The Colt Dragoon .44 revolver was manufactured between 1848 and 1860.  It was a Percussion Revolver also known as a Cap n Ball revolver. Its ammunition was in three components, The percussion cap, the ball shot and the black powder. It was a six shot revolver and was one of the most powerful handguns of its day.

The 1848 Colt Dragoon was produced in Six versions.  Three Versions of the Dragoon and three of the Baby Dragoon. 

The First Model Dragoon was manufactured for Colt by Eli Whitney and was primarily designed for the  military, sporting a brass trigger guard, the civilian version is nickel plated. The 1st Model Dragoon also had oval shaped cylinder notches and was fitted with a V shape mainspring and a square back trigger guard.  7000 of these were sold between 1848 and 1850.

The Colt Dragoon was developed to replace the Colt Walker .44 (pictured below), a revolver that saw active service with the US Army during the Mexican War.  Designed by the legendary Texas Ranger Capt. Samuel H. Walker along with Samuel Colt.

However, the Walker was found to have a number of inherent design flaws including a weak cylinder that could explode if the charge was too high.  With a capacity to hold 60 grains of powder per bullet this was way too high for the guns tolerances, how this major flaw went un-noticed during its design is confusing to say the least.

The under barrel loading lever would drop down when the gun was fired as it wasn't secured at the end.  Also the gun was too big and heavy at 4½lbs and nearly 1ft 4 ins long with a 9in barrel.

The Dragoon had a shorter cylinder that held a safer 50 grains of charge and the metal was strengthened as an added precaution.  A shorter barrel at 7½ins was also fitted.  The inclusion of a latch mechanism for the loading ram stopped the ram for dropping when the revolver was fired.  The Dragoon was ½Lb lighter with all the improvements and easier to point and aim but retained the Walkers .44 caliber ball shot, as this round was a true man stopper.

actual size of six 44 ball shot bullets.

The Colt Dragoon saw a lot of active service during war with Mexico.  The huge Colt with its tremendous stopping power continued to be carried by the Texas Rangers fighting the Apache's and Comanche's.

Initially the Dragoon was  issued to the U.S.M.R United States Mounted Rifles also know as "The Dragoons" the revolvers were carried in holsters attached to their saddles.  Civilians also bought the Colt Dragoon as its reputation as a powerful gun preceded itself and men wanted to protect their families and property from bandits, outlaws and the occasional Indian attack. The fire-power of the Colt Dragoon .44 percussion revolver in the 1850's is on par with today's modern .357 Magnum.

Below: The 2nd Model Dragoon was produced from 1850 to 1851 and it had rectangular notches and the V shaped mainspring was later changed in this version to a flat leaf spring.  The 2nd Model Dragoon also sported the square back trigger guard as in the first model, 2,800 of this Dragoon version was manufactured.

Below: The 3rd and final model Dragoon was produced from 1852 to 1861. This version has a round trigger guard, a small number have a slot in the frame to fit a detachable shoulder stock along with folding rear leaf sights.  10,000 of this final version was manufactured, some were also made at Colts London Armory.

All three versions of the Dragoon revolver have an un-fluted cylinder which bears an engraved scene of a battle between soldiers and Indians.   The cylinder may also bear the inscription "U.S. DRAGOONS" or "MODEL U.S.M.R."

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The Colt Dragoon revolvers have a deep integrated loading cut-out to ensure that the seating of the percussion caps is done securely and without trouble.  The image below depicts this, note also the hammer on 'half-cock' mode to enable the cylinder to rotate freely. The case hardened steel also creates a nice mosaic pattern on these guns.

All the cylinders on the Colt Dragoons were decorated with an engraved battle scene, consisting of mounted Cavalry fighting Indians.

A nice image of the squared back trigger guard that adorned the 1st ands 2nd model Dragoons. The 3rd model had a rounded trigger guard and is therefore easy to distinguish between the other two variants.

The Dragoons were the first Colt revolvers to incorporate a latch mechanism for the loading ram. This prevented the loading lever from dropping and jamming up the revolver during firing.  This mechanism followed on all preceding Colt revolvers up to the advent of cartridge revolvers in the 1870's.

Below a custom 1851 Dragoon US Marshall .36 cal with a shortened 5½ inch barrel and sporting some nice engraving. Whether this is a genuine Dragoon or not isn't clear, if it is then it would be worth maybe $100,000 or more under auction.

Below a scarce Colt 1st Model Dragoon  in excellent condition. It sold in Auction for $138,000 which also set a New World Record for a standard 1st Model Colt Dragoon.

Below a very rare cased engraved Colt 3rd Model London Dragoon, call .44, Serial Number 13 with a replaced cylinder, originally belonging  to former President Richard Nixon.  Sold in Auction for $74,750

Below is pictured a beautifully engraved Dragoon and this genuine Colt would be worth many thousands of Dollars. If you find something like this in your attic, get yourself off to the Auction room.  All Genuine Colt Dragoon revolvers are worth quite a lot of money.

As mentioned earlier the Colt Dragoon was made in Six versions and the other three were called Baby Dragoons.  They were drastically cut down in size so could be carried in the jacket pocket.  They were designed to be drawn out fast without snagging the clothing and were carried by Gamblers, stage coach drivers, Jail Guards, prospectors and ladies.

The Wells Fargo Company and those in the Pony Express preferred these small, light and easy to handle revolvers.  They were all of .31in caliber and could pack quite a punch and hence were more dependable than the small and weak Derringer type of gun.

Below The Baby Dragoon, finished in Nickel.  To keep the weight of the revolver down and to make it more snag and free stream lined, the loading ram was not incorporated underneath the barrel, also the front sight was reduced to a barely visible bead. To load the revolver the cylinder was taken out, it was then loaded, then replaced.

This may seam awkward but in the 1850's the people who carried this gun, loved the concealment factor and light weight. The hammer is still quite proud on these 'snag free' revolvers but as they are still single action they still needed to be as functional as the full sized Dragoon's

Below is the Wells Fargo version, it was similar to the Baby Dragoon except that it was finished in blued steel and case hardened frame and hammer with a rounded trigger guard that made it easier and faster to draw out of the pocket or belt. The cylinder had notches instead of oval cut outs.

The version below was known as the Pocket Dragoon, it was similar to the Wells Fargo Dragoon but this time it had the inclusion of the under barrel loading lever-ram.  This version could be carried openly in the holster.  It would have been an ideal fast draw gun and was probably used as such.

The 1848 Colt Dragoon saw a long production life of 12 years but was eventually superseded by the  Colt Model 1860 Army revolver (seen below)

Samuel Colt 1814-1862