"Abe Lincoln may have freed all men, but Sam Colt made them equal".
Popular post-American Civil War slogan
Samuel Colt (1814-1862) produced the first revolver capable of firing five or six times without reloading. It was equipped with a cylinder containing chambers into which bullets were loaded. The cylinder would revolve with each cock of the hammer, enabling each chamber to. lock into position behind the barrel and discharge the bullet with a pull of the trigger.
In anticipation of demand for the revolver, Colt opened a manufacturing plant, but poor sales forced its closure. Co-It's fortunes changed after favorable reports from U.S. troops fighting in Florida and Texas instigated a government order for 1,000 pistols. With the assistance of Eli Whitney Jr., Colt opened the world's biggest armory in Hartford, Connecticut, developing a production line of handguns and interchangeable parts. By 1856 the company was gaining a reputation around the world for exceptional quality and workmanship, and Colt soon became one of the wealthiest businessmen in the United States.
Other companies, such as Smith & Wesson, emerged with their own revolver designs to challenge Colt's market monopoly. In 1873 Colt manufacturers responded with the six-shot, single-action, .45-caliber Peacemaker model, which proved immensely popular in the American "Wild West."
Further innovations in firearms witnessed the double-action revolver, which allowed a pistol to be fired with a simple pull of the trigger, and swing-out cylinders for easy loading. The revolver continued to be the weapon of choice for the military until the emergence of the semiautomatic pistol at the turn of the twentieth century.
