GUNS Magazine December 1958 - Jeffersonian

valve system, which allowed him to send ajet of air und er sudden pr essur e into apowder charge. Thou gh the mod el whichsurvives is only partly complete, the ideamust have work ed. since Sam dr ew u p apatent and a caveat describing his design.Th e gun used a center hamm er with anexposed cocking spur. Th e hamm er struck aplun ger, compressed the air through a tin yorifice, and th en suddenly turned off a valveso th e flash-back would not smoke up th eworks. Wh at Colt conceived was a centerfireweapon, only a few decades ahead of th edat e the world was read y to accept suchnew-fangled notions. Th e air -ignit ion riflewas, so far as is known , never mad e.But Colt 's pr olific talent s for design andmass-produ ct ion manufacture continued tofollow the 'rifle path. Thou gh he mad e millionsfrom revolvers, the rifle was obviouslythe grea tes t challenge. Design advan ces appearmore in the rifles than in th e ma ssmarket revolvers. So diversified are th e ri fledesigns, elements of which later showed upin revolvers (Colt invent ed and pat ented thesolid frame on a revolver, although th e firstguns to have the solid fram e were his rifles),that the student might suspect he mad emoney off revolvers to finance his rifle designs.During the 1840's, before he set up shopagain in Hartford where th e Colt factorystill hum s today, Sam work ed for th e Na vydepartment . As an independ ent ordnancecontractor, he had fund s to work on experiments, and man y rifles and carbines wereSIGN OF THE TIMESIII P U LL I~UNSMITH I TRIGGE R- " I _ _ u __~UNSMITHPU LLT RI GGERFORI~5 E RV IC('L I _ JIFOR 5n__ E. R" IC~ .. __SIGN OF THE TIMESBREDAdr awn up durin g 1842-3-4. Th e Navy seemedthe most pr omising mark et- the Colt carbinesfor Mar ines and boarding parti es, wasa well-recommend ed item. But the youngerofficers, who had hear d rum ors of Colt Carbinesburstin g in Fl orid a, were gro wing upin th e service, and th ey were pr ejudicedaga inst his guns.Th e year 1847 was th e most imp ortant onein Sam's life. He received an Army contractfor revolving pistols, completed it successfully by subcontracting to Eli Whitney, andat the end of the year borrowed $14,500 fr oma rich uncl e to return to gun manufacturing.Almost before th e ink was dr y on his newshop leases, he commenced to work up arifle. Using the improved basic lockwork ofthe hug e Walker revolver which th e TexasRan gers used with such success in th e MexicanWar, Colt design ed a big 8-shot .44caliber Dra goon-type sporting rifle. Only onesurvives, in th e Conn. State Lib rary, although the gun was adverti sed on a Coltbroadside which is surprisingly like a modernadvertising sheet.But the market demand ed revolving pistols,as many as he could turn out, and th e Har t­ford works out grew itself. Th e Pearl Streetrent ed shop was enlarged, th en new pr emisesrented on Grove and P ott er streets, andfinally Colt bou ght several hundred acres ofswamp, diked it in and pump ed it out, anderected the world's largest pri vate armory onthe South Meadows. The company, flushedwith the sportsman's demand and with ord ersfrom western emigrants for handguns, wasread y to expa nd into the controversial riflefield.Competition with repeating rifles wassmall. Two obscure mechanics named Hora ceand Daniel-last names Smith & Wesson,soon to found a handgun business equal toColt's- were struggling with an odd leveraction gun that used a self-contained bullet-~_~~:.p r~ e~n~~ t Y.~.~~ !\.\lu a.Jit~I.LU~ !l.. ~, tim:read y to expand into the controversial riflefield.Competition with repeating rifles wassmall. Two obscure mechanics named Horaceand Daniel-last names Smith & Wcsson,soon to found a handgun bu siness equal toColt's-were struggling with an odd leveraction gun that used a self-contained bulletand-propellant packa ge a little lik e a tinyrocket. P erfected th rough a succession ofengineers after Smith and Wesson sold outand turned to revolver making, th e littlelever gun became the Winchester. But thatwas in th e fut ure. With th e revolving principlestill the most practi cal one for a looseloadingpowder and ball gun, Colt had themarket to him self.His first Hartford rifles were bca utifullydevelop ed solid frame repeaters, six-shots,.44 and .36 caliber. With side hamm ers, aswere all percussion Hartford repeat ers, th eseare today known as th e "Root Model" afterColt's chief engineer, Eli sha Kin g Root.20 gaugemagnum'A U T O M A T I CTHE MAGIC TOUCH-of a button a ndthe Scope Life Gu a rd op ens insta ntly andea sily. Hermet ically sea ls scope from dust ,rai n or snow, providing constant sha rpsighting. Easy to install , the protector remainsstationa ry on scope. When ordering,speci fy scope and model. $3.95.E. D. VISSING CO•• Idah o Falls, IdahoExpert Rifleman'sBadgeMad e i n 1916 etRock Island Arsen el.SPECIAL$1 25POSTPAIDMARKSMAN BADCE Cold plated ove r solidfor shooters, sterUnl bronze.•sil ve r $1 .00 e ach, Raised letters •••postpaid. Limited quantity .WESTERNFAST DRAWWESTERNFAST DRAWHOLSTER?~~fid~~~ ~:~~r.e~ o~yc~&o:lo~:f.;stars a nd s t u n t men w ho wanted~~d ~~~i~~~~lnJirllf:~t .p~r: I:ct~~s ame holster fe atured In Cba pe l's•'Gun Co ll e ctor ' s Ha ndbook of Va l·~~S~ neO f::gd f~Pl::ih:r~t ~rri?:~ua~~metal a nd exPertly stitched. Givewa is t. hlp measurement. canber, mak ~and barrel lenJrth. SinR'le bolster andLelt$ 2 7. 5 0. Sou thpaws add $1. Ho lsteron ly $ 11.50. 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