HISTORIC ARMS
S muel Colt
diedduring the
Civil ar,but hiscompany
continued
to innovate and gr
ow thanks to the
manytalentedmen
withwhomhehad
surrounded himself.
But severalother
things became apparent
by the 1860s.
The expiration of Colt’
s main revolver
patent in^1857 allowed
competitors to
challengehissupremacy
inthemarket,
andthenewmetallic
cartridgeammu-
nition would soon mak
e cap-and-ball
pistolsobsolete.Unfortunately,
Coltdid
not own Rollin White’s
patent for the
bored-through cylinder,
and it didn’t
expire until 1869. Insignificant
in the
cap-and-ballera, it w
asthe key to an
efficientmetallic-cartridg
erevolver.
Coltbeganconverting
itspercussion
.36-and.44-caliberguns
intowhatthe
companycalledbreech-loading
metallic-
cartridge revolvers,
as well as eco-
nomicallymanufacturing
newcartridge
gunsfromanexisting
stockofadapted
percussion parts. The
main m
conversionatthefactory
were
oped by C.B. Richards
and
WilliamMasonandpa
tented
in^1871 and1872.From
then
tion.
ingwiththetradition.
Many
Lining ockets
Smallpocketrevolvers
wer
popularproductsinthe
pe
In^187 0, the compan
y in
first metallic-cartridge
.22-caliberBreech-Loading
SevenShot
RevolvingPistolOldLine
orOpenFrame
SingleAction.22,firing
a27-grainLong
A brief history
of the
company’s
metallic-cartr
idge gun
By FRANK JARDIM
68 GUNSOFTHEOLDWEST
FALL 2019
COLT
AFTER
COLT
S. COLT
