...accurate enough to get job done at realistic range. Those heavy Colt "hog legs" benefit from some additional support, which Colt covered in black powder era with detachable shoulder stock. On plus side, they make great clubs when empty...
From Author and Lecturer James M. Volo https://www.quora.com/profile/James-M-Volo From the very beginning Old West revolvers were known to be capable of good accuracy. Compared to later models of a similar design the 1836 Paterson, the first commercial repeating firearm employing a revolving cylinder with multiple chambers aligned with a single, stationary barrel, while ergonomically flawed, included a rifled barrel suggesting that Colt intended the weapon to be accurate. In a recent controlled experiment a Colt Model 1851, like the ones used by Wild Bill Hickok, proved capable of putting three .36 caliber bullets in a 3 inch group at 25 yards. Both accuracy (hitting the target) and precision (grouping the shots) should be the goal of any shooter. Tests conducted by the U S Army with handguns in 1876 and again in 1898 provided surprising indications of the accuracy of antique weapons. The .45 caliber Colt Single Action Army revolver turned in average groups of 3.1 inches at 50 yards, and in the later trials a Colt Peacemaker shot groups of 5.3 inches at 50 yards and 8.3 inches at 100 yards. A Colt Model 1873 Single Action Army, like the ones used by Doc Holliday, Jesse James, and Billy the Kid, placed three rounds in a 3.5-inch group. A Colt Model 1860 Army percussion revolver, common in the Civil War, shot a three round 5-inch group. These results are very impressive, particularly in view of the age of the guns. These period observations and recent tests make it readily apparent that frontier handguns were both precisely made and capable of real accuracy. The average velocities measured, however, had deviations from the mean that where as large as 100 fps. This last factor may have been due in large part to differences in powder compression.
