Königliche Marine (Prussian Navy) Colt 1851 Rig
Percussion Revolvers
•
7m 0s
In 1855, Prussian customs officials in Antwerp discovered a shipment of 3,000 Colt 1851 Navy model revolvers (and their accouterments) hidden in bales of cotton being shipped from New York to Russia. Prussia was a neutral power in the ongoing Crimean War, but had prohibited transit of arms across its borders. Squeezed by a British blockade of its ports in the Baltic, Russia tried to being in these pistols through Prussia anyway, and was caught (much to the embarrassment of Colt, who was trying to sells his revolvers to the British at the same time).
After three years of stalling, the Prussian government decided to keep 1,000 of the revolvers for issue to its own navy, and sell the remaining 2,000 at auction. The navy revolvers and their accessories (powder flasks and cappers) were stamped with “KM” (Königliche Marine, or Royal Navy) and sequential inventory numbers. They would be the first repeating pistols issued to the Prussian Navy.
Up Next in Percussion Revolvers
-
Why The Most Expensive US Martial Pis...
The Colt Model 1847 Walker is one of the most valuable of all US military handguns in the collecting community, with examples sometimes breaking seven figures. However, the Walker was in many ways a remarkable failure as a service sidearm, mostly because it tended to explode. By today's standards...
-
Griswold & Gunnison: The Best Confede...
Griswold and Gunnison were rather unique among Confederate revolver manufacturers for their ability to actually create a reliable and high quality product and produce it on a regular and predictable schedule. So many of the Confederate revolvers were made by starry-eyed novices, but Griswold & Gu...
-
Biggest Revolver Yet? A 10-Gauge Colt...
This ludicrously huge handgun is actually a 10-gauge Colt 1855 Revolving Shotgun with a cut-down barrel and a newly made grip frame. The backstop and trigger guard of the shotgun were handily reshaped into a grip frame, and the finished product actually looks nicely proportional - until you try t...
