Sam Colt New York U.S.

America Walnut stock, brass mountings, metal frame with faint Naval Engagement scene on cylinder.

Left of barrel with double U.

S. inspector mark H H.

Double U. S. inspector mark H H also on the cylinder along with Colts patent mark and partial serial number.

D U. S. Inspector mark on backstrap beneath bow and on trigger guard just behind the trigger.

Right rear of barrel frame and cylinder with condemnation mark C.

Note: Colt later used a number of condemned parts for Single Action Army revolvers sold on the commercial market.

Double HH inspection mark indicates that this weapon was inspected twice.

It was used as a side arm by cavalry, infantry, artillery troops, and naval forces.

The frame is relieved to allow the use of a rebated cylinder that enables the Army to be chambered in.44 caliber.

The barrel on the 1860 Army has a forcing cone that is visibly shorter than that of the 1851 Navy, allowing the Army revolver to have a longer cylinder.

Another distinguishing feature of the Colt 1860 Army, first introduced on the Colt 1855 Sidehammer Revolver, is the creeping loading lever.

The weapon was a single-action, six-shot weapon accurate up to 75 to 100 yards, where the fixed sights were typically set when manufactured.

The rear sight was a notch in the hammer, only usable when the revolver was fully cocked.

It had a six-shot, rotating cylinder, and fired a 0.454-inch-diameter (11.5 mm) round spherical lead ball, or a conical-tipped bullet, typically propelled by a 30-grain charge of black powder, which was ignited by a small copper percussion cap that contained a volatile charge of fulminate of mercury (a substance that explodes upon being subjected to a sharp impact).

The percussion cap, when struck by the hammer, ignited the powder charge.

When fired, balls had a muzzle velocity of about 900 feet per second (274 meterssecond), although this depended on how much powder one loaded it with.

The barrel was rounded and smoothed into the frame, as was the Navy Model.

The frame, hammer, and rammer lever were case-hardened, the remainder blued; grips were of one-piece walnut; and the trigger guard and front grip strap were of brass while the backstrap was blued.

Instead, its strength came from the lower frame and the massive fixed cylinder pin.

This made the gun slimmer and lighter than its main competitor, the Remington Model 1858, but with a possible loss of strength.

The fixed cylinder pin also meant that the barrel had to be removed in order to remove the cylinder, unlike the Model 1858, which only required you to remove the cylinder retaining pin.

The goal was to make use of silver spring steel of controlled carbon content and greater strength, but the thinned cylinder proved inadequate and sometimes exploded.(ibid wilson) Fluted cylinders had the patent date of Sept.

Rebated cylinders above serial number 8000 were roller indented with a Texas Navy and Mexican battle scene and stamped with COLT PATENT NO followed by the last four digits of the serial number.

Some shoulder stocks were also hollow on the inside and intended to be used as canteens and were, unsurpringly, called canteen stocks.

Stocks were typically made of wood, but other materials were also used, such as pewter in rare examples.

Colt 1860 Army Serial Numbers