Griswold & Gunnison Revolver (CSA)
- Category
- Revolver
- Barrel
- 191 mm
- Weight, empty
- 1.19 kg
- Introduced
- 1862
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Griswold & Gunnison revolver is a .36 caliber percussion (cap-and-ball) single-action, six-shot revolver manufactured for the Confederate States of America at Griswoldville, near Macon, Georgia, between 1862 and 1864. A close copy of the Colt Model 1851 Navy, it is distinguished from the original by a brass frame (substituting for scarce iron and steel) and a round barrel in place of Colt's octagonal one. The cylinder and barrel were forged from twisted iron, which gives surviving examples their characteristic spiral 'twist' grain. The revolver is loaded from the front of the cylinder with loose powder, a .375-inch lead ball seated by the under-barrel loading lever, and a percussion cap fitted to each nipple; it is manually cocked for each shot. With roughly 3,700 produced, the Griswold & Gunnison was the most numerous of all Confederate-made revolvers and a mainstay sidearm for Southern cavalry and officers during the American Civil War.
Samuel Griswold was a Connecticut Yankee who made his fortune building cotton gins in the Deep South and erected an entire company town, Griswoldville, on 4,000 Georgia acres - where his revolvers were largely built by enslaved laborers. Production stopped abruptly on November 20, 1864, when the 9th Michigan Volunteer Cavalry under Capt. Frederick Ladd put the town to the torch, making Griswoldville the first town burned in Sherman's March to the Sea.
The factory was a partnership between Samuel Griswold, a Connecticut-born cotton-gin manufacturer who built the company town of Griswoldville on some 4,000 acres, and Arvin Nye Gunnison. Much of the work was performed by enslaved laborers. Muzzle velocity and energy figures are modern chronograph-derived estimates for .36 cap-and-ball loads, not period data, and empty weight is approximate, drawn from auction descriptions and reproduction specifications. The 7-groove rifling is inferred from the Colt-1851-Navy pattern the gun copies rather than independently confirmed.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Griswold & Gunnison
- Category
- Revolver
- Country
- United States
- Status
- Out of production
- Produced
- 1862 to 1864
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 191 mm
- Overall length
- 333 mm
- Weight, empty
- 1.19 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Single action
- Firing mechanism
- Single action
- Trigger
- Single action
- Capacity
- 6
- Magazine
- Revolving cylinder
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Brass
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Walnut
- Finish
- Iron in the white
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 210 m/s
- Muzzle energy
- 115 J
- Effective range
- 45 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.
Brass frame
Round barrel- Colt 1851 navy copy
Twisted iron cylinder
Open top frame
Six shot cylinder
Loading lever
Single action percussion
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 27 .36 Caliber Percussion (Cap and Ball) revolvers | 1.19 kg | 1.13 kg | Heavier than about 80% |
| Overall lengthAmong 27 .36 Caliber Percussion (Cap and Ball) revolvers | 333 mm | 330 mm | Longer than about 70% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 28 .36 Caliber Percussion (Cap and Ball) revolvers | 191 mm | 183 mm | Longer than about 90% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 29 .36 Caliber Percussion (Cap and Ball) revolvers | 6 | 6 | Holds more rounds than about 60% |
Answers
Questions about the Griswold & Gunnison Revolver (CSA)
How much does the Griswold & Gunnison Revolver (CSA) weigh?
The Griswold & Gunnison Revolver (CSA) weighs 1.19 kg (2.62 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Griswold & Gunnison Revolver (CSA)?
The Griswold & Gunnison Revolver (CSA) is chambered in .36 Caliber Percussion (Cap and Ball).
How many rounds does the Griswold & Gunnison Revolver (CSA) hold?
The Griswold & Gunnison Revolver (CSA) holds 6 rounds, fed from a revolving cylinder.
How long is the Griswold & Gunnison Revolver (CSA)?
The Griswold & Gunnison Revolver (CSA) is 333 mm (13.1 in) long overall, with a 191 mm (7.52 in) barrel.
Who makes the Griswold & Gunnison Revolver (CSA)?
The Griswold & Gunnison Revolver (CSA) is made by Griswold & Gunnison (United States). It was designed by Samuel Griswold.
When was the Griswold & Gunnison Revolver (CSA) introduced?
The Griswold & Gunnison Revolver (CSA) was introduced in 1862 and discontinued in 1864.
How does the Griswold & Gunnison Revolver (CSA) operate?
The Griswold & Gunnison Revolver (CSA) uses a single action, and its firing mechanism is single action.
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
- Confederate States Army
- 1862
Provenance
Confidence in this record
62%
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/griswold-gunnison' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "griswold-gunnison", "name": "Griswold & Gunnison Revolver (CSA)", "manufacturer": { "id": "griswold-gunnison", "name": "Griswold & Gunnison", "countryCode": "US", "foundedYear": 1862, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-06-21 23:00:46", "updatedAt": "2026-06-21 23:00:46", "version": "37e420fbce37bd012adcbb9eb9a2fbb72d88a683d16e4dc56305388e2a02d23d" }, "category": { "id": "revolver", "name": "Revolver", "description": "Handguns with a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers" }, "country_of_origin": "US", "year_introduced": 1862, "barrel_length_mm": 191, "weight_empty_g": 1190, "action_type": "single_action"}