Original Item: Only One Available. The Colt Model 1848 "Dragoon" Percussion Army Revolver is a MASSIVE .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, and was an evolution of the earlier Model 1847 "Walker" revolver, designed for the Texas Rangers, 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.

Over its service life, there were three main "models" produced by Colt that collector's recognize, with the 3rd model being the most numerous and having the most variations. It was eventually replaced by the much smaller, lighter, and more streamlined Colt Model 1860 Army revolver, which included all of the many improvements Colt had made to its percussion revolver lines.

This is a fantastic Colt Model 1848 "Dragoon" revolver, in the correct .44 caliber percussion, with a 6 shot round cylinder and 7 1/2" barrel. It is a truly massive design, very conservatively designed for accuracy and sturdiness. This example is in very good service used condition and fully functional, with a lovely worn gray patina overall. It was fitted at the factory with a 3 leaf long range rear sight on top of the barrel, and comes complete with its original shoulder stock. All Colt "Dragoon" models are rare, but examples with the original matched butt stock are extremely scarce, and this is the first example of a Colt Dragoon of any type that we have had the pleasure of offering.

The address marking is still partly legible on the top of the barrel, with the end removed to make way for the long range rear sight:

The COLTS PATENT marking is still fully visible on the left side of the frame, with a clear U.S. surcharge underneath, indicating issue and acceptance to the U.S. Military. There are also the letters G M V stamped into the right side of the barrel, which we have not been able to identify.

The pistol has a nice worn oxidized finish, and does not look to have been refurbished at any time. The barrel, frame, cylinder, trigger guard, grip frame all bear matching serial number 16873, denoting year of manufacture as 1858, only a few years before the outbreak, of the Civil War, so it was most likely used during the conflict. The loading rammer and barrel wedge are marked with shortened number 6873, while the arbor pin is marked with 687 (the rest is worn off), which makes this a great "ALL MATCHING" example, with no parts swapped out over the years.

Even better, the is that a fantastic shoulder stock is included and is marked with serial numbers 16873 and 16874 on the butt plate and attaching iron, indicating it was fit to work with this revolver, as well as the next serial number revolver. Originally shoulder stocks were shipped from the factory with right / left pair of revolvers, which is why shoulder stocks should have two serial numbers marked on it. However, this shoulder stock is not 100% authentic. It has replacement wood and is paired with what we believe to be original metal hardware (with the exception of the sling swivel, which is a replacement). This was not an uncommon practice if the wood of the stock split or was damaged. Another expert we know suggested it may even all be a reproduction from the 1960s. Regardless, its a stunning shoulder stock which perfectly fits the pistol, has correct font stamped serial numbers and by itself is worth at $3000 a minimum.

The revolver's original walnut grip is in good condition, showing moderate wear from use, and some chipping around the bottom, as is common. Both sides of the grip show faded inspection cartouches, which we unfortunately cannot read. It does have a little bit of play inside the grip frame, due to age related shrinking of the wood. The sights on the barrel are still present, including the correct 3 leaf long range sight, though currently the leaves are difficult to move.

The pistol is complete and cycles well, with good indexing and a strong cylinder lockup. We did not notice the finicky behavior we often see with these old percussion revolvers. The loading rammer works well, and the revolver can be properly broken down for cleaning and servicing. The bore shows clear lands and grooves, with the "progressive" rifling still visible, a hallmark of this design. The finish shows light overall fouling and oxidation, now cleaned off, but is definitely in very good condition for a percussion revolver using corrosive black powder. All 6 cap nipple cones are intact and clear, though they do show age and oxidation from use.

The matched buttstock is in really lovely condition, definitely having seen far less use than the pistol did, which is quite common. The wood is beautiful, and the metalwork has a pleasing brown finish to it. It locks correctly onto the pistol grip of the gun, with the tightening mechanism fully functional.

A fantastic example of a late production 3rd Model Dragoon, complete with its matching shoulder stock. These do not appear often at all, and we do not know whether we will ever be able to offer another again. Ready to research and display!

Specifications:

Year of Manufacture: 1858
Caliber: .44cal
Ammunition Type: Percussion Cap and Ball
Barrel Length: 7 1/2 inches
Overall Length: 14 3/4 inches
Overall Length with Stock:
Action: Single
Feed System: 6 Shot Revolver

The Colt M-1848 "Dragoon" revolver evolved from it's predecessor - the massive M1847 "Walker" revolver. Originally produced by Eli Whitney, only 280 Walker Colts were produced and delivered for military service to the Texas Rangers. After delivery, a number of manufacturing and design flaws were discovered with the Walker Colt design, leaving only 82 still in serviceable condition after 8 months of use in the field. To address these issues, Colt introduced the M1848 revolver. The new design included the use of imported carbon steel for the cylinder which drastically cut down on the number of guns that exploded when fired. Additionally, Colt reduced the length of the cylinder to reduce the powder charge, and also reduced the length of the barrel by a full inch. Finally, the loading lever was redesigned and more securely attached to the barrel the barrel via a latch lug that was incorporated on the the under side of the near the muzzle. This allowed the loading lever to remain in place when firing the weapon. These improvement not only made the M1848 pistol stronger, it also reduced its weight by a full 7 ounces; making it a bit more manageable to fire from horseback.

Colt moved production of the Dragoon from Whitneyville to his own factory in Hartford CT in late 1847. The first guns to roll off the line are considered "First Model" Dragoons. Colt produced about 7,000 of these guns from 1848 to 1850. After some minor design tweaks in late 1850 (primarily the adoption of a square cylinder stop notch in the cylinder), the "Second Model" guns were then produced between 1850-1851, with about 2,700 manufactured. The pattern was then modified again in 1851 with the adoption of a round trigger guard (earlier versions of the pistol featured a "square back" trigger guard); and with this change the final iteration of the Dragoon, the "Third Model" went into production in 1851 and remained in production through about 1861, with roughly 10,500 being produced. Production totals for the Colt Dragoon series of revolvers are nearly 20,000 in total; with about 10,000 purchased by the US government for military use.

Of the roughly 10,000 Colt Dragoons purchased by the government, a small number of them (946 guns to be exact) were built in a "carbine" configuration. These pistols featured a detachable butt stock which could be added to the pistol when mounted and allow the revolver to be used in the roll of a cavalry carbine. When dismounted, or when fighting in close quarters, the pistol could be used with the stock detached as a traditional revolver. The idea was first tested with the adoption of the M1855 "Pistol Carbine" - a large single shot cavalry pistol that featured a detachable butt stock. Field reports of the M1855 Pistol Carbine were a bit lack luster - the weapon was too large and unwieldy to be used effective as a cavalry pistol, and too short to provide much accuracy when used as a carbine with the stock attached. The Board of Ordnance thought that a weapon that could provide a larger volume of fire could be used to make up for the single shot M1855 pistol-carbines shortcomings and ordered a number of Colt's revolvers to be fitted with detachable butt stocks to test this theory.

Colt produced the first 1848 Dragoon pistols with detachable butt stocks in 1858. The guns are largely identical to the standard production line of M1848 pistols, except for the addition of a "fourth screw" added to the frame and a relief cut made to either side of the recoil shield. These modifications allowed for the addition of a large butt stock to be secured to the stock without interfering with the user's ability to cock and fire the pistol. Additionally, in order to better equip the revolvers for their carbine roles, Colt added a dovetailed leaf sight to barrel for shooting at longer ranges. The finished pistol carbines were shipped in pairs, as they were to be carried in a pair of US cavalry pommel holsters. Because the butt stocks had to be hand fit to the pistols, the serial numbers of each pair of pistols were stamped into the yokes and butt plates of the shoulder stocks. Colt supplied only 946 Dragoon revolvers cut for shoulder stocks over the course of the gun's production run, with the very last carbine configured pistol delivered in 1861. This has made original examples extremely rare and sought after.

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