I don't get why the retailer sells it as a "Navy"....would it be more honest just to list it as a ".44 caliber version" of an Colt 1851. Pretty gun though.
Cabela's used to be pretty good identifying what they sold. Since BPH has taken over, all bets are pretty much off.
I think BPS is just trying to sell off Cabela's inventory. I went to a BPS in Tacoma WA a couple of years ago and asked where their BP inventory/display was and the "clerk" behind the counter was like "What?". They had NO BP guns of any type. It was like I came from another planet.
I think the problem is that Cabela's inventory is overloaded with 1851 Navy .44 pistols, no one really wants them, and the rest of us are looking for Navy .36 pistols, even if they are brassers, and their inventory is deplete of the .36 guns.
There is little call for 1851 Navy .44 brassers because people are getting educated about historical information. Even an 1851 Navy .36 brasser octagonal barrel is a replica of a Schneider and Glassick, of which 3 originals are known and one has an iron frame.
The 1950's/1960's brasser .44 pistols were created and imported by Navy Arms and others because they were cheaper than the steel frame pistols, were .44, produced a big bang, and eventually shot loose with loads only suited to steel frame pistols.
But they sold them and made a bunch of money from them.
Jim