Guns International #: 102746269
Seller's Inventory #: 240019

Category - Colt Revolvers - Antique Percussion - Antique Revolvers - Percussion

Category
Colt Revolvers - Antique Percussion
Antique Revolvers - Percussion

Pre-CIVIL WAR Cased Antique COLT Model 1849 POCKET w Robbery Cylinder Scene Inscribed to “JAs MERCER” on the Frame

Description:
Pre-CIVIL WAR Cased Antique COLT Model 1849 POCKET w Robbery Cylinder Scene

Inscribed to “JAs MERCER” on the Frame

Here we present an antique Cased Colt Model 1849 Pocket Revolver, Inscribed to James Mercer, made just three years before the start of the Civil War in 1858 in Hartford, Connecticut. There were 40 Union soldiers by this name and 28 Confederates.

The Model 1849 Pocket, the replacement for the Baby Dragoon, was the most widely produced of any Colt percussion pistol. Nearly 340,000 were manufactured during its 23-year production run that ended in 1873. Over 280,000 of these were produced by Colt’s factory at Hartford by the end of the American Civil War in 1865. These were very popular and saw a lot of use on the battlefield, on the home front and in the West. These were some of the smallest, handiest pocket revolvers of the time.

One of the most aesthetically pleasing aspects of the 1849 Pocket is its cylinder scene. Cylinder scenes during this period were common, especially for Colt, not only for their visual appeal, but because it made a revolver more difficult to forge. The scene on the cylinder of the 1849 Pocket is that of a stagecoach robbery. The focal point is the stagecoach drawn by four horses. A woman in a dress is seen framed in the doorway of the side of the coach. The driver is standing alongside wielding his pistol against multiple assailants as the horses rear and struggle against their harnesses. Several of the bandits lay dying on the ground, one tries to control the horses, two are running away and one is in the process of falling dead after being shot. Not a bad way to show interested buyers what a pistol like this would be good for. It did a fine job as a self-defense handgun for the average citizen in 19th Century America.

Though not a primary military arm during the American Civil War, these handguns were commonly privately purchased by soldiers for use on the battlefield. Whether legend or fact, it is interesting to note something commonly read about pocket revolvers of the day, that while they could be used for self-defense against the enemy, many soldiers kept them on their person to defend themselves against an unwanted amputation in the primitive field hospitals that were notorious, even in their day.

The overall condition is fine. Original blue and silver finish. The stagecoach robbery cylinder scene remains clear. The action is excellent. The bore is fine, bright with sharp rifling. The grip is solid. Numbers match. The case is a bit delicate as there is a crack on the bottom from one side to another. Contains a bullet mold, powder flask, nipple wrench and two cap tins.

Own the original! This is a legitimate antique and not a reproduction.

Barrel is 5 inches.

Caliber: .31 Percussion

Overall condition as seen in photos.

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ancestryguns

$4500

#240019
 

SOLD

Antique: Yes