazine: Gun News and Gun Reviews
  • Guns
    • Rifles
      • Semi-Automatic Rifles
      • Bolt Action
      • Lever Action
    • Handguns
      • Semi-Automatic Handguns
      • Revolvers
    • Shotguns
    • Airguns
    • Specialty Guns
    • Custom Guns
  • Ammo
    • Handgun Ammo
    • Rifle Ammo
    • Reloading
  • Parts
    • Handgun Parts
    • Rifle Parts
  • Accessories
    • Optics & Sights
      • Night Vision
      • Thermal Vision
    • Lasers & Lights
    • Suppressors
    • Holsters
    • Slings
    • Shooting Rests
  • Gear
    • Ears & Eyes
    • Knives
      • Tactical Knives
    • Apparel
    • Tactical Gear
    • Storage
    • Flashlights
    • Electronics
    • Less Lethal
  • Lifestyle
    • Sport Shooting
      • Hunting
    • Competition Shooting
    • Precision Shooting/Long Range Shooting
    • Training
    • First Aid
    • Pop Culture
    • History
  • News
    • New Products & Industry News
    • Gun Facts & Laws
    • Police News
    • Military News
    • Politics
  • Videos
No Result
View All Result
Tactical Life Gun Magazine: Gun News and Gun Reviews
No Result
View All Result
 
*FREE GUN FRIDAY* Enter to WIN >> IWI Zion-15 Rifle & Black Hills 5.56 Ammo

COLT’S 1851 NAVIES .36

Mike Beliveau by Mike Beliveau
July 7, 2006
in Guns, Handguns, History, Lifestyle, Revolvers
0
0
SHARES
620
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Over the course of my life I’ve been told by a couple of women that I have commitment issues. I disagree. In the right relationship I can go the distance. I’ve carried on a 37-year love affair with Colt’s 1851 Navy revolver. If that isn’t commitment, I don’t know what is.

Falling in love with the Colt Navy was easy for me. That pistol has “supermodel” good looks with its long, sleek octagon barrel, color casehardened re-ceiver and gorgeously proportioned grips. But good looks alone wouldn’t be enough to sustain a serious relationship into its fourth decade. I love the Navy because it performs as well as it looks. And it also has a captivating past I love to learn about.

My First Love
The first handgun I ever owned was a brass-framed replica of an 1851 Navy revolver. It was a Christmas present from a girlfriend in 1972. It cost her $36, and it was one of the best presents I ever received. Throughout my college years I shot thousands of rounds through that pistol. Most of them were maximum loads, and that brass frame just wasn’t up to the challenge. It stretched something wicked. By the time I retired that Navy, the barrel cylinder gap was over a sixteenth of an inch wide. In fact, there was so much fore and aft play in the cylinder that, after I cocked the hammer, I’d have to pull the cylinder backwards so the bolt could engage the slot to lock it up for firing.

I know that sounds pretty bad, but I’ll tell you the truth; I loved that gun. It fit me like it grew out of my hand. The balance was superb. And it was my first pistol and that’s something not easy to forget. And because of that, since I was 17 years old, I’ve always had at least one 1851 Navy in the gun cabinet. But ruining that first Navy did teach me one lesson. I’ve never owned another brass-framed sixgun.

colt-1851-navies-36-b
In the 19th century no Navy revolvers were chambered for .44 caliber, but author really likes reproduction Navies in that chambering. The bottom .44 Navy was made by the now defunct firm of Armi San Marcos in the mid-1990s ordered from EMF. The top revolver was made by Pietta, but fitted with an Armi San Marcos grip assembly so both guns would feel and handle the same.

EMF Navies
For almost 10 years I shot a beautiful pair of steel-framed Navy replicas imported by EMF from the now defunct Italian firm of Armi San Marcos. I always thought the Armi San Marcos Navies had the most authentic geometry of any of the replicas. And those particular EMF Navies were about the best cap-and-ball sixguns I ever owned. But in the late 1990s the cartridge conversion bug bit me hard, and I had that pair of Navies converted to fire .38 Special cartridges.

I never regretted that decision. My Navy conversions are among my most prized possessions, but if I’d been really smart, I would have bought two more Armi San Marcos Navies from EMF while they were still being manufactured. That way I could have had two converted to cartridges, and still have kept two of them in cap-and-ball configuration.

I do still have one Armi San Marcos-made Navy in cap-and-ball mode, but that one is in .44 caliber. Production runs of original Colt Navies were only made in .36 caliber, though I understand some prototypes were made in .40 caliber. So that makes my .44 caliber Navy an abomination to historical purists. While I can be a bit of a period-correct fanatic myself, I can’t help loving that .44 caliber Navy. It combines the great looks and outstanding balance of the 1851 Navy with the hard-hitting power of an 1860 Army revolver. In my view Sam Colt should have chambered the 1851 in .44 caliber. He’d have had a winner in the marketplace.

colt-1851-navies-36-c
These are Beliveau’s .36 caliber cap-and-ball 1851 Navies. The brass grip-framed specimen at the top came from DGW in 1982. The London Model, with its blued steel grip frame was ordered from Taylor in 2008.

Pietta Navy
I like my Armi San Marcos .44 caliber Navy so much that a few years ago I picked up a newly manufactured .44 Pietta Navy from MidwayUSA. Pietta built the new .44 and it is a good looking, solid sixgun but it suffered from the Pietta Navy grip, which has a very odd ergonomic shape. I solved that with five minutes of work with a screwdriver. I simply swapped out the Pietta grip assembly for an Old Armi San Marcos grip frame that I had in the parts bin. The result is a pair of hard-hitting .44s that feel and handle the same.

I love my .44 Navies, but I just wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t have a set of Navies chambered for the period-correct .36 caliber. Even though I had sent my Armi San Marco Navies off to be converted, I still had a .36 Navy in the gun cabinet. Back in 1982, I had sent to Dixie Gun Works for one of their house brand 1851 Navy revolvers. Though it proudly says “Dixie Gun Works-Tennessee” on the top barrel flat, the small “DGG” stamp under the barrel tells me that Armi San Paolo, now known as Euroarms in Concesio, Italy, built this revolver.

They no longer export Colt replicas to the States, but back in the day, they made an attractive, solid 1851 Navy. I’ve been shooting this one for 25 years and it still looks good and shoots straight. My only gripe about it is that the grips are thicker than I like. But it hasn’t bothered me enough to slim them down over the 25 years that I’ve been shooting this pistol.

DGW Navy
During all those years the belt mate to that Dixie Gun Works .36 caliber 1851 Navy was an even older gun. I purchased this .36 caliber cap-and-ball revolver in 1980. Like the Dixie Navy, Armi San Paolo also built that gun, but it isn’t an 1851. Instead, it is the more streamlined 1861 Navy. This was Sam Colt’s attempt to translate the flowing lines of the then new Colt 1860 Army revolver into a .36 caliber configuration. Unfortunately for Colt, the ’61 Navy flopped in the marketplace. Shooters continued to buy the 1851 Navy in much larger numbers right up until Colt discontinued cap-and-ball production in 1873.

Years ago I mounted a set of Eagle stag grips on the 1861 Navy and for a while it was my most heavily used cap-and-ball sixgun. But after 27 years of black powder shooting it is showing its age. Just recently I convinced myself that I needed to give the 1861 a rest and pick up a new 1851 Navy to team up with my old Dixie gun. I don’t know about you, but I never fail to amaze myself at the lengths I’ll go to in order to rationalize purchasing a new gun.

Uberti Navy
I decided this new Navy would be manufactured by Uberti. I’ve had a longstanding issues with Uberti because I really don’t like the brass grip shape on their standard 1851 Navy replicas. But a few years ago I picked up one of their London model 1851s. Instead of the typical brass grip frame, the London model has a steel grip assembly that is interchangeable with their Model P cartridge-firing, Single Action Army (SAA) clones. That Model P grip frame is a vast improvement.

colt-1851-navies-36-g
The slight step in the cylinder to accom-modate the larger diameter balls is the only visual difference between 1851 Navy revolvers chambered for .44 caliber versus those historically correct specimens chambered in .36 caliber.

I really liked the London model Navy, but I sent it off almost immediately to be converted to .38 Long Colt by conversion wizard Kenny Howell. I wanted to recreate the type of pistol carried by Keith Carradine where he portrayed Wild Bill Hickok in the HBO series, Deadwood.

Taylor’s London Navy
You may be noticing a bit of a pattern here. Whenever I get an 1851 Navy that I really like, it seems like I send it off to be converted to fire cartridges. But this time I had learned a lesson from my past mistakes. So I ordered another London Model ’51 Navy from Taylor’s & Company, and this one will be staying in cap-and-ball condition.

colt-1851-navies-36-d
Author carries his Navies in a pair of El Paso Saddlery 1849 Californian, Slim Jim-style holsters.

Carry Rigs
No pistol is really complete without gun leather. After years of experimenting with different holster styles, I settled on the perfect rig for the 1851 Navy. I have a pair of El Paso Saddlery’s 1849 Californian holsters in basic black. This holster is an authentic, mid-19th century slim Jim-style design that conforms to the silhouette of the revolver.

The top is a deep “S” curve that rises high enough at the top of the curve to protect the caps. The toe has a sewn-in plug with a vent hole. I had my holsters made with a slight cant for a butt forward carry. I use a cavalry-style draw, also known as a twist draw for my 1851s. It tends to freak out Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS) range officers, but I love that draw. It is fast and safe if you know what you’re doing.

Shooting Impressions
These days when we think of combat handgunning, we think in terms of distances from 7 to 25 yards. But when the 1851 Navy was developed they were sighted in for 75 yards. There are people who doubt that you can effectively shoot a gun with such crude sights at that distance. But back in the early ‘70s when I started shooting Navy cap-and-ball revolvers, one of my favorite targets was an old 55-gallon drum. I’d sit on the rim of a big gravel pit and shoot at it down in the pit, over 100 yards away. I loved hearing those round balls go “bong” when they hit that empty drum. I didn’t miss much.

I recently put the London Navy to the Dave Tutt test. As most of you know, Wild Bill Hickok drilled Dave Tutt through the heart at 75 yards across the courthouse square in Springfield, Missouri, in 1865. To see how difficult that was I put up a target, paced off 75 yards, and proceeded to put five rounds, off-hand into that target that would have hit Dave from collarbone to sternum, if he’d been standing there.

Today we’d rate the 1851 as a pretty puny fighting arm. The standard load I use is 22 grains of 3Fg Goex black powder, pushing a 0.38 of an inch round ball that only weighs 76 grains to an average velocity of 817 feet per second (fps). In the cartridge world the nearest equivalent would be a .32ACP, which not many of us would choose as our primary self-defense round. But Dave Tutt probably wouldn’t agree with that. Maybe we could take a lesson from Hickok. Maybe it doesn’t matter how big the gun is. What matters is how well you can use it. ✪

Didn't find what you were looking for?

CLICK HERE FOR COMMENTS

RELATED POSTS

The Meridian Defense PMC Rifle.

The Meridian Defense PMC Rifle Offers the AK-47 Your Way

Anthony Imperato and the most American of firearms. Today, Henry Repeating Arms is the leader in lever-action long guns.

Henry Repeating Arms: 25 Years of Excellence in Firearms

RISE Armaments small parts for AR builds.

5 RISE Armament Small Parts to Complete Your Next AR-15 Build

Safety Through Situational Awareness.

Eyes Wide Open: Using Situational Awareness to Avoid Trouble

Load More

WATCH NOW: TACTICAL-LIFE’s RELOADING ZONE

Discussion about this post

FEATURED POST

The Meridian Defense PMC Rifle.

The Meridian Defense PMC Rifle Offers the AK-47 Your Way

Known for its high-quality AK-47s, Meridian Defense Corp offers the PMC rifle with custom options. As a result, you can...

Read more

TRENDING

Police Sidearms, police duty pistols, Handguns, America's Largest Police Departments 2018

Police Sidearms: The Handguns of America’s 10 Largest Departments

...

Top 12 .50 BMG Rifles TW March 2015 lead

Top 12 .50 BMG Rifles [2023]

...

Back when the west was wild, coach guns were your best bet against unwanted threats.

Best Coach Guns: the Stow-N-Go Defenders You Want Riding Shotgun [2023]

...

Shooting the budget long-range rifle build proved the quality of components.

Build a Budget Sub-MOA Long-Range Rifle With Optic for Under $1K

...

PICK A CATEGORY

TACTICS & TRAINING SPOTLIGHT

Take a John Farnam CQB Carbine training class.

Fight Like Farnam: Take Your CQB Carbine Training Next Level

Semi-automatic rifles like AR-15s and AK-47s offer many advantages when it comes to personal defense in heavily-populated areas. But these...

TACTICS & TRAINING SHOWCASE

The Umarex Glock 17.

Paint Perfect: Force-On-Force Training with Umarex Glock 17

Active School Shooter Training: 14 Key Points to Consider

Active School Shooter Training: 14 Key Points to Consider

Tactical Reload Semi-Auto Pistol Step 8

5 Strategies For Effectively Completing a Tactical Reload

ar magazines maintenance

AR Mag Cleaning & Maintenance: Everything You Need to Know

Fact vs. Fiction 5 Myths Gunfight Survival lead

5 Common Myths on How to Survive a Gunfight

long distance shooting tips

Long-Distance Shooting: 5 Must-Know Tips For Spotters & Shooters

IMPACT Experience Events.

IMPACT Experience Events Redefine Your Long-Range Shooting Limits

Enhance your shooting precision skills in a course with Modern Day Sniper.

Sniper Skills: Taking Your Shooting Precision to the Next Level

The Smith & Wesson M&P 12.

Smith & Wesson M&P 12 Thrusts S&W Into Self-Defense Shotgun Market

AMMO SPOTLIGHT

Arsenal SAM7SF lead AK evergreen

Top 20 AK Rifles & Soviet Weapons

The Avtomat Kalashnikova (better known to the world as the AK-47), the brainchild of Mikhail Kalashnikov, has the distinction of...

site logo
Tactical Life Gun Magazine: Gun news, gun reviews and gun magazines for gun enthusiasts, military and law enforcement

Tactical

  • tactical-life.com

Magazines

  • Tactical Life
  • The Complete Book of Reloading
  • Guns of the Old West

Facebook

  • Tactical-Life Facebook
  • Guns of the Old West Facebook

Twitter

  • Tactical-Life Twitter

Self Defense

  • PersonalDefenseWorld.com

Magazines

  • Personal Defense World
  • Combat Handguns

Facebook

  • Personal Defense World Facebook
  • Combat Handguns

Twitter

  • Personal Defense World Twitter

Shooting Lifestyle

  • BallisticMag.com

Magazines

  • BallisticMag.com

Facebook

  • Ballistic Magazine Facebook

Twitter

  • Ballistic Magazine Twitter

Alpha Lifestyle

  • SkillsetMag.com

Magazines

  • Skillset

Facebook

  • Skillset Magazine Facebook

Twitter

  • Skillset Magazine Twitter

Instagram

  • Skillset Magazine Instagram
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
© Athlon Outdoors, All Rights Reserved.
You use of this website constitutes and manifests your acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and awareness of the California Privacy Rights. Pursuant to U.S. Copyright law, as well as other applicable federal and state laws, the content on this website may not be reproduced, distributed, displayed, transmitted, cached, or otherwise used, without the prior, express, and written permission of Athlon Outdoors.

Manage your GDPR consents by clicking here. Manage your CCPA consents by clicking here.
No Result
View All Result
  • Guns
    • Rifles
    • Handguns
    • Shotguns
    • Airguns
    • Specialty Guns
    • Custom Guns
  • Ammo
    • Handgun Ammo
    • Rifle Ammo
    • Reloading
  • Parts
    • Handgun Parts
    • Rifle Parts
  • Accessories
    • Optics & Sights
      • Night Vision
      • Thermal Vision
    • Lasers & Lights
    • Suppressors
    • Holsters
    • Maintenance & Tools
  • Gear
    • Ears & Eyes
    • Knives
    • Apparel
    • Tactical Gear
    • Knives
    • Storage
    • Flashlights
    • Electronics
    • Less Lethal
  • Lifestyle
    • Sport Shooting
      • Hunting
    • competition-shooting
    • Precision Shooting/Long Range Shooting
    • Training
    • First Aid
    • Survival
    • Pop Culture
    • History
  • News
    • New Products & Industry News
    • Gun Facts & Laws
    • Police News
    • Military News
    • Politics
  • Videos
  • Contact Us

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.