Curious Relics #135: Two Guns, One Name – The Colt 1862 Police Part II

By Sam.S • Published June 24, 2026

Welcome back, folks! Last time around we kicked off a four-part look at the Colt 1862 Police revolver, covering the design philosophy that produced it, the Civil War timing that hampered its sales, the factory fire that made things worse, and the conversion craze that ate up the majority of surviving examples before the 19th century was even over. We also covered the name problem, that pesky “1862” tag that has been tripping people up since the gun was new. Today we are going a step further into that name problem, because it turns out Part I only scratched the surface of it. Let’s dive right in.

Curious Relics Coverage on AllOutdoor:

Welcome to our recurring series of “Curious Relics.” Here, we want to share all of our experiences, knowledge, misadventures, and passion for older firearms that one might categorize as a Curio & Relic – any firearm that is at least 50 years old according to the ATF. Hopefully along the way you can garner a greater appreciation for older firearms like we do, and simultaneously you can teach us things as well through sharing your own expertise and thoughts in the Comments. Understanding the firearms of old, their importance, and their development which lead to many of the arms we now cherish today is incredibly fascinating and we hope you enjoy what we have to share, too!

Variations: The Colt 1862 Police

Before we get into the production variations on the Police itself, I want to correct something from Part I, because it is worth getting right and because this is exactly the kind of thing that happens when you research Colt firearms from the mid-19th century. The available sources contradict each other, and older references do not always account for newer scholarship.

In Part I I described the 1862 Police and the Pocket Navy as running concurrently on the same production line from 1861, sharing a single serial number range. That is what most of the commonly cited older sources say, including R.L. Wilson’s widely used references, and it is what the source material I worked from implied. It turns out the picture is more complicated than that.

Research published by John Breslin in the American Society of Arms Collectors Bulletin in 2002, and later incorporated into updated editions of Flayderman’s Guide, found no recorded factory shipments of the Pocket Navy prior to 1865. Based on that work, the better current position is that the Pocket Navy is more accurately called the Model 1865 Pocket Navy, that it did not run concurrently with the Police from the start, and that the two guns may have had separate serial ranges rather than one shared run. Flayderman updated his designation accordingly. The Blue Book now lists the Pocket Navy under “Pocket Model of Navy Caliber, Model 1865.”

“Seward’s Folly? Not This Colt Pocket Navy Revolver!” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/riac-blog/sewards-folly-not-this-colt-pocket-navy-revolver. Accessed 22 June 2026.

None of this is fully settled. The factory fire of 1864 destroyed a large portion of Colt’s production records, which is part of why these debates persist. But the “concurrent from 1861, shared serial numbers” claim I made in Part I is the old conventional wisdom, and I would rather flag it here than let it stand unchallenged. When it comes to these guns, the research is still evolving.

What is not in dispute is that the two guns share frame dimensions, grip size, and trigger guard, and that by the time production of both was winding down in the early 1870s their serial numbers were interleaved. Telling them apart at a glance is simple enough once you know what to look for, and we will get to that shortly.

The Police: Early Production

The earliest 1862 Police revolvers, those coming out of the factory in 1861 with serial numbers in the very low range, are meaningfully different from what most people encounter today.

The barrel address on the earliest examples reads “ADDRESS SAML COLT/HARTFORD CT” rather than the New York address that became standard on the vast majority of production. Hartford-addressed Police revolvers are considered desirable among collectors and the transition to the New York address happened relatively early in the run.

The grip straps and trigger guard on very early guns were iron rather than brass, silver-plated. Brass grip straps became standard quickly, but a small number of low-serial guns with iron furniture exist and are quite scarce.

The serial number on the earliest examples was stamped inside one of the cylinder flutes. At some point in early production, probably somewhere between serials 2,200 and 2,500, based on surviving examples that have been documented, Colt moved the cylinder serial number to the rear face of the cylinder instead. A small detail, but useful when you are trying to place a gun in the production timeline.

“London Cased Colt Model 1862 Police Percussion Revolver.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/4096/3189/london-cased-colt-model-1862-police-percussion-revolver. Accessed 22 June 2026.

On later production guns, the left rear web of the trigger guard was stamped “36 CAL” to distinguish the revolver from Colt’s .31 caliber pocket guns, which shared the same general frame size. That marking does not appear on early examples. The patent date “PAT SEPT. 10TH 1850” was stamped in one of the cylinder flutes on early and mid-production guns, and sometimes absent on later ones.

Barrel Lengths

The 1862 Police was offered in four barrel lengths: 3.5 inches, 4.5 inches, 5.5 inches, and 6.5 inches. The 5.5 inch was probably the most common configuration, and the 6.5 inch is less often encountered and tends to get a lot of attention when it does show up. Long-barreled pocket revolvers from this era have a certain elegance to them that the shorter versions just do not have in the same way.

The 3.5 inch barrel is worth flagging separately. Every mainstream reference lists it as a legitimate production option but also notes it as rare. Researcher Herbert Hose documented a short-barreled example that apparently lacked a loading lever entirely, suggesting it was intended specifically for deep pocket carry. I have not been able to independently verify that detail beyond Hose’s work, so take it as credible but not confirmed.

London Export Guns

A number of 1862 Police revolvers were shipped to Colt’s Pall Mall agency in London for the British market. These guns are identifiable by a few consistent features. They typically have iron grip straps rather than brass, silver-plated. British proof marks appear on the barrel and cylinder. An “L” inspector mark, denoting London, is stamped beneath the serial number.

A small number of London-addressed Police revolvers exist with the barrel address reading “ADDRESS COL. COLT/LONDON” rather than the New York address. These tend to appear in the higher serial number ranges, suggesting they were shipped later in the production run.

How to Tell the 1862 Police from the Pocket Navy

This is the practical part, especially if you are at a gun show or looking at an auction listing and trying to figure out which gun you are actually looking at.

The 1862 Police has a round barrel and the creeping loading lever developed under Elisha Root. That lever has a distinctive gear-tooth profile at its base and sits tight against the underside of the barrel. The cylinder is half-fluted and carries no roll engraving. Clean and smooth.

The Pocket Navy has an octagonal barrel and the older swinging-link loading lever, the same style used on the 1849 Pocket and 1851 Navy. The cylinder is round, unfluted, and carries the stagecoach holdup scene roll engraved on it, the same scene used on the 1849 Pocket. That cylinder engraving is the fastest tell. If you see the stagecoach scene, you are looking at a Pocket Navy. Half-fluted panels with no scene means you are looking at a Police.

“Seward’s Folly? Not This Colt Pocket Navy Revolver!” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/riac-blog/sewards-folly-not-this-colt-pocket-navy-revolver. Accessed 22 June 2026.

Both guns sit on the same pocket-sized frame. Both are five-shot .36 caliber. Both have the same grip and trigger guard. From the grip end they are nearly identical. From the muzzle end they are obviously different. Barrel shape and cylinder surface are your two fastest identifiers, and the cylinder wins every time.

One more thing worth noting: the Pocket Navy’s loading lever is slightly shorter relative to the barrel than the Police’s creeping lever. That is a consequence of the barrel assembly geometry. The Police’s round barrel and creeping lever were designed together as a system. The Pocket Navy’s octagonal barrel came from an older pattern and the lever length did not quite line up the same way. It is subtle, but once you see it you notice it.

End of Part II: The Colt 1862 Police

That covers the main variations on the 1862 Police and how to sort it out from its near-twin the Pocket Navy. Coming up in Part III we will get into specifications, dating, and whatever aftermarket support exists for both the originals and the Uberti replica. Part IV will be range time. We are getting close.

Uberti 1862 Police

In closing, I hope our Curious Relics segment informed as well as entertained. This all was written in hopes of continued firearm appreciation and preservation. We did not just realize how guns were supposed to look and function. It was a long and tedious process that has shaped the world we live in. So, I put it to you! Is there a firearm out there that you feel does not get much notoriety? What should our next Curious Relics topic cover? As always, let us know all of your thoughts in the Comments below! We always appreciate your feedback.

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