✅ SOLVED Colt dragoon or something else?

[67GTA]

Found this at a homesite where I've found lots of 1850's-1870's relics. I've been trying to identify it as much as humanly possible. The only pistols I can find of that era that have the signature piece sticking out of the bottom of the barrel under the sights are the dragoon models. Looks to be 40-44 caliber. I'm afraid If I clean it, it will fall apart.

 

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[GoldieLocks]

is there an actual nail sticking out of the top left side? Are you supposing that the handle was connected there?

 

[67GTA]

is there an actual nail sticking out of the top left side? Are you supposing that the handle was connected there?

No, that is the bottom of the business end of the barrel where the ram rod would have attached. Look up some pictures of a colt dragoon and you will see what I'm referring to.

 

[BAW]

Found this at a homesite where I've found lots of 1850's-1870's relics. I've been trying to identify it as much as humanly possible. The only pistols I can find of that era that have the signature piece sticking out of the bottom of the barrel under the sights are the dragoon models. Looks to be 40-44 caliber. I'm afraid If I clean it, it will fall apart.
View attachment 2034971

What do you mean by "signature piece" ? The small piece on the underside of the barrel is the loading lever latch. All percussion Colt revolvers had them except for the early Baby Dragoons and a few special-order 1849 models. The combination of round barrel and flat barrel lug does make it look like the barrel from one of the dragoon models. An exact length would make it easier to identify.

 

[67GTA]

The lever lug on the bottom of the barrel was what I was referring to. The barrel is round and exactly 8 inches long. Cleaned the red clay up a little and took a couple more pics.

 

[BAW]

The lever lug on the bottom of the barrel was what I was referring to. The barrel is round and exactly 8 inches long. Cleaned the red clay up a little and took a couple more pics

 

[BAW]

8" barrels were used on later model dragoons and Model 1860 revolvers. Looking at the 2nd picture of the 2nd group of pictures you posted makes me wonder if the barrel lug is as flat as I thought it was. It seems to look like the streamlined contour of the M1860 barrels. If you compared pictures of Colt dragoon revolvers and Colt 1860 revolvers with your barrel you could probably tell which one it is.

 

[67GTA]

From what I can tell it looks like an 1860 Army model by the shape and size. I've found a couple other CW artifacts in that area. I think maybe a CW veteran lived there.

 

[gunsil]

It's a model 1860 Army, not a dragoon. GTA don't forget that a couple hundred thousand of these became army surplus soon after the war. The government sold them all cheap. Folks in rural areas used muzzle loaders right up into the early 1900s. They were cheap to buy, cheaper than cartridges to shoot, and worked perfectly well for hunting, target shooting and defense. I think my grandfather paid around $10 in the 1920s for the model 1860 I now have. It shoots just fine with a perfect bore.