3 ms·

I can't believe they didn't mention their big US navy contract! Cartridged rounds are a big plus at sea!

• Sanddancer 12y ago
  I'm thinking that this is an "application" from prior to that contract, hence discussing the endorsement of the Texas Rangers. So a product that is pretty much done that could use a bit of help with marketing and polish, such as moving away from the squareback trigger guard the early models had.
• mcguire 12y ago
  Colt (and Remington, and other early revolvers) had a muzzle-loaded, cap-lock design for guns up until after the US Civil War, IIRC. (Also, IIRC, I don't think paper cartridges were ever a big thing for revolvers. Colt's early guns removed the cylinder to reload, which meant you could theoretically carry spare loaded cylinders; Remington guns had a built-in loading lever.) In fact, "In 1852 an employee of Colt's, Rollin White, came up with the idea of having the revolver cylinder bored through to accept metallic cartridges. He took this idea to Colt who flatly rejected it and ended up firing White within a few years.[18] Colt historian RL Wilson has described this as the major blunder of Sam Colt's professional life.[19] Rollin White left Colt's in December 1854 and registered a patent on April 3, 1855 in Hartford, Connecticut, as patent number 12,648: Improvement in Repeating Fire-arms.[20] On November 17, 1856 White signed an agreement with Smith & Wesson for the exclusive use of his patent. The contract stipulated that White would be paid 25 cents for every revolver, but that it was up to him to defend his patent against infringement as opposed to Smith & Wesson.[21]" ...(from Wikipedia) with the result that patent licensing meant that Colt couldn't make or convert metallic cartridge guns until well after the Civil War (IIRC).