On February 25,1836 Samuel Colt Patented his First U.S. Revolver

The First U.S. Colt Revolver Patent

__________________
NEVER GIVE UP YOUR GUN

The Colt patent covered principally a mechanism for revolving the cylinder to advance the next chamber by pulling back the hammer, i.e., mechanically interconnecting the hammer and the cylinder by means of a pawl, and then locking the cylinder in place with a bolt during firing. The basic principle of a revolving firearm using a cylinder with multiple chambers existed long before Sam Colt, and quite a few of them were made, most notably the Collier revolver which saw limited military use with the British Army. Except those earlier examples required that the cylinder be turned from chamber to chamber by hand as a separate operation. I don't know how the cylinder was locked into position on those earlier pieces, probably by a spring detent or possibly some separately-manipulated locking mechanism.

In any event, Colt did not invent the revolver, as many incorrectly believe, and that is not what his patent claims. Colt instead invented an "improvement" to an existing revolving firearm design, which is why the patent is titled the way it is.

Many, many patents are evolutionary not revolutionary. First to market items are often not nearly as successful as subsequent offerings that truly and fully solve the "problem" the original inventor was attempting to resolve.

This reminds me of the story of the Borchardt semi-auto pistol. Clumsy and unwieldy it was, but apparently this was the first mass produced pistol of its type.



Georg Luger worked on the project and later made the improved version that bore his name.

Borschardt never spoke to Luger again.

__________________
You're shy a few manners.