Why the .36 Caliber Pistol Was the Most Popular Among Early Gunfighters

By Dennis Adler

Sam Colt may have created the 1851 Navy, but Wild Bill Hickok made the .36 caliber Colt pistols immortal. Indeed, there may have been more famous guns than the brace of Colt Model 1851 Navy revolvers carried by Hickok. But there was no more famous pistol caliber in its time. In 1855, Samuel Colt’s .36 caliber Model 1851 Navy was adopted by the U.S. military as its standard issue sidearm. It became the first Colt pistol to be so designated. The Model 1851 Navy began an unbroken chain of standard issue Colt sidearms for the next 130 years.

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Source:: Tactical Life