Colt Model 1848 (Baby Dragoon)

History of the 1848 Colt Model (Little Dragoons)

The success of Colt's Model 1848 "Dragonoon" series (described in a separate entry) prompted Samuel Colt to design a more compact, lighter and more civilian derivative. This became the Model 1848 "Baby Dragoon", with the same general shape and configuration as the full-size Dragoon, with a redesigned front end to manage octagonal barrel assemblies of 3", 4", 5" or 6" lengths. The chamber retains the same primed drive system, now a five-shot, .31 caliber design. (The original Dragoon was .44 caliber). Baby Dragoons feature the square-backed trigger ring seen in the Dragon First and Second models, a hammer-mounted straight stab trigger and a downward curved pistol grip.

From 1848 to 1850, 15,500 Little Dragoons were produced, and despite their civilian design elements, they served during the American Civil War as warfare required all types of small arms.

Baby Dragoon leads a line of compact light pistols for the civilian market under the Colt brand.

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