Lets start with a brief history of the 1836 Colt Paterson Percussion
Revolver from the Internet -
The Colt Paterson was
the first commercial repeating firearm employing a revolving cylinder with
multiple chambers aligned with a single, stationary barrel. Its
design was patented by Samuel Colt on
February 25, 1836, in the United States, France, and England, and it
derived its name from being produced in Paterson, New Jersey.
Initially this 5-shot revolver was produced in .28 caliber, with a
.36 caliber model following a year later. As originally designed and
produced, no loading lever was included with the revolver; a user had to
disassemble the revolver partially to re-load it. Starting in 1839,
however, a reloading lever and a capping window were incorporated into
the design, allowing reloading without requiring partial disassembly of
the revolver. This loading lever and capping window design change was
also incorporated after the fact into most Colt Paterson revolvers that
had been produced from 1836 until 1839. Unlike later revolvers, a
folding trigger was
incorporated into the Colt Paterson. The trigger became visible only
upon cocking the hammer.
A subsequent patent renewal in 1849, and aggressive litigation against
infringements, gave Colt a domestic monopoly on
revolver development until the middle 1850s ............
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A video of the 1836 Colt Paterson Revolver -
A brief history of the 1847 Colt Walker Percussion Revolver from the Internet - The Colt Walker sometimes known as the Walker Colt
was a single-action revolver with a revolving cylinder holding six charges of black powder behind six bullets (typically .44 caliber lead balls). It was designed
in 1846 as a collaboration between Captain
Samuel Hamilton Walker and American firearms inventor Samuel Colt.
The 1847 Colt Walker was the largest and most powerful black powder
repeating handgun ever made. It was created in the mid-1840s in a
collaboration between Texas Ranger Captain Samuel Hamilton Walker
(1817–47) and American firearms inventor Samuel Colt (1814–62), building
upon the earlier Colt Paterson design. Walker wanted a handgun that was
extremely powerful at close range. Samuel Walker carried two of his namesake revolvers in the
Mexican American War. He was
killed in battle the same year his famous handgun was invented, 1847,
shortly after he had received them. Only 1100 of these guns were
originally made, 1000 as part of a military contract and an additional
100 for the civilian market, making original Colt Walker revolvers
extremely rare and expensive to acquire. On October 9, 2008, one
specimen that had been handed down from a Mexican War veteran was sold
at auction for US$920,000.
The
Republic of Texas had been the major purchaser of the early Paterson
Holster Pistol (No. 5 model), a five shot cal .36 revolver, and Samuel
Walker became familiar with it during his service as a Texas Ranger. In
1847, Walker was engaged in the Mexican-American War as a captain in the
United States Mounted Rifles. He approached Colt, requesting a large
revolver to replace the single-shot Model 1842 Percussion Pistols then
in use. The desired .44-.45 caliber revolver would be carried in saddle
mounted holsters and would be large enough to dispatch horses as well as
enemy soldiers. The Colt Walker was used in the Mexican-American War and
on the Texas frontier ...............
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A video of the 1847 Colt Walker Revolver -
A brief history of the 1848 Colt 'Dragoon' Percussion Revolver from the Internet - The Colt Model 1848 Percussion Army Revolver is a .44 caliber revolver designed by Samuel Colt for the U.S. Army's Regiment of Mounted Rifles. The revolver was also issued to
the Army's Dragoon Regiments. This revolver was designed as a solution to numerous problems
encountered with the Colt Walker.
Although it was introduced after the Mexican–American War, it became popular among civilians during the 1850s and 1860s, and was also used
during the American Civil War.
The Colt Dragoon Revolver was produced with several variations between
1847 and 1860, when the Colt Model 1860 revolver replaced it. All the
improvements in design of Colt revolvers were applied to the Dragoons as
well to the smaller models of Colt revolvers. Total production of Colt
Dragoons including the 1,100 Walkers, from 1847 to 1860: 19,800; plus
750 Dragoons in a separate number range for the British market. For
collectors, there are three different types with one model.
Between the Walker and the First model Dragoon, around 240 improved models were produced, barrel length 7 1/2 inch, cylinder 2 3/16 inch. Their general appearance was to that of the production Dragoon models. These were produced between late in 1847 and 1848, serial number range approximately 1100 (the last civilian Walker) through about 1340 (the first Dragoon First Model). These are sometimes called "Transition Walker" revolvers, and were made in two frame variations. The earlier pattern was a Walker carry-over with a cut-out in the back to accommodate the round contour of the grips and the second was straight-backed. Another distinctive detail were the very slender "Slim Jim" grips. Note: Due to serial number gaps between the "Transition" model and the First Dragoon, of which Colt later "backfilled", as well as the details of the production and delivery of the Second Government Contract, The "fluck Dragoon" was erroneously derived ....... read more
Check out Hickok 45's review on firing and loading the 1848 Colt Dragoon Percussion Revolver -