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Article: Colt's 'Old Model Navy' revolvers found a ready market in the west: jayhawkers and border ruffians had a handle on them.(GUNS OF THE WEST)
- Article from:
- Wild West
- Article date:
- December 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Weider History Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Lawman/gambler Wild Bill Hickok carried two and was deadly accurate with both. Confederate guerrilla leader William "Bloody Bill" Anderson carried at least three. Saloon owner/gunman "Rowdy Joe" Lowe once kicked one from a sheriff's hand, discharging the gun and wounding an innocent bystander.
The weapon that attracted these three Westerners and many others on the frontier was the Colt Navy, a revolver that was introduced in 1850 and remained in production more than three decades. Samuel Colt and his revolvers remain world famous, but for many people today the Colt name evokes images of the Single-Action Army, first issued in 1873 and immortalized as "the ...