AWC is wrapping up its trip around the calendar with a tale of the American frontier, where life was tough 180 years ago. With no 911 service, isolated homesteaders had to defend their own territory. A hunting rifle could serve as a defensive weapon in a pinch, but the time needed to reload between shots meant you’d better aim well the first time. But Samuel Colt started a revolution in the firearms industry when he formed the Patent Arms Manufacturing company and made the first production model of the .34 caliber revolver on the same day 179 years ago on March 5, 1836. While Colt didn’t invent the revolver, he would go on to popularize it.

Handguns are bound to trigger controversy as a topic of celebration, and in an urbanized country with an established police force, a case can be made that wide access to firearms does more harm than good. But things were different in 1836, particularly west of the Mississippi. Families often had to fend for themselves, and a reliable gun was a fact of life. With the Colt revolver (Colt’s patent gave him exclusive production rights until 1857), a major shortcoming of the rifle and single-shot pistol was overcome. The revolving chamber allowed the trigger action to slide the next bullet into place, allowing the gunman (or woman) to get off the next round by just cocking the hammer and firing again.

With the ability to get off multiple shots at once from a compact weapon that traveled in a holster, settlers stood better odds against cattle thieves or Indian raids. The six-shooter could also be used for hunting, although the short barrel and lack of a sight made it less suitable than a hunting rifle for taking down game. (Colt’s company seemed to realize the value of the rifle-handgun combo. The Colt Frontier Six-Shooter was released in 1877, and was designed to be compatible with the same .44-40 caliber bullets used in the popular Winchester rifle, allowing settlers to carry one type of ammunition for both guns.)

The downside of this story is that the phrase “arms race” exists for a reason. If the good guys have better weapons, it’s a matter of seconds until the bad guys have them too. Colt’s handguns were popular with criminals as well as ranchers, and with Native Americans as well as cowboys. (Who qualified as the good guys or the bad guys in that scenario is still being debated.) It’s fair to say that Colt was probably a mercenary, who didn’t particularly care where his weapons ended up. (He approached both North and South to do business during the Civil War, and was said to believe that even bad publicity was fine, as long as his guns were referenced by name.)

But in lawless frontier towns where everyone carried, the revolver was seen as largely a force for good. One popular adage said that “God made men, but Samuel Colt made them equal.” (Of course, that could have been some of Colt’s famous marketing.) The Colt Single Action Army model was coined “the Peacemaker,” and is so iconic that it’s become known as “the gun that won the West.” (That’s not just marketing, since Colt was long dead by the time the West was tamed.)

Regardless of Colt’s character, his innovation was crucial in allowing the boldest (or most desperate) Americans to keep pushing the outer reaches of the Western frontier. At a time when a home security system meant an alert dog and a good aim, a Colt six-shooter could make all the difference. Plus, without them, all the cowboys in those Westerns would be toting rifles on horseback…which wouldn’t look nearly as cool.

With 366 posts, AWC has hit every spot on the calendar (including February 29). We’re just about ready to turn out the lights on this series, but we’ll tend to a little more business first over the next few days. Stay tuned.

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