Civil War Revolver ID

[dogfood]

This is one of my ancestors that was stationed out west during the Civil War.
Since the photo has had the common practice of a painting touch-up, I'm a little unsure as to what kind of revolver he's got. Might be his own, might be the photographer's prop, but in any case it'd be cool to know.
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
dgfd

 

[Phil Coffins]

Looks small, maybe a 1849 Colt.

 

[mhb]

Well, what can be seen looks like a Colt's 1849 Pocket Model .31.

mhb - MIke

 

[Uncle Miltie]

I think the 49's all had octagonal barrels. If the barrel is round it is an 1862 Navy.

 

[user 33882]

It is most likely a Model 1849 Pocket, the most popular 19th century percussion revolvers. Colt sold over 325,000 of them. They were carried by thousands of soldiers on both sides of the Civil War. Despite often being called the "Model 1862 Navy" and Colt's website still listing them within the same serial number as the Model 1862 Police, the "Pocket Navy" was not actually introduced until 1865 and was numbered within its own serial number range. The Pocket Navy also had an octagon barrel. The '62 Police had the round barrels.

 

[2 shots]

49 colt gets my vote too

 

[user 48679]

Pretty nifty to have a pic of an ancestor - thanks for posting it.

 

[hawkeye2]

The 1862 Pocket Navy (.36 cal.) had an all octagonal barrel and the 1862 Pocket Police (.36 cal.) had the streamlined 1860 Army style barrel. Both were on the 49 frame with a rebated cylinder which would show in the picture. I'm sure it's an 1849 Pocket Colt in .31 caliber with a less common longer barrel which would have been full octagonal.
If he were a foot soldier I would guess the revolver to be a photographer's prop. Most soldiers soon discarded or traded off anything they discovered wasn't essential and that included Bowie knives too.

 

[kh54]

@dogfood, the photo appears to have been cropped - is this all you have? Anyway, nice to have that. He’s a fine looking young man and it’s unusual to see a CW soldier without facial hair.

 

[TFoley]

I'd love to talk to him.

 

[toot]

a great photo!

 

[dogfood]

@dogfood, the photo appears to have been cropped - is this all you have? Anyway, nice to have that. He’s a fine looking young man and it’s unusual to see a CW soldier without facial hair.

My great-aunt has the original and unfortunately this is just the version of the photo that family shared over social media.

 

[Stantheman86]

That's really cool, to have a pic like that of an ancestor.

The Yellow trim on his uniform would make his branch of the Army to be Cavalry.

We'll never know if the revolver is a prop, it is most likely like other guys say, a '49 Pocket with the longer barrel .

It could also easily be a Manhattan, Cooper, or any number of the Belgian copies of Colt revolvers that were shipped over to the US and sold in hardware stores, etc

If we don't know when or where it was taken, it could even be after he got out of the Army and that's just his own gun. I myself have plenty of pictures my family took after I got out of the Army in my dress uniform, I put on for a dinner or an event. Families are proud of their soldiers .

It was common for soldiers with a little extra $$ to buy a small piece for personal protection or a backup in combat. He may very well have bought a piece when he was in a town somewhere or before leaving for the West .

Unless the painting touch up makes it look smaller and it's an issued '51 Navy that just looks smaller in this picture but not likely.