Colt's Manufacturing Company
Colt's Manufacturing Company, LLC is an American firearms manufacturer, founded in 1855 by Samuel Colt and now a subsidiary of Czech holding company Colt CZ Group. It is the successor corporation to Colt's earlier firearms-making efforts, which started in 1836. Colt is known for the engineering, production, and marketing of firearms, most especially between the 1850s and World War I, when it 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 single-shot pistols. Although Samuel Colt did not invent the revolver concept, his designs resulted in the first very successful model.
Colt Model of 1848 Holster Pistol (First Model Dragoon)
Colt's Armory from an 1857 engraving viewed from the East
Colt Navy (top) and Army Models from 1861 and 1860
Colt Deringers, at right 1st Model (1870–1890), at left 3rd Model (1875–1912), all .41 rimfire
Samuel Colt was an American inventor, industrialist, and businessman who established Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company and made the mass production of revolvers commercially viable.
Engraving by John Chester Buttre, c. 1855
Portrait of Col. Samuel Colt, engraving by George Catlin after a painting by Charles Loring Elliott (Wadsworth Atheneum), Hartford.
Samuel Hamilton Walker (1817–1847).
Modern reproductions of the Colt Paterson [top] and Colt Walker (Middle).