Colt Dragoon Revolver

The Colt Dragoon Revolver, formally the Colt Model 1848 Percussion Army Revolver, is a .44 caliber single-action percussion revolver designed by Samuel Colt for the United States Army's Regiment of Mounted Rifles. It was also issued to the Army's Dragoon regiments, which gave it its common name. It was designed to solve numerous problems encountered with the earlier Colt Walker, and it holds six rounds in its cylinder. Production of the First Model began in 1848 under Colt's Second Government Contract, and about 7,000 first models were made between 1848 and 1850. Total production of Dragoons, including the 1,100 Walkers, ran to about 19,800 between 1847 and 1860, when the Colt Model 1860 replaced it. Although introduced after the Mexican-American War, it became popular with civilians in the 1850s and 1860s and was also used in the American Civil War.