Colt Dragoon Revolver Colt Dragoon Revolver The Colt Model 1848 Percussion Army Revolver is a .44 caliber revolver designed by Samuel Colt for the U.S. Army's Regiment of Mounted Rifles. The revolver was also issued to the Army's "Dragoon" Regiments. This revolver was designed as a solution to numerous problems encountered with the Colt Walker. Although it was introduced after the Mexican–American War, it became popular among civilians during the 1850s and 1860s, and was also used during the American Civil War. The Colt Dragoon Revolver was produced with several variations between 1847 and 1860, when the Colt Model 1860 revolver replaced it.
.45 Colt quartermasters. Current catalog listings of compatible handguns list the caliber as .45 LC and .45 Colt. Both the Schofield and the .45 Colt were used by the Army at the same period of time prior to the adoption of the "M1887 Government" version of the .45 Schofield cartridge The .45 Colt was a joint development between Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, of Hartford, Connecticut, and the Union Metallic Cartridge Company of Bridgeport, Conn. Colt began work on the revolver in 1871, and submitted a sample to the U.S. Army in late 1872. The revolver was accepted for purchase in 1873.