The History of Technology of the Colt Revolver - Essay Example

HIST 285-003 Faris Darwesh The History of Technology of the Colt Revolver Contents Contents 2 Introduction 3 Discussion 3 The Change it brought to military world and its inventor 3 Role it played in expansion of America westward 4 Biography of Samuel Colt 5 Affect of technology of the gun on tide of wars 7 Conclusion 8 References 9 Introduction A key instrument in the settlement of American west was the prevalence of the fire arms. They were part of a larger technological revolution which helped in the transformation of a United States from a nation primarily based on agriculture to a nation that could be said as the leader in terms of industrial and military power. The expertise in the manufacturing of fire arms was achieved at a time when western expansion was at its peak. In the last 40 years more than 2 million people came into west and most of them depended on fire arms in some way or the other. Amongst the two distinguished firearms that helped in conquering the west are the 1873 model Winchister rifle and colt single action army model revolver. The Colt revolver revolutionized the entire firearms industry and how was war going to be fought on frontier from that time. The following pages illustrates the history of the revolver, the history of its inventor and how the revolver changed the way in which wars would be fought for ever. Discussion The Change it brought to military world and its inventor Prior the invention of the colt revolver the guns at that time required to be reloaded after every single shot was fired. This resulted in loss of plenty of lives in wars. The revolver that had a mechanically rotating cylinder so that it would not require to be reloaded after every single shot was fired was the goal of the gunsmiths for several centuries. It was in the year 1831 that 16 year old Samuel Colt made the first prototype model of a revolver with a mechanical cylinder. The Colt revolver was the fire arm that used a revolving cylinder and thus it need not require reloading after every single shot was fired1. The Samuel Colt worked with several gunsmiths in order to manufacture the prototype of the gun. The invention by Colt was patented over the course of several months in the year 1935 and 1936. The revolver mechanism that was designed by Colt is considered in some sense to more of an innovation than invention. The mechanism was originally used in muskets and rifles and was patented by a Boston based inventor named Elisha Collier. The mechanism was referred to as revolving flintlock. Colt’s mechanism which was an improved version of the earlier one developed by Elisha was patented by him in the year 1835 in UK. The American patent for the same was received by Colt was developed in the year 1836. The company started by Samuel Colt thus started manufacturing the revolver through the manufacturing facility that was based in Paterson in New Jersey. The ability of the revolver in firing 6 shots without the need for reloading was a crucial advantage to the soldiers and settlers located in the frontier regions of the country. Mr. Samuel Colt and his invention became famous with the military and Colt developed a huge fortune eventually. Another reason which made Colt famous was the manufacturing process. Colt made the manufacturing process very scientific and introduced the concept of assembly line. He made his guns with interchangeable parts. Through these Colt earned a name for himself and America as a country. Role it played in expansion of America westward Colt’s revolver is recognized as the most successful revolver of all time. It was very popular with the western pioneers. This is the reason for which it is sometimes said to as the gun which helped in winning the west. The use of the revolver by the western entertainers further solidified its position in the region. In the year 1844 James K Polk was elected as the president. The president planned to expand westwards in to the area of Texas and other regions or territories. Colt saw this as a new opportunity and went to the U.S. war department in order to submit a sample of his advanced pistol2. Then in the year 1846 at the time of the Mexican war Colt was visited by Captain Samuel H Walker. Together the Captain and Colt collaborated on a design of the revolver. The new machine was an improved version of the earlier one. General Zachary Taylor finally placed the order for the delivery of 1000 revolver to the army which was then delivered by the company. In the later period of 1850s tension began to rise in between the Northern and Southern parts. This would ultimately lead to Civil war in the United States. Colt had customers in the south for a long time and used to supply guns to them. However, this changed with the declaration of the Civil war in 1861. With the declaration of war Colt turned his attention to supplying guns exclusively to the Union Army. It was at this time that the Colt’s firearm manufacturing company was operating in its full capacity and employed over 1000 people in Hartford factory3. This led to the fact that Colt became one of the wealthiest men in the Unites States. Colt owned a mansion named Armsmear. The popularity of the new revolver was due to the fact that it could hold six bullets at a time and the gun did not require to be reloaded after every shot was fired. This led to the fact that for the participant to the war from the side using the new revolver would have far lesser level of death. Biography of Samuel Colt Samuel Colt was born to Christopher Colt and Sarah in Hartford, Connecticut in the year 1914. As a young boy Colt used to visit the mill of his father in order see how mechanical things worked. Colt used to dismantle his father’s firearms in order to see how they actually worked in practice. When he was of 16 years of age, he was enrolled at the Amherst Academy in Massachusetts so that he could study the subject of navigation. However, he was soon expelled from his school4. To make it possible for the young Colt to study navigation firsthand the boy was sent to Corvo. During his stint onboard the ship the boy became fascinated with the turning and rotational movement of the wheel of the ship. The learning that he gained from the observation of the ship wheel was applied by him in the design of the carved six barrel cylinder out of wood. After returning from his stint at the ship Colt embarked on a tour of North America for 2 years. In these two years he entertained and also educated crowd on nitrous oxide. The money that he gained was used by him in hiring gunsmiths to design the prototype of his revolver. In the year 1855 following defeats in opening the business first time Colt opened a factory which was at that time the largest private armament factory. Colt used advanced manufacturing techniques in his factory. Some of the techniques that he used are use of assembly lines, interchangeable parts and a production line that was organized. By the year 1856 the per day production capacity for the company was 150 weapons. Colt was also able to promote the revolver that was designed by him so well that it perhaps became the best known firearm in the whole world. He became one of the wealthiest men in America and died in the year 1862. Affect of technology of the gun on tide of wars Firearms acted as the primary tool to be used in the activities of hunting and defending one’s own self in the American frontier5. However in the initial period their efficiency was seriously constrained due to the fact that these guns had to be reloaded after each and every bullet was fired. All these changed with the introduction of multiple shot colt revolver. The introduction of the multiple shot colt revolver helped the hunters and the settlers with a distinctive competitive advantage. Gunsmiths have long tried to manufacture a gun that would not require reloading. Thus the manufacturing of the Colt revolver was a major step in the history of the war. It forever changed the way in which wars would be fought in the future. The Manufacturing of the gun by the company of Colt ended in the fact that United States became a major exporter of weapons and came to be known as a major industrial country rather than an agrarian country. With the expansion of America westward and especially with the start of Mexican war the company had to supply guns to the United States army. Colt was successfully able to eliminate the problems that were associated with the earlier models of guns that the company manufactured. Other important thing that Colt did was to manufacture the guns with interchangeable parts. The guns were manufactured using the most modern machinery. These twin facts of led to the success of the business. The invention or the innovation of the gun and its successful marketing led to the fact that the way in which wars would be fought changed forever. It also made Samuel Colt one of the wealthiest people in the United States. The success of the revolver led colt to incorporate Colt’s Patent fire arm manufacturing company in the year 1855. Conclusion The essay has focused on the Colt revolver. The colt revolver is one of the few weapons in the world. The arrival and invention of the colt revolver changed the history of war. For America the impact of invention was more profound. It helped America in conquering the west. The major advantage of Colt over its predecessors lies in the fact that unlike other guns Colt did not require to be reloaded after every single bullet was fired. The invention helped in propelling Samuel Colt into one of the wealthiest man in America. Colt not only invented the gun but also brought new methods of production which became the model for other companies to follow. It also helped America in the fact that the country became one of the largest exporters of weaponry in the world. America was transformed from an isolated agriculture based industry to an industrial powerhouse. Samuel Colt more than anything also changed the way in which wars would be fought in the future. Colt was able to effectively promote his gun so that it became of one the best known gun in the world. References Bascunan, Rodrigo, and Christian Pearce. Enter the babylon system: unpacking gun culture from samuel colt to 50 cent. Ottawa: Random House of Canada. 2010. Richardson, Jeffrey. Colt: The revolver of the American west. Universe Publishing. 2013. Sweeney, Patrick. Gunsmithing - Pistols & Revolvers. lola: Krause Publications. 2004. Taffin, John. The gun digest book of the .44. lola: Gun Digest Books. 2006. Wyckoff, Edwin Brit. The Man behind the Gun: Samuel Colt and His Revolver. IL: Enslow Publishers, Inc. 2010. Read More