FEATURED ESSAYS 1. The Colt Six-Shooter 2. Colt Revolver: Inspiration From A... 3. Colt: A Man And His Guns 4. Weapons 5. Samuel Colt 6. Antov Chekhov's "Misery": All Gra... 7. Shane: No Ordinary Man And His Gu... 8. Civil War - The Cavalry During Th... 9. How The Availability Of The Weapo... 10. Oedipus Rex 3 11. Oedipus Rex 12. Lewis And Clark Across Idaho 13. Lewis And Clark 14. East Of Eden

The Colt Six-Shooter


     The colt six shooter will always be a legend to Texas. Whether you
know it as an accurate, cowboy, Texas Ranger, gun-slinging, out West,
corral gun, or as a little protection, the colt  will never be forgotten in
Texas.

     Sam Colt is known as the inventor of the first revolving firearm.
Sam's mother died when he was six and his father owned a silk mill in Ware,
Massachusetts. When Sam 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. 
Science, adventures of an active life, and mechanics were all the favorite
passions of young Samuel Colt.

     During 1830 - 1831, Sam Colt was abroad at sea.  It was during these
years that Samuel 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,  Sam must have seen other
revolving firearms in London or  India.  Sam carved a wooden model of his
ideal gun while he was at sea.  None of what Sam 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 Sam 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 Sam's father and Mr. Ellsworth
were greatly impressed by the model.   They encouraged Sam to file for a
patent for his revolving firearm.

     On February of the 25, in the year 1835, the first United States
patent was granted for a colt revolver. The patent that Samuel 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 devised an
alternative means of loading the gun - removing the barrel and cylinder,
and either switching an empty cylinder for a loaded one or using the axis
pin as a ramrod. This gun was nicknamed the "Baby Dragoon" because it
resembled the bigger Dragoon.  The pocket-sized pistols had a larger span
of appeal to the public.  Even Sam Houston of Texas ordered a Baby Dragoon
from his friend Sam Colt.

       Houston told Colt, "(If) you have a small pistol, or will soon have
one made of choice quality, I wish you to bring it with you as I wish to
purchase one.  I did not know (of them) until a few days since-  I then saw
one for the first time and was greatly pleased with it."  The type seen be
Houston was an actual Baby Dragoon with a square-back trigger guard and a
Texas Ranger scene on the cylinder.  This particular scene was of a Texas
Ranger and an Indian in a fight scene.

       The colt revolver served a great purpose for the Texas Rangers. 
This pocket-sized gun could be casually carried around and easily reloaded.
The beauty of the gun was its six consecutive shots and its precise
accuracy.   The Texas Rangers and other Texas gunslingers know  Colt as the
"cream of the crop" in gun making, supreme revolving techniques and great
precision make Colt the number one gun for Texans.



Bibliography:

1. The Handbook of Texas, p 382
    The Texas Historical Association

2. Colt : An American Legend, all pages
    Wilson Publishings ; Robert Lawrence Wilson

3. How It Works, p 3240
    H.S. Stuttman Inc.