colt 1849 .31 police?

[Little Tex]

I was watching history channel this morning while  I was getting dressed for work.  I caught just a glimpse of a discussion on what I believe was a Colt 1849 .31 pocket pistol. 

Very fun looking gun.

I see there is a Pietta 1862 .36 police pistol.  Anyone here of the .31 caliber?

[coyotejoe]

The little .31's were Colt's bigest sellers for civilian guns. I've never heard them referred to as "police" guns but no doubt lots of law enforcement types carried them because they were small and light. The Colt referred to as the "metropolitan police model" was the 1862. It was a five shot .36 caliber on the same frame size as the .31's and was quite popular. Lots of them were converted to cartridge guns in .38 centerfire or rimfire.
The Pietta gun which they call an "1862 police" is NOT. It is just a regular 1861, six shot,  .36 caliber with a fluted cylinder to resemble the 1862 police but is a much larger and heavier gun. I've taken Cabelas to task for advertising it that way but they still do it.
Uberti does build a true replica of the 1862, with the round barrel and fluted cylinder it is called the "police model", with the octagon barrel and engraved cylinder it is called the "pocket navy", both are .36 caliber, five shooters.

[Little Tex]

excellent info. thanks.  I do believe there is a place for a Police Model or Pocket Navy in my future!

[Pat/Rick]

+1 coyotejoe, Piettas 1862 is really closer to an 1861. Got one and its a fine shooter.
IIRC Uberti is the sole producer of 1849 replicas. The most produced C&B pistol of any in Colt's lineup.

[blhof]

I've got an old San Marco 31 and it's really fun to shoot, shooting 10 to 12gr of powder is much cheaper and makes for a longer range time than 35gr in my ROA.  The little 31 is low recoiling, my wife, who will only shoot 22's will shoot the 31 and I usually end up reloading it for her several times, before I get it back.

[StrawHat]

I have a couple of the Baby Dragoons (31 caliber) and several of the Pocket Models (36 caliber).  The 31s have little or no recoil and the 36s about like a 38 K frame.  The Baby Dragoons I have both have the square backed triggerguard and are really too small for me to use comfortably.  The guard does not easily fit my trigger finger.  The Pocket Models have the rounded guard and are a little larger as it is quite easy for me to get to the trigger.  Both are a lot of fun.  The 31 is very economical to shoot.  Very small charges of powder and you can use 00 buck shot instead of cast round balls.  Where I grew up, you could buy bags of shot for reloading, I understand it is not that esay anymore.

[rio grande]

In my opinion there is no finer handling Colt percussion pistol than the 5 shot .36. 

[FourBee]

This 1849 .31 cal  Pocket Pistol is a 5 shot UBERTI .  It shoots a .320" ball under 12gr powder.
At Seven Yards it shoot 7" high.  Makes deep penetration in 2x4 pine.   Loading is easy with the small underbarrel attachment.  Capping, on the other hand was a little odd.  I only had Remington #10 caps.  They are a little longer than the #11's and would not load with a capper.  Nor would they load by hand at the loading gate.  I had to half cock the hammer and stick the cap in front of the hammer onto cones.  The #11's may work better.
Upon firing, every cap bucked off the cone and often jambed the cylinder rotation. 

[coyotejoe]

I had a similar experience with a Remington .31 pocket pistol, every cap was a cap jam.