Smallest cap & ball revolver?

[Electric Miner]

So, what's the smallest traditional cap & ball revolver, excluding things like parlor pistols. I mean those that would have been carried on a daily basis.

 

[Zonie]

Of the somewhat commonly owned revolvers the smallest would probably be the Colt Paterson #1, a .28 caliber, 5 shot pistol that could be had with a 1 3/4" long barrel.
It had a folding trigger that would pop out when the gun was cocked and it is estimated that around 500 were made in 1837-1838.

All of the Paterson pistols were rather finicky and their greatest claim to fame is they were Colts first revolvers and Texas liked the large .36 caliber version.

Of the more modern guns I would suggest the Colt 1848 "Baby Dragoon", a 5 shot, .31 caliber revolver that could be had with a 3" barrel.
Called a Baby Dragoon because it looked like a tiny Colt Dragoon pistol it was popular with the gold miners who flocked to California.
It was revised and improved and called a Colt 1849 Pocket revolver, first made in 1850.
The 1849 Model stayed in production until 1873 with an estimated 340,000 produced.

The Remington "New Model Pocket Pistol" was first made in 1865.
It too was a .31 caliber, 5 shot revolver which could be bought with a 3" barrel.
Made in both brass and steel framed versions it looked much like a tiny Remington New Model Army (often called a 1858 Remington).

The Colt 1848, 1849 and Remington New Model Pocket pistols have all been reproduced by various Italian companies.

Although small and underpowered by modern standards, all of these pistols could easily kill a person and were taken seriously by anyone who had one pointed at them for whatever reason.

When one remembers there were no pain killers available and infection could easily complicate a pistol wound it is easy to see why these small guns could be effective.

 

[Electric Miner]

Thanks for the info!

 

[Matt85]

this thread made me curious, so i went and checked out dixie and they have a number of these little .31 cal revolvers. however, the reviews are less then impressive. :td:

 

[F.G. Ford]

Somewhat "Off Topic".
I had a CVA "Remington" brass framed .31 cal.
All I can say is don't waste your money.

I would not want to count on my old CVA .31 to save my butt in a bad situation!
I also had a pair of Uberti Patersons, real cool guns, but the innards were somewhat fragile and complicated.
Old Ford ff :redface:

 

[Dphar]

So, what's the smallest traditional cap & ball revolver, excluding things like parlor pistols. I mean those that would have been carried on a daily basis.

The 1855 Colt Root was a pretty small pocket revolver.
Perhaps smaller than the 49 pocket. But would have to compare side by side to determine.
Colt made probably 40000-50000 of these in various calibers from .28 up.
http://www.littlegun.info/arme%20americaine/colt/a%20colt%201855%20gb.htm

Dan

 

[BGRooster1]

I have a recent copy from Pietta of the .31 Remington Pocket Pistol. I bought the steel version and I like it alot.It is just as reliable as any of my four other cap & ball revolvers.
It is not a target pistol and none of the little ones are ,but at 10yds gallon size jugs are in trouble.Remember they are close encounters ,save your bacon type firearms.

 

[swathdiver]

Didn't I answer this over there?

:blah:

 

[Tinker2]

The 1855 Colt Root was a pretty small pocket revolver.
Perhaps smaller than the 49 pocket. But would have to compare side by side to determine.
Colt made probably 40000-50000 of these in various calibers from .28 up.
http://www.littlegun.info/arme%20americaine/colt/a%20colt%201855%20gb.htm

Side by side. This Root is .28 caliber

William Alexander

 

[crazybushman]

not exactly traditional but NAA cap'n ball is about the smallest ive seen

 

[CoyoteJoe]

True, it would be pretty hard to produce a functional C&B revolver smaller than the North American Arms mini revolver. In terms of original C&B revolvers I think the Remington .31 is the smallest, it only weighs 11 ounces and is quite a bit smaller than the Colt .31 calibers, which weigh about twice as much. It's so small as to be rather difficult for a man to get a secure grip on it. Here is a .31 Remington compared to a Harrington & Richardson .32 cartridge revolver with 2 1/2" barrel.

 

[crockett]

The replicas cost about $250 to $300. The last time I checked the 31 caliber originals were not as high priced as the larger calibers. I think more 31's were made than any other. In any event you might find an orignal in good shape for $900 or so.

 

[tonybones]

I had a 6 inch version of the Baby Dragoon by DGW that was deadly accurate as these break top Colts can be. For target work I used a Navy Arms '58 Remington .44 with the fixed barrel. The .31 cals are fun to shoot and give about the performance of a .32 S&W short. At the time I was in a job where I transported and worked with cash deposits. I had nothing else and carried a short Baby Dragoon repro loaded. If nothing else the little Colts are intimidating. I was asked one time by some seedy street people looking guys if I was afraid of being robbed. I pulled the little Colt and said cheerfully, Nope.

Bones

 

[Electric Miner]

I rather like the 1863 Remington.

 

[BGRooster1]

That is the way to answer that question .It is probably the only answer they could understand.

Reminds me of the pizza delivery guy that was robbed numerous times . He started carrying a sidearm and had to use it . Now mind you this is when carrying concealed was illegal for Joe citizens of Wisconsin .He was arrested and when court time came the judge let him go . This ended up happening 2 more times with the same result.
The bad guys don't like good guys who are not going to take the BS they want to hand out.

 

[yadkin]

I've gat a pic of a 28 cal revolver said to be carried by Robert E. Lee I'll keep trying to find it.

 

[rodwha]

Remington states a 32 S&W has an 88 grain bullet pushed to 680 fps with 88 ft/lbs of energy.

Hogdgon's states a .31 cal pushed by 10 grains of powder on gives 580 fps. Even if it had just a little more and traveled at 600 fps it only has 38 ft/lbs with a 47 (.315") grain RB. At 700 fps it would only have 51 ft/lbs.

The lowly 25 ACP has 67 ft/lbs.

I'd question it's ability to penetrate plywood.

 

[Adui]

They had conicals for those, the conical in .31 has got to be close to the same weight as the .32 you noted.

Just googled it, the colt pocket pistol in .31 had a 76gr conical, according to this site:
http://www.theopenrange.net/forum/index.php?topic=133.0;wap2

For the record, the RB in the popular .36 caliber is the same weight..

 

[BGRooster1]

rodwha,what powder are they using? I would bet 3f. I use 4f in my steel frame pocket pistol or 3f 777.Both powders with a wad and as much as needed to bring the ball to the mouth of the chamber.

 

[rodwha]

10 grains of Pyrodex P behind a .320" Hornady RB.

If I'm not mistaken can't it hold more like 12 grains with a RB? The Remington 1863 holds a couple of grains less than a .31 cal Colt pocket model correct?

In part because it can hold a little more (I think) and I would use 4F or even 777, especially if it were really used as a pocket pistol, I gave it 700 fps instead of 580 as Hogdgon's site stated.

I've read someone's statement that it only put a dent in a piece of wood from close up, and another's who said it was embedded in the wood, both from an 1863 Remington .31.

I really like the 1863 Pocket model, but a .31 (or smaller) just seems a novelty for the most part.