"By god's girl, that's a Colt Dragoon. What are you doin' packing that much pistol? You aint bigger than a corn nubbin' yourself."

The Colt Model 1848 Precussion Army Revolver (also know as the "Dragoon Revolver" due the gun issued for mounted rifle troops) was a six-shooter handgun chambered in .44 that served as a replacement for Colt Walker.
It was designed by Samuel Colt in late 1847 to fix most of the Colt Walker's problems, however the design wouldnt be perfected until 1860.
It was in service in the United States Army from 1848–1865, although it's civilian use went way past that year.
From 1848 to 1860 about 18,500 were made in the U.S.A. (without counting the European copies)

In the events that led to the American Civil War, Colt Dragoons became extremely popular. In the beginning Colt Dragoon Revolvers were issued for the U.S. Army's Mounted Rifles. They were carried in pommel holsters on the saddle. The Colt Dragoon Revolver gained popularity among civilians in the Southwest where many had served in the Mexican–American War. The Dragoon became a master weapon for civilians who hailed it as a powerful weapon of the time.

Famous users included Joaquin Murietta, the California bandit, Charley Parkhurst, California teamster and stagecoach driver, James Douglas Byrd, Town Marshal, Watsonville, California, 1868, Tiburcio Vasquez, Union general George B McClellan, and fictional Augustus McCrae, in the novel Lonesome Dove, Mattie Ross in the novel True Grit and in the 2010 film (including the 1969 film of the same name) had Mattie Ross using a Colt Walker revolver, though John Wayne's character Rooster referred to it as a Colt's Dragoon. Charley Parkhurst, while driving freight, was confronted by two bandits whom he/she shot with the Colt Holster Pistol. According to Harper's Weekly, James Butler (Wild Bill Hickok) arrived in Springfield, Missouri carrying a Dragoon though it is generally accepted that he used a Colt 1851 Navy Revolver in his street duel with Davis Tutt.

#gun #revolver