Colt Wells Fargo Model
Colt's Manufacturing Company · Revolver · Out Of Production · 1850
Also known as: Colt 1849 Wells Fargo, 1849 Pocket Wells Fargo, Wells Fargo Pocket Model
Overview
The Colt Wells Fargo Model is a compact .31-caliber single-action percussion revolver, a lightweight variant of the Colt Model 1849 Pocket built without the hinged loading lever to reduce weight and bulk for discreet carry. The five-shot revolver typically wore a short octagonal barrel of 3 or 4 inches, and because it lacked a rammer the cylinder had to be removed for loading using the arbor pin. Its diminutive open-top frame, brass grip strap, and one-piece walnut grip made it an easily concealed personal-defense arm of the mid-19th-century American frontier.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 624 g (22.0 oz) |
| Overall Length | 216 mm (8.50") |
| Barrel Length | 102 mm (4.02") |
| Action Type | Revolving |
| Firing Mechanism | Percussion |
| Trigger Type | Single Stage |
| Magazine Capacity | 5 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Rotary |
| Muzzle Velocity | 200 m/s (656 fps) |
| Effective Range | 25 m (27 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Number of Grooves | 7 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Case Hardened |
Calibers
- .31 Caliber Percussion (Cap and Ball) · primary — also known as .31 cal, .31 percussion, 7.9mm
Features
- Firing modes: Repeating
- Feed systems: Revolving Cylinder
- Safety mechanisms: Hammer Safety Pins Between Nipples
- Features: Revolving Cylinder, Compact Pocket Frame, No Loading Lever, Single Action Only, Percussion Cap Ignition, Octagonal Barrel, Brass Grip Frame, Roll Engraved Cylinder
Base model
Service history
Operators
- Civilian market · adopted 1850
Conflicts
- American Civil War (1861-1865)
Production
Production years: 1850-1873
Lever-less Pocket Models were produced only in small numbers among the roughly 340,000 total Colt 1849 Pocket revolvers, making original Wells Fargo examples rare and highly collectible
Origin
Country of origin: United States
Designer: Samuel Colt
Discontinued: 1873
Notes
Despite the popular 'Wells Fargo' name, company records show Wells Fargo & Co. never purchased .31-caliber Colts; the nickname was applied by later collectors and reproduction makers to the lever-less 1849 Pocket variant. Modern black-powder reproductions are widely produced by Uberti and imported by Cimarron and Taylor's & Co.
Background
The 'Wells Fargo' moniker evokes the stagecoach express era of the Old West, reinforced by the stagecoach-holdup scene roll-engraved on the cylinder, yet the express company itself never bought these little .31s. The name stuck anyway, romanticizing the smallest and handiest of Colt's cap-and-ball pocket pistols.