Hi Brendan,
Thanks for the note again....
I am not a great source of info on small arms and especially for a period prior to the first Sudan War
As my nick name gives away I am more keen on " pistols bigger and more vociferous cousins" that is the Artlliery Arm and the selfloading and mechanically fed small sisters Maxim/Nordenfeldt and Gatling....These are the pieces of ordinance I love
.
So my reference literature for the Crimea War is a bit limited to the below list of titles that I looked up for guidance. The good part is that I am a vivid reader of the Victorian Age Empire Building and Armies/Campaign s and Litttle Wars so some data does overlap....
When this week I went over to check the Colt´s presence in Crimea I went to these titles,and found a wealth of literature on American Civil War and the Wild West etc, but to the extent of your note, yes I could identify a quick note that the Royal Navy had them around 1853 ( I would suspect so, at the time the Navy was in certain aspects more open to new weapons and ones that could assist in repelling enemy boarding parties reason why the Colt found its way into their arsenals as well as the Gatling, Nordenfelts and Maxims faster than in the Army....And yes Navy Model percussion revolvers were manufactured under license in London between 1853-57...and the funny thing is that they were muzzzle - loaders only going to breech -loaders in the 1860s.The reference being that they where privately bought by officers wanting to pack some additional power albiet a caliber .36 then .... But not much on Line Regiments before the adoption of theTranter and Webley...More reference is made to the Robert Adam´s revolver 1851 and Tranter´s Army revolver 1879 with a caliber of .44 and the Webley Army Revolver 1892 model packing initially a .38 caliber and then later around 1880s a great and now know to us all .45 caliber, but by then the Crimea was long gone....
So the titles I used and you asked for were:
(1) Guns of the Empire - Firearms of the British Soldier 1837-1987 - George Markham - Arms and Armour Press - 1990
(2) Osprey Men At Arms Series #196 - The British Army on Campaign 1816-1902 (2) - The Crimea 1854-1856 - Michael Barthrop - Osprey - 1987
(3) The World´s Great Guns - Frederick Wilkson - Spring Books -1997
(4) The Thin Red Line - Uniforms of the British Army between 1751 & 1914- D.S.V.B.K.Fosten - Windrow & Greene - London - 1992
(5) Into the Valley of Death - The British Cavalry Division at Balacava 1854 - John & Boris Mollo - Windrow & Greene - London - 1991
(6) British Military Uniforms - From Contemporary Pictures - Henry VII to present day - W.Y.Carman - Spring Books - 1957
(7) A History of the Regiments & Uniforms of the British Army - Major R.M.Barnes - Sphere Books Limited - 1972
(8) Military Uniforms of Britain & Empire - Major R.M.Barnes - Sphere Books Limited - 1972
(9) The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Fire Arms -Ian Hogg - Newnes books - 1983
(10) Military Small Arms - 300 Years of Soldiers´Firearms - Graham Smith and Ian Hogg - Salamander Book - 1994
(11) The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the 19th Century Firearms - Major F.Myatt MC - Salamander Books - 1979
(12) Blanford Encyclopaedia in Colour - Infantry Uniforms 1742-1855 - Robert and Christopher Wilkinson - Latham - Blanford - 1969
(13) Blanford Encyclopaedia in Colour - Infantry Uniforms 1855 - 1939 - Robert and Christopher Wilkinson - Latham - Blanford - 1970
Once again thanks for the additional info....need to check wikepedea more frequently
:salute::
Cheers
Artillery_Crazy
What "Osprey Collections and some of the other reference books" did you consult with?
Regards,
Brendan