Nick Ketchum

Colt’s Road to the Repeating Revolver and

the Effects its Improvements had on

Society

Diagram

Background information on Samuel Colt up to making his first revolver

Samuel Colt was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1814.

Sent into the Navy in 1831, where he got his idea for the repeating revolver after noticing the ship’s wheel locking into position.

The original idea was that the barrels would rotate, instead of a single barrel with a rotating cylinder.

In 1832-1835 he worked on making a working model of the weapon so he could obtain the U.S. patent.

Patent information1835 the British

patent was granted.

1836 the U.S. patent was granted.

Colt’s patents gave him the monopoly on cap-and-ball handguns until 1857.

The same year Colt got his American patent, he raised 300,000 dollars, seven million by todays standards, and tried starting his Patent Arms Manufacturing Company in Paterson, New Jersey.

Due to his product breaking upon firing, the panics of 1837 and 1839, and lack of demand, his company declared bankruptcy in 1842.

Colt remained adamant that this mishap was a good learning experience and would help him in the future.

Colt’s big business blunder

How the “six-shooter” became the iconic weapon of the West.

Before Colt’s company closed in 1842, Colt sold his revolver to army officers fighting the Seminole Indians and Mexicans.

The Texas Rangers praised the Colt and it became the weapon of choice.

The rangers were losing battles to the Comanche and Apache tribes, who had grown accustom to the single-shot, Kentucky-type rifles, as those rifles almost always needed to be reloaded off horse back.

The Indians would draw out their fire then ride in and slaughter the gunmen as they reloaded.

The rangers needed a weapon that was light, accurate, easily reloaded on horseback, and fired in rapid succession at multiple targets.

Why the Rangers chose the Colt

Indian lore on the ColtThe Indians called Colt’s

revolver “The Spirit Gun”.

Its ability to release bullets in rapid succession and easy use caused the tribes to fear and admire it.

This title would also go to the Winchester repeating rifle upon its introduction into Western society

Colt’s next improvement Captain Samuel Walker of the

Texas Rangers was a regular user of Colt’s revolver and thought it was a good weapon, but noticed shortcomings the weapon had.

Walker then decides to write Colt about the weapons flaws and his admiration for it.

Colt takes Walker’s changes to the drawing board and produces his next model

Colt named it the Walker model after the man who suggested the improvements

Refurbished Walker Colt

Rollin White, one of Colt’s workers who had quit, made the modern model for cartridge based revolvers, and obtained his patent on April 3, 1855.

White went to Colt and offered to sell him the design, but colt refused him, and decided to wait to make cartridge based revolvers when the patent ran out in 1869.

Rollin then goes to Horace Smith & Daniel Wesson, who accepted White’s offer.

Remington then struck a deal with Smith & Wesson to try and save itself from bankruptcy after overbuilding its factories during the Civil War.

Colt’s next mistake

Colt’s refusal saved Remington from declaring bankruptcy, and gave Smith & Wesson a firm standing on the market.

The effects of Colt’s refusal

Colt died in 1862.His company stayed afloat and went on to

create the most popular Colt model of the West, the Single-Action Army Model, otherwise known as the Peacemaker.

The last Colt improvement

The Peacemaker

Anderson, Jervis. "The Handgun: Romance and Tragedy." Anderson, Jervis. Guns in American Life. New York: Random House, Inc., 1984. 50-54.

Silva, Lee A. Sam Colt's Big Buisness Blunder was a Boon to Other Gunmakers. Leesburg, February 2013. Document.

Smith, Scott S. "Colt's Revolving Chamber Fired Up Gun Afficionados." 31 March 2011. EBSCOhost. 23 November 2013.

Willkins, Frederick. The Paterson Colts in Texas. Leesburg, August 1998. Document. 23 November 2013.

 

Works Cited