1851 Navy factory miss-print

[gophergunner]

I have a .36 cal. Colt 1851 Navy that came down through the family. It is in average condition, and has all matching serial numbers including the cyllinder. Somewhere along the line, some replace the ramrod screw with a pin, but other than that the gun is stock. I'm pretty sure it's a civilian model, as my understanding is that the grips were stamped with the unit number the gun was assigned to. The interesting thing about this gun is that the trigger guard is clearly stamped 31 cal., but the gun is obviously a .36. Does anyone know anything about this? Thanks for any info anyone can supply.

 

[James K]

Military grips were stamped with the cartouche of the inspector. If a unit number was put on, it was unofficial.

The misstamping is interesting; I am not sure it adds to the value of the gun, but it makes it a bit different.

Jim