Mister Colt made all men equal. God made people strong and weak. Colonel Colt equalized their chances. Grandpa's gun and electric cord
Blog: eugenyshultz
President Putin, in his article published in The New York Times, made a number of serious mistakes, indicating a misunderstanding of the events taking place in Syria, and a misunderstanding of the mentality of American citizens, whom he addressed in his article http://kremlin.ru/news /19205 .
Let's look at the thesis of the article and look at it through the eyes of an American. Simple, far from politics. Let's start from the end. How did Putin finish his article?
Putin ended the article with the words: "God created us equal." Any American will chuckle skeptically at these words, because the phrase “God created people equal” (and this is also a borrowing from the US Declaration of Independence: “We consider it self-evident that all people are created equal, and that they are endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable rights, in including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness") can only be adequately understood in the sense that human beings have equal birthrights given to them by God. But natural possibilities are different and there must be a force that equalizes them - it does not allow the strong to oppress the weak. Naturally, Americans see their country the USA as this force! This equality does not come about on its own... And the use of military force in Syria is precisely justified by the fact that EQUALIZING the strength of the rebels with the forces of Assad - to help the oppressed, so to speak ... I don’t understand how it was possible, even based on ordinary political technological considerations, so unsuccessfully to finish the article... As usual, Putin's PR does not shine. Cranes, pikes, tiger cubs, walruses, agents of the State Department - that's their element. In serious matters, it doesn't count.
Putin tried to shame the Americans with their eternal sense of EXCLUSIVENESS. And it would be okay, he argued that they are not exceptional at all. No…just shamed Obama by calling his people exceptional. What did Putin say? “I think it’s very dangerous to plant the idea of their exclusivity in people’s heads, no matter how it is motivated.” The reference is clear. To Ubermensch and Untermensch. Those. Putin compared the US to the Third Reich. But it’s so frail that most Americans won’t even take a hint ... They are by and large not interested in anything other than their Oklahoma and the next baseball game and quite sincerely consider themselves exceptional (surprise!) ... And those who are interested know for sure that it was the United States that defeated Nazism. And then some totalitarian Putin begins to reproach the Americans for their exclusivity... But who is he, in general, this Putin? He himself sits for the 14th year in a row at the head of Russia, because he is exceptional, and he begins to teach us Americans how to live. Here is the way of thinking. And in some ways I even agree with him ... Thus, not only a failure, but also a minus. On the contrary, it was necessary to appeal to the EXCLUSIVENESS of the Americans. Moreover, it is so. You can argue about the +/- sign, but this is really an exceptional country and people. However, like us.
Referring to the opinion of the Pope is a good move. Americans love God. Rather, they believe God loves America. But the USA is a Protestant country, so the reference to the head of the Catholic Church will work very poorly and will not move the American to serious thoughts. The Protestant ethic ultimately leads to the fact that each blacksmith has his own happiness. Screwed up - it's his own fault. With regard to Assad, this will sound - it was not good to torture the people in person for so long. This will also apply to Putin. In the end, again, it fails.
All these disadvantages are based on the foundation: Russia lost to the US in the Cold War. From the point of view of an American, Russia today is trying to limit the United States in the spread of their only correct concept - DEMOCRACY. Why? Because Russia does not like democracy. Because Russia is authoritarian. And Putin himself is a vivid proof of this. 14th year rowing in galleys. Tired, but for some reason he doesn’t want to give up his place ... They don’t understand the pain that Mother Russia will die without Putin :) In short, Putin’s personality itself, with such arguments, generates cognitive dissonance.
Putin doesn't even seem to understand how the Americans feel about their country... I assure you, they feel their country is not some big one, but a country... They feel like a UNION of states. This directly follows from their name UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. And even more - not just an alliance, but a new model of the world order. Please note that the name US (United States) is widely used - without any Americas ... America is so ... temporarily, in reality, an aim for the entire PLANET :))). This is our governor of a subject of the Federation - a puppet of the Kremlin. In the USA, a state is a very, very independent unit - it is actually a state within a state with its own laws, its own police, its own traditions. Therefore, Americans perceive the expansion of the United States on the world stage as the expansion of their IDEA - DEMOCRACY, and not as an attack by the Empire on adjacent territories. Americans are naturally wrong, but that's how they feel about it. And you need to appeal to THEIR feeling when you try to talk to THEM.
But this is not enough. Not only is Putin unable to reach the hearts of Americans. He also gets in the wake of their worldview, thereby further weakening (already from the standpoint of logic) his already weak arguments against the active position of the United States in the international arena to defend democracy. Namely, this is how Americans perceive the activities of the United States. For in line with the worldview of the United States - their actions are RIGHT. It is possible to prove the wrongness of the US actions only by directing the reader's thoughts in a different direction. Putin did not.
In general, an unsuccessful toothless article. All the same Putin has already said. And it never stopped anyone, and could not stop anyone. Moreover, the entire article is permeated with a lack of understanding of the Americans' point of view on the role of their country in history, as well as a clear dissonance between oneself and one's highly moral statements. A PERSON who considers himself exceptional cannot deny other PEOPLES in exclusivity. Namely, this is what it looks like for an American: An exceptional and unique Putin, who rules in Russia as he wants, does not allow a whole PEOPLE, which has reached the highest stage of development on Earth, to carry the banner of democracy.
It's unfortunate, but true. The maximum that Putin will achieve is the same as what he achieved with his Munich speech. That is, NOTHING.
So what will happen to Syria? In general, Putin already said this in his previous interview: “You know what, how do I know?”.
At the same time, naturally, there are many people in the United States who are categorically against military action in Syria. And without any moralizing Putin. But it's like in Russia: many people understand that Putin is long overdue for a well-deserved honorary pension, but most ... most Russians need a tsar-father. Till. And most Americans need a star-striped banner over the planet and the triumph of democracy... And for these Americans, Putin has not said anything of value... At the same time, I emphasize once again, of course, a huge number of Americans consider a military action in Syria unnecessary and harmful - this is there is the main deterrent of a military strike, and not Putin's article at all.
Plus, it turns out that an article in the NYT was published by the American PR agency Ketchum, which has been improving the image of Russia in the West for many years! http://news.rambler.ru/21083840/ Imagine, it turns out that they improve our image ...:) Yeah. I remember that American PR people just now improved Gaddafi’s image, too… http://eugenyshultz.livejournal.com/173721.html
Perhaps in all the stories about the famous weapon designer Samuel Colt (1814 - 1862), an American proverb is mentioned that "Ab Lincoln freed all people, and Sam Colt made them equal".
The "great equalizer" S. Colt was a real American: active, skillful and resilient. Like the character in Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." Who, when he was in the nineteenth century, worked as a foreman at the arms factory of S. Colt. The biography of S. Colt is still cited with pleasure as one of the examples of the implementation of the "American dream".
Both the head and hands of young Sam worked as they should. Already at the age of 14, he made his first invention: an electric fuse for undermining an underwater mine. On July 4, 1829, the inventor demonstrated his invention. The mine was successfully detonated. But, being placed too close to the shore, she doused the audience with water from head to toe. Young Sam had to flee from an angry mob. They wouldn't lynch him, but they could beat him hard. However, there is no evil without good. Through this incident, Samuel Colt met a mechanical engineer Elisha King Root (1808-1865). E. Ruth hid the boy in his house, and later became an engineer, technologist and manager at the arms factory of S. Colt.
Everyone knows: S. Colt invented "colt". But this does not mean at all that S. Colt is the inventor of the pistol. Hand firearms have been known since the 15th century. Infantrymen used pistols, cavalrymen also used them. Cavalry pistols were longer and hit the target at a distance of up to 40 meters. But the pistol was still a disposable weapon - it took too long to load it. Attempts to speed up the rate of fire, to make the pistol two- or multi-barrelled were unsuccessful. Most often, a pair of single-shot pistols were used in battle. So at least two shots could be fired one after the other.
Another option for increasing the rate of fire of pistols was revolvers. In a revolver, a rotating drum was preloaded, stuffing gunpowder into it and hammering a bullet. (Let's not forget that the unitary cartridge is a rather late invention). When the drum was turned, the charged chamber turned out to be opposite the barrel and became, as it were, its continuation. Now it was a matter of "small things": to somehow set fire to the gunpowder in the chamber. Gunpowder, burning, will push the bullet out. Hooray, shot!
As you can see, the revolver is not an invention of S. Colt. The main, it would seem, part of the Colt, the loaded drum, was invented long before the arms factory in Hartford, Connecticut, launched, which produced revolvers, the handle of which was decorated with the image of a running foal. After all, "colt" in English is "foal".
Two circumstances contributed to the emergence of a truly combat multiply charged revolver. Firstly, a primer was invented, which made it possible to set fire to gunpowder in the drum "with one blow". Bulky flintlocks are a thing of the past. Secondly, machine production began to develop. Complex and precise mechanisms of revolvers became possible to produce in mass quantities. Now it was possible to make a rotating drum that would securely close the barrel for the duration of the shot. After all, before, quite often, powder gases broke out at the place where the drum was pressed against the barrel. This not only reduced the effectiveness of the shot, but was dangerous for the shooter.
S. Colt, as often happens, was in the right place at the right time. He became interested in the design of revolvers and believed that he could make a real military multi-shot weapon. He believed so much that he began to mobilize funds for future production. No shares, no loans! S. Colt, under the name of "Doctor Coult", a chemist and naturalist, traveled around the country and demonstrated in small American towns the effect of laughing gas on a person. The performances were popular, volunteers fell into joyful euphoria, money flowed into the cashier.
In 1835, the first workable model of a revolver was created. It was designed by a gunsmith from Baltimore John Pearson (John Pearson). Colt patented this revolver in England and America. Immediately after receiving the American patent, on March 5, 1836, he established his own production.
The firm was located in Paterson, New Jersey. Accordingly, the first model of the Colt revolver was called "Paterson" (Paterson). This revolver was produced from 1836 to 1842. In 1842, due to a conflict between partners, the company ceased to exist.
But S. Kolt could no longer be stopped. He "fell ill" with revolvers, and wished to resume production. To do this, he even remembered the "sins of youth." Having developed an underwater mine with an electric fuse, he sold the patent to the US government. At the same time, together with the famous American artist, and even more famous inventor Samuel Morse (Samuel Finley Breese Morse) (1791 - 1872) S. Colt worked on the improvement of telegraph communications.
Revolvers, meanwhile, proved to be in great demand during the Mexican-American War of 1846-1847. In early 1847, Colt received the first government order for 1,000 revolvers. This weapon he designed with the captain Samuel H. Walker (1817 - 1847). The captain died early in the war with Mexico. The revolver was named after him, Walker.
Institute teachers of machine parts like to tell the legend that one of the conditions for the government order was the mutual compatibility of the parts of all revolvers. If it were not for machine production and the system of tolerances and landings developed by that time - they conclude their story - S. Colt would never have been able to fulfill this condition.
In the early 1850s, Colt opened a gun shop in Hartford. In 1852, he became the first American entrepreneur to open a branch of his business in London. In 1855, a large arms factory was built near Hartford, which is still located here.
In 1861, the American Civil War began. Colt weapons were used by both warring sides. The "Great Equalizer" sold its products to both northerners and southerners. As they say in America: "This is business, nothing personal." S. Colt himself did not live to see the end of the war. He died suddenly in 1862. He left behind a fortune of $15 million. At the current exchange rate, this is about 300 million. From the moment Samuel Colt entered the arms business until the end of his life, more than 400,000 small arms were produced at his enterprises. At one time, S. Colt was among the ten richest people in America.
Samuel Colt's earthly age was short, 47 years. But the Colt outlived its creator and took part in important events that determined not only the boundaries of the current United States, but also many features of the American character and American society. Revolvers in the United States came not only to the army. Anyone could freely buy a not-so-expensive Colt. The revolver turned out to be a reliable defender in the event of an attack by bandits. Remember the episode with the attack on the stagecoach from A. Surikova's comedy "The Man from the Boulevard des Capucines"! The desire for freedom and justice, originally embedded in the consciousness of Americans, received significant support. The presence of weapons in all the conflicting parties, oddly enough, made it possible to "resolve" situations that otherwise could lead to lawlessness. No wonder the long-barreled 45 caliber cavalry revolver (11.43 mm) was called the "Peacemaker" (Peacemaker). And also "the conqueror of the Wild West." A 45 caliber pistol is not an episodic western hero at all!
Useful links:
- Anniversary of the legendary Colt.
According to The Wall Street Journal and other leading American media, the American arms company Colt Defense is on the verge of bankruptcy. Currently, the issue of restructuring the company's debt is being resolved. If the problem is not resolved soon, which is unlikely, the company's assets will be put up for auction. Bankruptcy could be the end of a 160-year-old firm's prolonged agony.
Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company, Samuel Colt created in 1855. By that time, the name of Colt and him was already well known both in America and abroad. In 1836, Colt patented the "revolving gun" - a weapon with a rotating breech part, in combination with a trigger mechanism and primer ignition.The idea of a multiply charged revolver was not new in Colt's time (according to one of the popular versions, Colt himself learned about the revolver scheme during his trip to England, where revolvers of another inventor Elisha Collier were already produced However, Colt was the first to combine the revolver scheme with the primer invented shortly before (say, Collier's revolvers had a complex scheme with a trigger with flint and a flint on the drum casing). Colt was able to find creditors to start production of his revolver and in 1836 in Paterson, New Jersey, the production of revolvers was launched, named after the name of the locality - Colt Paterson.
However, Colt's first pancake came out lumpy - the revolver suffered from a lack of design, and the level of technical equipment of the first factory did not allow achieving the proper quality of parts processing. As a result, the revolver was not reliable and did not gain much popularity. In 1843, the first Colt factory closed and its equipment was auctioned off. For a while, Colt abandoned the idea of a gun business and switched to the new fashion of the time - the production and sale of telegraph cable.
However, chance intervened. A number of Colt revolvers were purchased for testing by the Texas Rangers, who during this period were cleaning up the living space for the American nation. In one of the many skirmishes, a squad of 15 Rangers armed with, among other things, Colt revolvers, shot 70 Comanches.
Impressed by the capabilities of the new weapon, the commander of this ranger squad, Samuel Walker, went across the country to New York (then it was a non-trivial journey, it was before the era of transcontinental railroads) to convince the inventor of the Colts to continue producing revolvers. Walker gave the inventor money, plus he borrowed a little from the banks on Walker's recommendation. This made it possible to restore the production of revolvers in the workshop. The design of Colt's revolvers was finalized - a sixth cartridge appeared in the drum, shortened chambers for a cartridge with a smaller charge (less charge - less wear on parts and recoil), a longer barrel. Colt revolvers managed to play a significant role in the outbreak of the Mexican-American War. As a result of this war, the living space for the American nation expanded into the territory of several modern states - California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, parts of Colorado and Wyoming. The conquests cost the lives of many famous sons of the American people, among whom was Captain Samuel Walker, who gave Colt a ticket to big business.
Things at Colt himself quickly went uphill. Production volumes were constantly growing, the American army and navy were added to the rangers. Colt's revolvers reached Europe, where they managed to take part in the Crimean War, and on both sides. The capacities of the old workshop were no longer enough for all orders. In 1855, Colt opens a new Colt Armory plant in Hartford and establishes Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company. It is from this date that it is customary to trace the history of Colt's weapons empire.
What are the reasons for the success of Colt and his revolvers? In addition to the innovative design, Colt's organizational skills and the case in the person of Captain Walker, it is necessary to note the excellent marketing company. Colt, being a talented inventor, was certainly a real genius in advertising, marketing, product placement and, at times, outright selling. Colt's signature gimmick was to give his revolver as a gift to someone needed or important to promote the product. At first they were newspaper editors - the print press was then, in fact, the only media and a real fourth power. As a reward, the newspapers did not skimp on praise in the spirit of "Colt revolvers - a reliable tool against bears, Indians, Mexicans and others." It is believed that the phrase “God Made Man, Colt Made Them Equal” itself was coined either by Colt himself or by one of his gifted newspaper editors. As the business developed, effective PR was backed up by powerful GR. Colt presented his brainchild to presidents, kings, generals. In 1854, in St. Petersburg, Colt was received by Emperor Nicholas I and presented him with several of his revolvers.
Among those who received their Colt with the inscription "From the Inventor" were not only crowned persons, but also those who constantly fought with them, such as professional revolutionaries Giuseppe Garibaldi or Lajos Kossuth. Who knows, maybe such marketing moves - like the sudden appearance in service of riflemen or motor catchers, say, ORSIS or A-545 - are not enough for our gunsmiths to promote their products on the market? Is it not ethical, you say, to do PR on the supply of weapons for participants in the civil war? Well, Colt himself never shunned this - the most commercially successful war during his lifetime was also a civil war, and in his own country - the American Civil War of 1861-1865.
However, back to the history of the Colt company. After the death of the great inventor and marketer, his widow Elizabeth Colt and brother Jarvis took over the leadership of his weapons empire. The reputational and technological backlog created by Samuel lasted until the end of the 19th century. Calibers changed, cartridges were added, details were added, but Colt revolvers continued to be recognizable by the good old Colts. However, the 20th century came and the development of small arms approached a new revolution - the transition to semi-automatic and automatic schemes. John Moses Browning, an inventor working for Colt at the time, developed the magazine-fed self-loading pistol that defined the development of personal firearms for more than a hundred years. The launch of the Colt M1900 and its development, the M1911, became one of the most famous pistols and an important part of American culture, to match its predecessor.
The next well-known products of the Colt factories were John Thompson submachine guns. Thompson's own company, Auto-Ordnance, at first lacked the capacity, and therefore the first mass-produced "Tommy Guns" were released under the name Colt-Thompson Model 1921. As you know, they were first armed with all sorts of bandits from the highway.
During the Second World War, Colt's factories produced pistols, submachine guns, and M1917 Browning machine guns, the main heavy machine gun of the American army in that war and in the Korean.
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Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company's next major commercial success came during the Vietnam War. Armalite designers Eugene Stoner and James Sullivan developed this design
In 1959, Armalite sells the production rights to this rifle to Colt, which begins commercial production. In 1961, a trial batch of these rifles was purchased by the US Army. In 1964, the rifle under the designation M16 is officially adopted. Well, we will not talk in detail about the M16.
We note something else - after the death of Colt, the well-being of the company was no longer based on its own developments, but on purchased licenses. Browning, Thompson, Stoner... No, of course, fine-tuning the purchased samples, the same M16, required a lot of work from engineers and production workers, but still, a certain growing crisis of Colt's Company creativity in the 20th century was obvious. This was clearly hinted at by Colt's by the American army, choosing the Beretta 92F pistol developed by the Italian company Beretta as the main personal weapon at the 1985 competition. For the first time in many years, the American army received small arms designed and produced by a non-American company. The army was followed by the police, who increasingly changed their American pistols and revolvers for the same Beretta and Austrian Glock 17. Since the end of the Cold War, another crisis has been added to the creative crisis - the crisis of overproduction. Huge stocks of small arms accumulated by all sides during the years of confrontation were thrown into the arms market. Why buy a new M16 for $1,600 when you can buy the same from the army warehouses for $600 and a Kalashnikov assault rifle for $300. Sales in the U.S. civilian arms market began to fall following the drop in army orders.
Colt first faced bankruptcy in 1992. It was acquired by the financial group Zilkha & Co, which was then able to carry out the restructuring. The Marine Corps also helped by issuing an order for the production of M4 carbines - a shortened version of the M16. With the beginning of the American campaign in the Middle East, new orders for the M4 followed - in the conditions of dense Iraqi urban development and Afghan villages, they seemed more profitable than the long and excessively powerful M16. All this won the company two extra decades of life. However, the experience of operating carbines in Iraq and Afghanistan caused a lot of criticism from the military. In 2007, the US Department of Defense conducted a series of tests, as a result of which the number of failures of the Colt's M4 turned out to be higher than the total number of failures of other types of weapons participating in the tests - the German HK XM8, HK 416 and the Belgian FN SCAR-L.
Another factor that knocked Colt down was Obama's election campaign and his victory in the presidential election. His team's proposals included joining the United States to the International Arms Trade Treaty and tightening regulations on private ownership of small arms. Everyone was mobilized to defend the second amendment - the "National Rifle Organization",
"Second Amendment Sisters"
and "Jews for the preservation of the right to own weapons."
As a result, the attack on the Second Amendment by the Republicans and shooters managed to repulse, but the frightened arms sellers staged massive arms sales in anticipation of the expected tightening, collapsing prices and once again knocking down the positions of manufacturers. Well, the final nail in the coffin of Colt was the lost 2013 competition for the supply of the US Army with 120,000 Belgian F.N. Herstal.
However, it is certainly premature to talk about the death of the Colt trademark. According to the 11th article of the US Bankruptcy Code, the company will be put up for auction, where it is likely to be bought out by new owners. Recall that in 1992 a similar step was taken, as a result of which in 1994 the company was bought by the current owner, the Zilkha financial group. So Colt products will equalize people for some time.
On February 25, 1836, 180 years ago, the American Colt received the first patent for an automatic revolver.
“God made people strong and weak. Colonel Colt equalized their chances ”- this is how they say in the USA about Samuel Colt, the man thanks to whom the triumphant march of the revolver began. Sometimes Colt is even credited with the invention of this weapon - however, in fact, revolvers were made from the end of the 16th century. The first revolvers were not popular and in demand - their manufacture was extremely expensive and difficult, and besides, they did not provide continuous firing.
In June 1818, the American officer and designer Artemas Wheeler patented a flintlock revolver - this weapon made it possible to shoot up to 7 times in a row. Nevertheless, the popularity of expensive revolvers increased slightly.
Grandpa's gun and electric cord
In 1814, Samuel Colt, the future reformer of revolving weapons, was born in Connecticut. According to legend, the first toy of the little Colt was a flintlock pistol, inherited from his grandfather, a former officer in the Continental Army. According to another legend, at the age of four, Samuel tried to convert a toy gun given to him for his birthday into a real one - and set off an explosion that almost blew the whole house.
At the age of 14, Colt became seriously interested in pyrotechnics. And on Independence Day, the young man set up a raft filled with gunpowder in the center of the city lake, and extended an electric cord from the raft to the shore.
The result was a loud explosion that killed the fish in the pond and caused panic among the festive-minded townspeople.
Samuel's father, fearing that his son would burn down the house, sent the teenager to a boarding school. In the boarding school, Colt did nothing but entertain his friends with pyrotechnics. And some time later, a fire broke out in the school - of course, through the fault of the future reformer of revolving weapons. One of the buildings of the boarding school burned down in the fire, and Colt was immediately sent home to his angry father.
The indignant parent did not want the negligent offspring to live with him under the same roof, and sent his son to serve as a sailor on a two-masted Corvo ship bound for India. On the ship, Colt liked to watch for a long time how famously the helmsman turned the helm.
The result of these observations was the creation by Samuel of a wooden model of the future revolver. Colt's innovation was that he "introduced" a rotating drum system into the revolver, which alternately substituted several pre-loaded cartridges under the firing pin.
Among the first
February 25, 1836 in the United States, Colt acquires a patent for an automatic revolver, the rate of fire of which is five times higher than the rate of "predecessors". With the financial support of his uncle, Samuel opens the Patent Arms Manufacturing Co., as well as a gun factory in New Jersey.
It is important that Colt was one of the first industrialists to use machine-made weapons in their factories.
Although the inventor invested a lot of money in advertising his product, sales were not very successful. Then Colt went to Washington and showed the revolver to the seventh US president and one of the founders of the Democratic Party, Andrew Jackson. The Democrat admired Colt's invention and even wrote a positive review of the weapon. Nevertheless, orders from Samuel did not increase. The industrialist actively tried to enlist the support of the American army, but at that time the US military called revolvers "weapons of yesterday."
As a result, the Colt company went bankrupt, and the inventor himself decided to start producing submarine cables. At the same time, Samuel's brother was in the dock.
Representatives of the yellow press immediately took advantage of the situation and began to write that the accused had committed the murder with a Colt revolver.
Colt vs Comanche
In 1847, Texas Ranger Samuel Walker witnessed how his team of 15, armed with Colt revolvers, dealt with a detachment of 70 Comanches. An enthusiastic Walker asked Colt for a meeting, during which the men agreed to cooperate. So there were revolvers with an increased capacity of the Colt Walker drum.
Colt Walker 1847
The weapon was quickly appreciated by the American army - a few months after the Colt Walker went on sale, Samuel received an order for 1,000 revolvers from the US military.
After that, Colt no longer had problems with sales.
In the early 1850s, Colt set up a gun shop in Hartford, the capital of Connecticut. And two years later, he opened a branch of his enterprise in London, which Charles Dickens, a classic of world literature, would later speak with enthusiasm about.
Colt Dragoon
At the same time, Colt Dragoon revolvers designed for shooting from a horse, as well as Colt Wells Fargo revolvers, are on sale. The latest model was lightweight and was created at a time of increasing demand for personal weapons - and it was immediately appreciated by security guards, detectives, officers. In addition, these were the times of the gold rush and the development of the Wild West, so gold miners quickly appreciated the Colt's weapons.
Colt Wells Fargo
It is known that James Butler Hickok, an American hero of the Wild West, a famous shooter, scout and poker player, was armed with two Colt Navy revolvers. Hickok was called Wild Bill, and also Dick Duck and Duck, because the shooter's lower lip protruded strongly.
In 1861, the American Civil War began, during which Colt sold weapons to both southerners and northerners. It is interesting that it was then that American politicians and journalists began to develop the idea that the presence of weapons on both sides of the conflict does not lead to lawlessness, but to a peaceful resolution of problems.
A few decades later, Colt Single Action Army revolvers would be called "peacemakers", and the famous expression "God made people strong and weak. Colonel Colt equalized their chances" will be turned into the phrase "Abraham Lincoln gave people freedom, and Colonel Colt equalized their chances."
Colt Single Action Army
Colt did not live to see the end of the war - at the age of 47, the inventor died in his native Hartford. Journalists wrote that "Colt died of natural causes." The great revolver reformer left behind a fortune estimated at $15 million.
July 19, 1814 in the town of Hartford (Connecticut), the famous American engineer, gunsmith, inventor and industrialist, American legend, Samuel Colt was born ( Samuel Colt). He is best known as a reformer of revolving weapons: in 1835 he invented a capsule revolver, which quickly replaced other systems and gave impetus to the creation of revolvers for a unitary metal cartridge.
His father, Christopher Colt, who owned a fabric factory, was rich, but raised his heir in a Spartan way - Samuel worked at the family business from the age of 9. It was there that he created his first pistol - a four-barreled one that fired four bullets at the same time. His first creation was very heavy, and the recoil is so strong that it could cripple the shooter.
At the age of 15, Samuel enters Amher University, but he did not study for long. For a fire in the university building, Colt was expelled. He fled from his father's house to India. The future creator of the legendary revolver is hired as a sailor on the brig " Corvo", a merchant ship making voyages to India. Watching the device of the ship's steering wheel, an inquisitive young man decided to use a similar mechanism to create a multiply charged pistol and, on the way, made a wooden model of what later became known as a revolver. According to another version, the idea to replace the gun lock with a rotating drum came Sam was in the head when he watched the operation of the capstan - a mechanism for choosing anchor or mooring lines.Anyway, the author of this revolutionary engineering solution was Samuel Colt.
When he returned, he took a course in chemistry, lectured on it in the United States and Canada. It was not easy for a new invention to make its way. But the inventor was persistent. In 1835, Sam traveled to Europe and received English and French patents for his invention - a drum for revolver charges. Upon his return to the United States, he filed a patent application for a "drum pistol" (" revolving gun”), which he received on February 25, 1836 (subsequently received the number 9430X). This patent, as well as patent number 1304 of August 29, 1836, protected the basic principles of a weapon with a rotating breech, in combination with a firing mechanism, which became famous under the name "Colt Paterson".
A year earlier, with the help of an uncle who is a businessman, he opens a company for the production of revolvers " Patent Arms Manufacturing Co."and an arms factory in Paterson (New Jersey). That's why they called the first model of a revolver -" Colt-Paterson". But he soon acquired the nickname "Texas" for his popularity among the inhabitants of this state. Start of production in 1836. The five-shot, trigger mechanism of this model had a simple (single) action: the arrow before each shot had to be pulled back with a finger This is the first more or less reliable small arms repeating weapon.
Components of the Colt "Paterson":
Action cover - protective cover
Arbor-axle
Bolt - king pin
Bolt spring - kingpin spring
Breach - breech
Breach Screw - Trigger Assembly
Cylinder - drum
Frame - frame
Hammer - trigger
Hand - lever
Hand spring - lever spring
Main spring - main spring
Sear - whispered
Trigger - trigger
Trigger spring - trigger spring
Wedge - barrel lock
Inset: the position of the springs in the body of the assembled revolver
Combined tool for "Paterson": a ramrod lever, a key for removing brand pipes, a needle for cleaning the brand pipes from powder deposits, a screwdriver.
However, the Colt product was sold in very small quantities, rarely exceeding 100 pieces. The fact is that the American army refused to buy revolvers, declaring them "yesterday". Five years later the factory was closed and in 1842 " Patent Arms Manufacturing Co." turned out to be on the verge of bankruptcy. For 5 years in a row, revolvers were not produced and became a rarity.
Trying to find funds to restart the production of revolvers, Colt began experimenting with the creation of an underwater mine and soon developed a mine with an electric fuse, together with Samuel Morse, they launched the production of underwater telephone cables.
But in 1844, 2 years after the closure of the factory, an incident occurred that changed the attitude towards revolvers and apparently influenced the fate of Colt and his offspring. 15 Texas Rangers under the command of John Coffey Hayes faced the superior forces of the Comanche detachment (about 80 Indians). Armed with Colt Patersons, the Texans shot down half of the attackers, and the rest fled. So the revolvers demonstrated their advantage - with a single-shot weapon, this would not have been possible.
John Coffee Hays
Storm of Chapultepec. Lithograph A. Zh.-B. Baio after a drawing by C. Nebel, 1851
In 1846, the Mexican-American War began, and Hayes' colleague, Ranger Sam Walker, wished to equip his men with Colt revolvers, and went to New York in search of the inventor.
Samuel Hamilton Walker
Colt's weapons factory reopened only in 1847, when the American army was preparing for war with Mexico, the government urgently ordered Colt a thousand new, modified revolvers. as it turned out that it was impossible to find a copy previously produced by the company anywhere. This order was the beginning of Colt's well-being.
Under this government order, Colt and his companion Captain Walker are creating a new model of a revolver " Colt Walker". After the brand new revolvers entered service with the army, the name of Colt became known throughout America.
In 1852 he received a large government order for revolvers for naval officers.
Colt Navy (1851)
A small workshop in Whitneyvilles was replaced by a large one in Hartford. In the same year, Colt bought "South Meadows" - a wasteland near Hartford, and in 1855 built his own arms factory, equipped with the latest science and technology. Hence, huge volumes of revolvers were also annually sent to Russia and England.
He paid the workers well, set up a library for them and even an amateur theater in which he himself played.
Colt's company, which changed its name to "Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company", glorified Hartford, since all of America was armed with its products (already in the first year the plant produced up to 150 "trunks" per day). And its head, who received the rank of colonel from the governor of Connecticut (for his support in the elections), soon became one of the ten most successful industrialists in America.
Colt Army (1860)
In 1861, the Civil War broke out between North and South. The time of Colt, who supplied both his "native" Yankees and the Confederates with the same zeal. If the United States used 1,000 revolvers in the conflict with Mexico, now the bill went to tens of thousands of barrels. However, the man who gave the conflicting parties excellent weapons did not live to see the end of the war.
He died suddenly in his native Hartford, as the then newspapers wrote, "of natural causes" at the age of 47. The funeral was arranged at public expense. He left behind a fortune estimated at $15 million, which is about $300 million in today's money. His business was inherited by his widow, Elizabeth Hart Jarvis, and her family. Colt's company was taken over by a group of investors in 1901.
Today the company Colt remains one of the leading manufacturers of firearms. Among the hits of the brand are the army "long-liver", the Colt 1911 pistol of 45 caliber and the famous M16 assault rifle. Samuel Colt is a legend and symbol of the United States, and the word "colt" has become one of the synonyms for a revolver.
There is a well-known expression that reflects the significance of Samuel Colt's invention for the development of democracy in the United States: “God created people strong and weak. Samuel Colt made them equal." One of the variants of this phrase: "Abraham Lincoln gave people freedom, and Colonel Colt equalized their chances."
Colt Paterson (1836)
The first model of the Colt revolver. The five-shot, trigger mechanism of this model had a simple (single) action with a primer ignition system: the arrow before each shot had to be pulled back with a finger. This is the first more or less reliable small arms multi-shot weapon.
The frame of the revolver is open, single-action trigger mechanism. The trigger guard is missing, the trigger is hidden. When cocking the trigger, the trigger comes out of the frame groove. Sights are a front sight on the barrel and a rear sight made in the form of a slot on the trigger.
Colt Walker (1847)
Colt Walker 1847
It was named after the customer of a large batch of a thousand Colts of an improved design by Texas Ranger Captain S. Walker. Start of production in 1847, the first batch was made by order of the US Army, which then participated in the US-Mexican War. The Colt Walker is a six-shot .44 caliber revolver with an overall length of 390 mm, a barrel length of 230 mm and an improved trigger mechanism and trigger guard. It was the first Colt to be made from standard interchangeable parts. Clint Eastwood's favorite revolver.
Colt Model 1848 Percussion Army Revolver- revolver. 44 caliber, developed by Samuel Colt for mounted shooters of the American army ( U.S. Army's Mounted Rifles), also known as dragoons ( dragons). This revolver was developed as a solution to numerous problems encountered in the model walker. Although the revolver was introduced after the Mexican–American War, it became popular with civilians during the 1850s and 60s, and was also used during the American Civil War.
In the same year, Colt released the Navy Colt 1848 (the more popular was the 1851 model), in fact, a slightly reduced and slightly modernized copy of the Dragoon Colt. The barrel of a naval colt is usually slightly longer and octagonal in shape, while that of a dragoon barrel is round and shorter; The Navy Colt is slightly lighter than the Dragoon Colt; the dragoon has a slightly more massive rear part of the ramrod, unlike the naval one. And the differences from the previous Colt Walker were only that the Dragoon is lighter and it has a ramrod lock.
Colt Navy (1851)
Colt Navy 1851
The model was supposed to arm the officers of the Navy of the North American United States. It was essentially a smaller version of the "Dragoon Colt". On such revolvers one could find engraving in the marine theme. Interestingly, the naval colt did not have a front sight, they say there is no need to aim at the sea and on the ship. The Navy Colt is relatively lighter and smaller, although it still had a significant size. It is difficult to visually distinguish a naval colt from a dragoon one. Shot with .44 caliber bullets. The weapon was of considerable size. One of the most popular Colt revolvers in the 50s.
The revolver was very popular not only among military personnel at sea, but also among civilians on land. Wild Bill Hickok was armed with two of these 36 caliber revolvers.
Colt Army (1860)
1860 Colt Army
It was perhaps the most popular weapon in the Civil War. This revolver was loaded from the front of the drum with a ramrod, so that the shooters had to carry paper cartridges with them. In order to avoid a spontaneous shot, it was recommended to keep the drum chamber opposite the barrel empty. Reloading was carried out due to the sequential laying of charges, as, indeed, any other capsule weapon. The revolver replaced the third "Dragoon" Colt (Colt Dragoon). Its cost was about 13 dollars, which is more expensive than other revolvers of that time. Usually made single action, although there were alterations of this revolver into a "self-cocking".
Colt Model 1873, U.S. Artillery Model
Colt Single Action Army (Peacemaker) (1873)
The legendary revolver of the Wild West. The appearance has remained unchanged since 1873. Colt stopped its production twice, but resumed due to high demand and still produces. A six-shot, manually cocked Colt, single-action trigger mechanism, although it could be fired fairly quickly by cocking the hammer with the left hand. Despite the presence of six chambers, the pistol was usually loaded with five rounds - the chamber opposite the barrel was left empty to prevent involuntary firing of the weapon. It was chambered for more than 30 calibers, from 0.22 to 0.45, with various barrel lengths. Equipped with side rod ejector. It also has 2 other names: Colt single action army(abbreviated Colt SA) or Colt 1873. "Peacemaker" is just a "nickname for a revolver", because where it was used, peace quickly arose. It is considered one of the symbols of the "Wild West", as it was used by almost everyone, as well as the legendary man Wyatt Earp.
Wyatt Earp
Double action revolvers
Colt Detective Special (1927)
Full-frame carbon steel short-barreled six-shot revolver with a double-action trigger mechanism. As the name implies, weapons of this class are focused on concealed carrying and use mainly by policemen dressed in civilian clothes - detectives and intelligence officers. First introduced in 1927, the revolver was not like other types of concealed-carry small arms then on the market, which had a breaking frame and could fire low-powered cartridges or were larger revolvers with a shortened barrel and handle.
Colt Cobra (1950)
Colt Cobra .38 Special first issue series
Start of production 1950. The design of the Colt Cobra revolver is based on the D-frame, the basis for the entire Detective Spec. family, but is made of a lighter aluminum alloy. The revolver, like the main Detective Spec., was made to fire a cartridge of .32 Colt NP, .38 Colt NP and .38 Spl., as well as .22LR. The version chambered for .38Spl was made in versions with a barrel length of 2, 3 and 4 inches, the version chambered for .22LR - only with a three-inch barrel.
Since 1973 (the beginning of the production of the second Cobra series is associated with it), revolvers were produced only under the 38Spl cartridge, and an extractor rod case was added to the lower part of the revolver barrel. Production ceased in 1981.
Colt Python (1955)
A six-shot double-action revolver chambered in .357 Magnum, the Colt Python is one of the most beautiful and charismatic of American revolvers and handguns in general, as well as one of the most famous revolvers ever produced by Colt's manufacturing company. Reloading is carried out by tilting the drum to the left (the latch is located at the back of the frame). Sights consist of a front sight with a plastic insert of a bright color and a rear sight equipped with interchangeable plates with various slots. The rear sight can be adjusted in two planes with screws. The revolver is equipped with an automatic safety that will not allow the hammer to prick the firing pin until the trigger is fully pulled. Also, the features of this series of revolvers can be considered a "ventilated bar" above the barrel and an elongated casing of the extractor rod, which goes under the barrel to the very muzzle. Usually performed with wooden handle cheeks, with metal parts finished in the form of bluing or polishing for models of the standard range, "elite" models are chrome-plated and have cheeks made of valuable wood.
Colt "Python" was the personal weapon of General Patton.
Colt Mk. III Trooper Lawman (1969)
Revolvers of the American company Colt mk. III was first produced in 1969, and represented a significant improvement over the earlier revolvers of this company, which have not changed much in design since the early 1900s. All revolvers of the mk. III had a double-action trigger mechanism and a 6-round drum reclining to the left.
Colt Anaconda (1990)
Revolver chambered for .44 Magnum or .45 Colt. with double action trigger mechanism. It was mass-produced in 1990-1999, to order until 2001. Mainly used for hunting and sport shooting.
Pistols
Colt M1900
Colt's first self-loading pistol. Like most of the company's other pistols, it was created by designer John Moses Browning. Caliber 9 mm (.38 ACP), development began in 1895, in production from 1900 until the beginning of 1903, a total of 4,274 units were made. It was tested in the US Army: in 1898 (even before the start of mass production), and in 1900. In both competitions, Colt's competitors were German Mauser C-96 and the Austrian Steyr-Mannlicher M1894, in comparison with which the M1900 showed slightly better results.
Used during the Philippine-American War.
Colt M1902 (1902)
Based on the results of tests and combat use, the M1900 was slightly modified: the magazine capacity increased by one round (from 7 to 8), and a slide lag appeared. The resulting model went into production from 1902, production ended in 1928, about 18,068 units were produced. There was also a sports version, the Model 1902 Sporting, which had a magazine capacity of the M1900 (7 rounds), and instead of a vertical notch at the rear of the bolt, there was a cross notch at the front. The M1902 Sporting was produced from 1902 to 1907, with a total of about 6,927 units.
Colt M1903 Pocket Hammer (1903)
M1903 appeared after the M1902 model, but was based on the M1900 design, differing from it only in a shorter length. Like the M1900, it had a 7-round magazine, and there was no slide delay. In order not to confuse it with another Colt model, which also had the M1903 index, it received the prefix “Pocket Hammer” (“pocket trigger”) in the name. The M1903 far outlived its "big brother" M1900, being in production until 1927.
Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless (1903)
This model is fully consistent with the one produced in Belgium Browning M1903, but differed from it in caliber and smaller dimensions. The cartridges used were 7.65 mm (.32 ACP) and 9 mm (.380 ACP). In production from 1903 to 1945, about 570,000 pieces in five slightly different variants. To distinguish it from the M1903 caliber .38 ACP, it had the prefix "Pocket Hammerless" ("pocket hammerless").
M1903 Pocket Hammerless was popular with US Army generals. In particular, they were owned by George Smith Patton, Dwight David Eisenhower, George Marshall and Omar Bradley.
Colt Model 1908 Vest Pocket (1908)
Pocket pistol for self-defense, American equivalent of the Belgian Browning M1906. Produced from 1908 to 1948, only 420,705 units.
Colt M1911 (1909)
The 1911 Colt was designed by John Browning in 1909. During the First World War, he proved to be a reliable weapon of the officers of the American army. Soon the original version was revised and in 1926 the Colt M1911A1 appeared. This version turned out to be more reliable, and served in the US Army until Operation Desert Storm.
Colt Double Eagle (1990)
Colt Double Eagle It has a double action trigger mechanism. Produced since 1990. The design of this gun was entirely made of stainless steel. The pistol was produced in two versions: Commander (with a shortened barrel and bolt) and Officers Model (with a shortened barrel and bolt, and a reduced grip). Compared to its contemporaries, the Double Eagle was too heavy. Perhaps that is why it was not very popular, as a result of which its release was completely discontinued in 1997.