POTD: Splitting the Difference – Experimental .40 Caliber Colt 1851 Navy

Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a Colt 1851 Navy that isn’t chambered like a Colt 1851 Navy. This is one of a handful of experimental 40 caliber Navies built around 1859 and 1860, serial number 2 out of the separate range Colt used for prototypes.

Colt had a gap in his lineup and everybody knew it. The 36 Navy handled beautifully and weighed about two and a half pounds, but a 36 ball is a 36 ball. The 44 Dragoon hit like you wanted, and it also weighed over four pounds and rode in a saddle holster because nobody wanted it on their belt. Officers wanted Dragoon authority in a Navy sized gun.

A 40 bore was one way at it. Same frame, same barrel profile, same weight and outward look as a standard Navy, just a bigger hole. Wilson notes these experimentals also got steel backstraps and trigger guards instead of brass, along with short barrels, this one at 6 1/2 inches.

Nobody bought them in quantity, and the reason showed up almost immediately. In 1860 Colt solved the same problem a better way by rebating the cylinder on a Navy sized frame so it would swallow a 44, which became the Model 1860 Army. The 40 Navy went nowhere, while the 36 version ran to over a quarter million guns before percussion production ended in 1873.

Most of our POTDs utilize images from our friends at Rock Island Auction Company, the premier firearms auction in the United States. Take some time to browse their current auctions – who knows, maybe you’ll find a piece of history to take home!

“Well-Documented Serial ‘2’ Prototype .40 Caliber Colt 1851 Navy.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/4097/156/welldocumented-serial-2-prototype-40-caliber-colt-1851-navy. Accessed 31 July 2026.

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