Colt

  Colt's Manufacturing Company was founded in 1855 by Samuel Colt. Sam’s entrepreneurial career began at age 22, opening his first plant in Paterson, New Jersey in 1836. After production at the New Jersey plant ended in 1942 Colt submitted a prototype to the US government by 1846. This prototype was seen by Captain Samuel Hamilton Walker who made some suggestions to Colt about making it in a larger caliber. Sam designed the new more powerful colt revolver and the US Ordnance Department ordered one thousand of the new pistols, “The Walker” was born. Sam Colt became the first American manufacture to open a plant in England strengthening his reputation in the international market. During the 1850s and World War I, Colt was a dominating force in its industry and a seminal influence on manufacturing technology. Colt's earliest designs played a major role in the popularization of the revolver and the shift away from earlier single-shot pistols. To this day Colt produces firearms for our military, law enforcement, commercial, and international markets.   “Abe Lincoln may have freed all men, but Sam Colt made them equal”