By the end of the Civil War, it was clear that percussion weapons were quickly becoming obsolete. The self contained cartridge had proven itself on the battlefield and all branches of the US military, including the traditionally "conservative" Navy began adopting metallic cartridge guns as early as 1865 with the Navy's adoption of the Remington rolling block single-shot pistol as their standard sidearm. The single shot Rolling Block pistol was adopted less because of its merit and more because of its price tag. Budget cuts to the Naval Department in the wake of the war hadn't left the department with enough funds to purchase new revolvers, and the Rolling Block pistols were purchased as "stop gap" measure until new funds could be appropriate for repeating weapons.
Thankfully for the Navy, Colt approached the department with a low cost alternative to purchasing new weapons. In 1873, Colt offered to upgrade existing stocks of M-1851 and M-1861 Navy revolvers to centerfire cartridge via the Richards-Mason conversion system for $3.50 each. In a July 10, 1873 letter to Franklin, USN Chief of Ordnance William N. Jeffers accepted the offer from Colt and noted that he had “advised the Commandant(s) of the Boston, New York and Philadelphia Navy Yards to send to your manufactory 100, 400 and 300 pistols respectively for alteration.”. Thus began the process by which some 2,097 US Navy owned .36 caliber Colt percussion revolvers were altered to metallic cartridge by the Richards-Mason system.
The alteration required a series of modifications across the revolver's major components. The cylinder was extensively reworked: its rear was milled down, the percussion cones were removed, and the chambers were bored and reamed out to accept the .38 Long Colt cartridge while retaining the original ratchet. To the frame, a conversion breech plate was mounted in front of the recoil shield, and a loading gate was added to the right side. Internal components were updated with a new, longer hand which corresponded with re-cut cylinder ratchets for correct timing. The original loading lever and its catch were removed from the barrel and the resulting recesses filled. Finally, an ejector rod assembly was added to the right side of the barrel for cartridge extraction. After the alteration the pistols were refinished by Colt.
In addition to a general refinishing, Colt also noted a number of the guns had poor condition iron back straps and grips. Colt offered to replace the back straps, trigger guards, and grips on damaged guns at a an additional cost of $0.75 each. The Navy agreed, and these replacements were installed on a number of the Navy-Navy Colts. As a result of the replacement of most of the grips on the guns sent to Colt, original Civil War era USN inspection marks in the grips are usually missing from the cartridge converted “Navy-Navy” revolvers. Additionally, due to the polishing and refinishing, the original percussion era marks on the guns are often weak or missing, as are most of the original Naval markings in the metal. The pistols were stamped on the lower left side of the frame with the two-line patent date that referenced both the Richards and the Mason patents. Additionally, a large number of the M-1851 Navy-Navy revolvers that were altered ended up with mismatched cylinders that were typically renumbered to match the gun, either below the original serial number on the side of the cylinder or on the rear face of the cylinder.
Only about 1,000 1851 Navy Revolvers were converted by the Navy; making them extremely rare on the collector market. To add to the gun's rarity, despite the fact that the guns were delivered to multiple Naval Yards, only those sent to the New York Navy Yard received any inspection marks. The revolvers sent to New York were inspected by Commander Richard W. Meade, who stamped his initials and an anchor under the barrels, forward of the frame. Those pistols with the R.W.M. (ANCHOR) mark can be concretely attributed to having been inspected at the New York Navy Yard after alteration. No known inspection markings have been attributed to the revolvers returned to the Boston, Philadelphia, Norfolk and Portsmouth Navy Yards. Today all of the Richards-Mason converted Colt Navy-Navy revolvers are scarce, with arms historian and author Tim Prince noting that less than 100 of the 1,000 altered guns are believed to remain in existence.
This is one of the incredibly rare "Navy-Navy" Richards-Mason revolvers which was converted by Colt and subsequently inpsected by Richard W. Meade at the New York Navy Yard!
This Colt is in excellent shape; especially considering the fact that its serial number puts its original date of manufacture in 1859, before it was subsequently converted in 1873. The lock up is nice and tight with no wobble in the cylinder. The action is as smooth as butter-it feels better than most Italian reproductions! The hammer has a positive half and full cock.
The barrel is in excellent condition. The early Colt "Hartford" address stamp is intact and fully legible. The bottom of the barrel sports the coveted "R. W. M. ANCHOR" stamp that indicates it was inspected by Richard W. Meade at the New York Naval Yard. There is no wobble in the barrel whatsoever. The bore is in wonderful shape with excellent, sharp rifling and only minor scattered pitting. This revolver would make for a fantastic shooter!! The cylinder matches the barrel in condition. Each one of the chambers is crisp and clean with no pitting or erosion. Two sets of serial numbers are visible on the cylinder, which, as mentioned above is correct for a Navy-Navy conversion. The original naval cylinder scene is very good and very legible.
The grips, trigger guard, back strap, are all original and matching, however, it appears that the backstrap was modified for removable shoulder stock at some point, as there is that there was a slot in the back strap and a hole in the butt at some point, which are consistent with shoulder stock attachment points. These slots were subsequently welded in by a subsequent owner in an attempt to restore the gun back to its original condition (there is no evidence that any of the Richards-Mason Navy-Navy Colts were ever cut for shoulder stocks). This welded repair was quite successful, and there are no bubbles or holes evident from the weld (no small feat when welding 19th Century steel). However, the heat from the weld did deform the back strap just enough that a small gap now exists between the front of the grip and the rear of the frame. This gap is cosmetic only, and the grips otherwise fit very well with no wiggle or rattle.
The butt features original "U.S.N." and "J.L.H." marks; the inspector's stamp of Commander James L. Henderson, who inspected small arms at Norfolk from June of 1857 through April of 1861.
This extremely rare Colt is a perfect addition to any Navy or Colt enthusiast's collection. It's incredible history and excellent condition rank it to be one of the rarest pieces we've been able to offer. Don't wait!
