Records of the Western Australian Museum 17 : 227-230 ( 1995 ). 
Short communication 
The Colt Model 1851 Navy revolver and its purchase by the Western 
Australian Police Force 
George B. Trotter 
32 Stratford Street, East Fremantle, Western Australia 6158 
The Belt Pistol of Navy size, or, as it is commonly known, the Model 1851 
Colt revolver is one of the best known of the various models manufactured 
by Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Campany of Hartford, Connecticut, 
U.S.A., between 1851 - 1873. Colt's also had a manufacturing facility in 
London, at Millbank, between 1853 and 1857, and thereafter a sales office in 
Pall Mall. It is from the Pall Mall depot that many public and private 
purchases of Colt's revolvers by Australia originated, including the revolvers 
now under discussion. 
THE W.A. POLICE REVOLVER 
The Western Australian Museum Arms and 
Armour Collection possesses a Model 1851 Colt 
revolver, W513), which is marked on the top of the 
barrel "Address Col. Colt London". The serial 
number is 37468, and engraved on the steel 
buttstrap in script is "Police Force Western 
Australia" (see Figures 1 and 2). The revolver bears 
British proof marks and is typical of the variation 
known as London-London, meaning that it is a 
London made London type, rather than the 
London type actually made in the U.S.A. The 
London type has more rounded screw heads than 
the U.S. type and also has steel butt straps rather 
than brass. A check of London production records 
shows that the year of manufacture was 1856.' 
Research in the state archives resulted in the 
location of a document from the W.A. Agent 
General in London, P.G. Julyan, to the W.A. 
1 Wilson, R.L., "Colt Dates of Manufacture, 1837 - 1978", M. 
Albert, Victoria, 1983, p.6. 
government, dated 18th August 1859. This 
document advises the W.A. government that three 
cases, containing "Revolvers and Swords for the 
Police Force", had been despatched per the 
"Crystal Palace" 2 (see Figure 3). 
Further search revealed an invoice dated 28th 
July 1859, from Colts' of Pall Mall, London, to the 
W.A. government, for two tin-lined cases 
containing 24 Belt Pistols with spare parts, flasks, 
holsters and pouches. The government, it is noted 
on the bottom of the invoice, were charged one 
shilling for each pistol to have them engraved 
"Police Force W. Australia" 3 (see Figure 4). The 
third case of the shipment per the "Crystal Palace" 
is also revealed in the archives. A receipt from 
Parker, Field and Son of High Holborn, London, 
dated 9th August 1859, describes 24 Cavalry 
Swords, with bags, and knots. A note on the in¬ 
voice informs the W.A. government that they were 
2 Battye Library, C.S.O. Correspondence, Acc. 36/419/47. 
3 Battye Library, C.S.O. Correspondence, Acc. 36/419/49. 
Figure 1 The Colt Model 1851. Manufactured at Colt's premises in London in 1856, it was purchased in a lot of 24 by 
the Western Australian Police Force in 1859 (Photo D. Elford). 
