Samuel Colt Samuel Colt Samuel Colt (; July 19, 1814 – January 10, 1862) was an American inventor, industrialist, businessman, and hunter. He founded Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company (today Colt's Manufacturing Company) and made the mass production of the revolver commercially viable. Colt's first two business ventures were producing firearms in Paterson, New Jersey and making underwater mines; both ended in disappointment. But his business expanded rapidly after 1847, when the Texas Rangers ordered 1,000 revolvers during the American war with Mexico. During the American Civil War, his factory in Hartford supplied firearms both to the North and the South. Later,
Colt Model 1855 Sidehammer Pocket Revolver Colt Model 1855 Sidehammer Pocket Revolver The Colt Model 1855 Sidehammer, also known as the Colt Root Revolver after engineer Elisha K. Root (1808–1865), was a cap & ball single-action pocket revolver used during the American Civil War and made by the Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company in two calibers: .28 and .31. In the revolver configuration of the patented revolving mechanism, only one model of revolver was produced. The only two available calibers for the revolver were .28 and .31. The production of the revolver started in 1855 and lasted until 1870. In spite of the complexity and