Colt: A Man And His Guns

Colt: A Man and His Guns


      The Colt six shooter will always be a legend to many fighting men.

Whether you know it as an accurate, cowboy, Texas Ranger, gun-slinging, out West,

corral gun, or as a little protection, the Peacemaker by Samuel Colt  and Samuel

Colt will never be forgotten.


   Samuel Colt is known as the inventor of the first revolving firearm. Colt was

born in 1814 to a family were money was not the pressing issue.  His father ,

Christopher, was a man that owned his own silk mill in the town where Colt was

born, Hartford, Connecticut. Colt's mother died when he was six and his father's

business started to fail. When Colt Colt was seven, he was fascinated by guns.

He took apart his father's gun in a field and was able to successfully rebuild

it.  At the age of ten Colt was an apprentice in his fathers mill, mostly dying

clothes. Science, adventures of an active life, and mechanics were all the

favorite passions of young  Colt. The adventures eventually led Colt into

trouble.  At the age of seventeen Colt was expelled form a preparatory school in

Amherst, MA.


      During the years of 1830 - 1831 Colt voyaged to India..  It was during

these years that Colt first conceived the idea of a revolving firearm.  Some

think it may have come from watching the revolving wheel of the ship, turning

and locking.  While on board ship,  Colt must have seen other revolving firearms

in London or  India.  He carved a wooden model of his ideal gun while he was at

sea.  None of what Colt may have previously seen on revolving guns could have

led to his invention. His ideas were not copied from any source, even though the

revolving idea was not unique.


      When Colt arrived  home from sea, he showed  the  wooden model to his

father and a family friend.  This friend was Henry Ellsworth, Commissioner of

the United States Patent Office. Both Colt's father and Mr. Ellsworth were

greatly impressed by the model.   They encouraged Colt to file for a patent for

his revolving firearm. In the year 1831 Colt hired a man to create the first

working model.  In 1836 Colt began the production of the first revolver after

his petition for the patent. Between these years Colt presented lectures on

chemistry and did practical demonstrations of laughing gas.


      On February of the 25, in the year 1835, the first United States patent

was granted for Colt revolver. The patent that Colt received covered eight basic

features.  First, the application of caps at the end of the gun cylinder.

Second, the application of a partition between the caps, as well as other basic

ideas. The other areas of the patent cover the application of certain parts of

the gun,  the principle of locking and turning the cylinder , and all of the

basic revolver parts.


      In 1848, the new pocket model revolver was introduced. Colt devisThis is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Electronic References. Please register below now!


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