Very popular during the Civil War, the .44 caliber Colt saw widespread use following the Civil War. Troops stationed at Fort Davis in the late 1860s and early 1870s may have been armed with this percussion-capped, paper or linen cartridge, six shooter. The 1860 Colt, slow to load because it required loading with a loading lever, was replaced with the .45 caliber Model 1873 Colt, which used metallic cartridges.