Rare Gun Collecting: Serial Number 1

By Joe Engesser

When it comes to rare gun collecting, a .40 caliber Colt Model 1851 Navy prototype is going to turn heads. The Colt Navy was a popular .36 caliber revolver, but it didn’t deliver the stopping power of its Dragoon predecessor. Before Samuel Colt developed the Model 1860 Army revolver, he experimented with four .40 caliber prototype revolvers on the 1851 Navy frame. Noted Colt historian R.L. Wilson states that this high condition, .40 caliber Colt Model 1851 Navy “is rarer than any other model” and “one of the most interesting Colt percussion firearms known. Its excellence of condition, pedigree, documentation, and combination of rare features make it a 19^th-century firearms artifact well worthy of the finest private or museum collection.”