Samuel Colt Biography

Samuel Colt was an American inventor and industrialist who designed and developed the world’s first handgun—better known as the ‘Revolver’—a hand held gun that could be fired multiple times without reloading. He founded the Colt’s Manufacturing Company and made it possible to commercially mass produce revolvers for the first time. He is one of those inventors who left an indelible mark on the weapons industry with his innovative gun designs. He had an interest in all things mechanical from an early age. As a teenager, he used to dismantle the gadgets in his house to understand how they worked. He had a special fascination with firearms and had a desire to develop a gun which could shoot multiple times without reloading. He got his idea for a ‘revolving’ cylinder when he embarked on a voyage aboard a ship. He observed the ship’s steering wheel that could spin or alternatively be locked in a fixed position through the use of a clutch. No doubt Colt was a brilliant inventor, but his initial business ventures failed miserably. But, his business picked up during the American war with Mexico when the Texas Rangers ordered 1,000 of his revolvers. His production and marketing techniques were ahead of his times and he successfully employed the assembly line production due to the usage of interchangeable parts. By the time of his death, he was hailed as someone who had revolutionized the weapons industry.