Small 1851

[Colt Fanning]

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Howdy,
I visited the Wells Fargo Museum in Phoenix this week and found that in their collection of Old West guns they had
two different sizes of guns labeled Colt Model 1851.  In addition to two guns about the size of the Italian replicas, there were
three smaller revolvers which had the right angle where the frame joins the barrel and looked like smaller 1851's.  One had been
"converted to 38".  Did Colt make two sizes of 1851's or are these mislabeled pocket pistols?  One of them was labeled "made in 1861, but none had the U shape where the frame joins the barrel as in the 1862 Navy.  They also had a Cloverleaf Colt with
a four shot cylinder shaped like a German Iron Cross.

Regards
Colt

[St. George]

No.

Are you certain you weren't looking at mis-labelled Model 1849 Pocket Colts?

Don't take museum labels at face value - in older museums, it's quite common for labels to've been mis-placed - and there have been substitutions made as well.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Major 2]

That is very true
two mis-label I've seen come to mind

One was Ruger SS Old Army.... The Lable read  " Old Army"  the gun that won the west "  (this one even photographed in book)

The other was a Spencer .... The Lable said  " 14 shot  Spencer Repeater "  I told the curator it was 7 shot ...I went
through the Museum  2 years later that Spencer still there and still 14 shot !

[Hangtown Frye]

The smaller "Navy" is probably the so-called "Pocket Navy" which was a 5-shot .36".  It had the same frame and rebated cylinder of the '62 Police, but with the octagon barrel of the Navy and Pocket Model.  Many were factory converted to .38 cartridge.

Cheers,

Gordon

[Colt Fanning]

Howdy,
I'm sure it must have been the Pocket Navy.  I was puzzled because it seemed to be .36 rather than .31 cal but
I didn't think about it being a 5 shot.

Regards
Colt