Called "The Crowning Achievement" both aesthetically and mechanically the 1861 Navy is one of the finest most well-balanced and beautifully designed revolvers ever built. Very few 1861 revolvers were ever produced and although a fair number of Civil War officers chose this model there are very few left today. Factors including the fire at the Colt Factory in 1864 which destroyed most of the handgun facility steady sales of the popular 1851 Navy surplus arms from the ending of the Civil War and the ever-increasing popularity and availability of the metallic cartridge all helped to limit the production of the 1861 Navy.