Replies

“Its brass frame. Since it is a heavy gun the kick is not bad at all. Very nice to shoot actually.” [central_va, post 38]

“...In True Grit, for example, John Wayne called Kim Darby’s Colt Dragoon a ‘horse pistol’ as it was known at the time and warned that she would find it hard to handle the recoil from such a large gun...” [Rockingham, post 29]

The most solid point of identification at all.

Colt’s never made the 1851 Navy with a bronze frame, often identified colloquially as brass.

In fact, they did not make any percussion revolvers with a bronze frame. The first arm they did make that had a bronze frame was their House Model “Cloverleaf”, with a four shot cylinder in 41 rimfire (1871-76).

Their next bronze-frame gun was their Third Model Deringer, aka “Thuer”, a swivel-barrel single-shot spur trigger arm in 41 rimfire, made from 1875 to 1910.

The Confederate States of America did make some brass/bronze frame revolvers: T W Cofer, Griswold & Gunnison, Schneider & Glassick, Spiller & Burr. The first three were copies of Colt’s 1851 Navy, more or less; the last was a copy of the Whitney Navy Model.

Bronze (or brass as you like) is more dense than iron or steel, so a given revolver with a brass frame will weigh more than an identical model with a steel frame. Reduces recoil yet more.

Brass is, however, softer than steel. Replica revolvers with brass frames are known for shooting loose in a short time. Dixie Gun Works used to market a number of them and always warned consumers that the gun was not guaranteed in those circumstances.

The screenwriters for True Grit (original) who put those words into the mouth of John Wayne outsmarted themselves. In reality, no cap-and-ball handgun recoils very much. They are simply too heavy compared to the mass of the ball and expelled powder gases/smoke. Especially true of the Walker and the very slightly lighter Dragoons.

“Big gun means heavy recoil” is a common misconception among the uninitiated.