Colt Automatic Pistols

After producing his earliest gun models in the 1830s, Samuel Colt was granted a patent for the revolver in 1836. The basic principle of the design was a revolving-breech mechanism that enabled a gun to be fired multiple times without reloading. This was a great improvement over most revolvers of the day, which required the shooter to manually spin the cylinder before taking the next shot.

Capitalizing on the patent giving him a monopoly on revolver manufacturing until 1857 and using his grasp of industrialization and natural penchant for marketing, Colt opened the world’s largest private firearms factory in 1855. His gunmaking operation, the first to mass produce gun parts using steam-powered belt-driven machines, quickly assembled handguns at a time when most guns were still being made by hand.

Samuel Colt's innovations led to the production of the legendary Peacemaker, a single-action .45-caliber revolver that incorporated the grip frame he pioneered in earlier percussion revolvers. Colt automatic pistols like the legendary U.S. military-adopted 1911 Model solidified the gun maker's place as a world leader in firearms.

Quick Facts

• In 2009, an engraved gold inlaid Colt army revolver available in the Sears & Roebuck catalog at the turn of the 20th century sold for $747,500 at a James D. Julia auction
• In 2012, a 16 inch Colt Buntline Special single-action Army revolver, one of 16 produced, sold at Rock Island Auction for a world record $546,250
• In 2015, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt's B Company-marked U.S. Walker Model 1847 Colt revolver sold at Rock Island Auction for $345,000