Bacon Navy Revolver
- Category
- Revolver
- Barrel
- 190 mm
- Weight, empty
- 850 g
- Introduced
- 1860
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Bacon Navy Revolver is a single-action, solid-frame American percussion-era cartridge revolver chambered for the .38 rimfire. Built by the Bacon Manufacturing Company of Norwich, Connecticut, it featured a six-shot cylinder, an octagonal barrel, and a sheathed spur trigger. As one of the earliest American cartridge revolvers offered in a man-stopping .38 caliber, it was considered ahead of its time, though Smith & Wesson's Rollin White patent severely limited its production. The 1st Model required cylinder removal to load and unload, while the rarer 2nd Model introduced an innovative swing-out cylinder to a large-frame cartridge revolver.
Thomas K. Bacon was among the early New England gunmakers chasing the cartridge-revolver future just as Smith & Wesson's Rollin White patent locked competitors out of bored-through cylinders. His Navy-sized .38 rimfire was a genuinely forward-looking design, but the patent fight strangled its production to under a thousand guns. Bacon drifted through various gun-trade jobs afterward and died in 1873.
Production was hampered by litigation over Smith & Wesson's Rollin White bored-through cylinder patent. Fewer than 1,000 were made across two models.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Bacon Manufacturing Company
- Category
- Revolver
- Country
- United States
- Status
- Discontinued
- Produced
- 1860 to 1863
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 190 mm
- Overall length
- 318 mm
- Weight, empty
- 850 g
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Single action
- Firing mechanism
- Hammer fired
- Trigger
- Single action
- Capacity
- 6
- Magazine
- Revolving cylinder
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Walnut
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 230 m/s
- Muzzle energy
- 257 J
- Effective range
- 25 m
- Maximum range
- 70 m
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Octagonal barrel
Six-shot fluted cylinder
Sheathed spur trigger
Two-piece walnut grips
Dovetailed front sight
2nd Model introduced swing-out cylinder
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 404 revolvers | 850 g | 1.05 kg | Lighter than about 70% |
| Overall lengthAmong 415 revolvers | 318 mm | 260 mm | Longer than about 80% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 431 revolvers | 190 mm | 127 mm | Longer than about 90% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 434 revolvers | 6 | 6 | Holds more rounds than about 60% |
Answers
Questions about the Bacon Navy Revolver
How much does the Bacon Navy Revolver weigh?
The Bacon Navy Revolver weighs 850 g (1.87 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Bacon Navy Revolver?
The Bacon Navy Revolver is chambered in .38 Rimfire.
How many rounds does the Bacon Navy Revolver hold?
The Bacon Navy Revolver holds 6 rounds, fed from a revolving cylinder.
How long is the Bacon Navy Revolver?
The Bacon Navy Revolver is 318 mm (12.5 in) long overall, with a 190 mm (7.48 in) barrel.
Who makes the Bacon Navy Revolver?
The Bacon Navy Revolver is made by Bacon Manufacturing Company (United States). It was designed by Thomas K. Bacon.
When was the Bacon Navy Revolver introduced?
The Bacon Navy Revolver was introduced in 1860 and discontinued in 1863.
How does the Bacon Navy Revolver operate?
The Bacon Navy Revolver uses a single action, and its firing mechanism is hammer fired.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
Provenance
Confidence in this record
55%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/bacon-navy-revolver' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "bacon-navy-revolver", "name": "Bacon Navy Revolver", "manufacturer": { "id": "bacon-manufacturing", "name": "Bacon Manufacturing Company", "countryCode": "US", "foundedYear": 1858, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-07-06 11:00:16", "updatedAt": "2026-07-06 11:00:16", "version": "a14dda7f2cf6a4b0e04b0e6f94de3df4a93efb2cc1bed85e8d3e002bd5a4ad5e" }, "category": { "id": "revolver", "name": "Revolver", "description": "Handguns with a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers" }, "country_of_origin": "US", "year_introduced": 1860, "barrel_length_mm": 190, "weight_empty_g": 850, "action_type": "single_action"}