Colt 1851 Navy Revolver Colt 1851 Navy Revolver The Colt Revolving Belt Pistol of Naval Caliber (i.e., .36 cal), later known as the Colt 1851 Navy or Navy Revolver, is a cap and ball revolver that was designed by Samuel Colt between 1847 and 1850. Colt first called this Revolver the Ranger model; but the designation Navy quickly took over. After the Civil War, revolvers using fixed metallic cartridges came into widespread use. The Colt Navy remained in production until 1873, being replaced in the Colt line with what would become one of the manufacturer's most famous handguns, the Colt Single Action Army (also
Colt Single Action Army and sold to the civilian market. The largest group of U.S. Colt Cavalry revolvers was inspected by David F. Clark, his D.F.C. cartouche being encountered on revolvers inspected from 1880 to 1887. During 1893, the .45 U.S. Colt Single Action Army revolver was retired by the Cavalry and replaced by the .38 caliber Colt Model 1892 Double Action Army revolver. The .45 Single Action Army revolver was still standard issue to the Infantry, Artillery and other branches of the U.S. Army. In 1895–1896, the U.S. federal government returned 2000 SAA revolvers to Colt to be refurbished; 800 were issued to