Colt Model 1871-72 .44 Open Top
The Colt Open Top in caliber .44, also "Model 71/72 44 Open Top Frontier", like the Colt percussion revolver modified on metal cartridges, was an intermediate product of Colt's Patent Fire Arms Mfg. Co. to respond quickly to the breech- loading revolver market . The Colt Open Top was in production until the end of 1872. His successor was the Colt Single Action Army in 1873 .
The Rollin White patent
In the 1850s, Rollin White developed a revolver loading mechanism. Since Samuel Colt showed no interest in White's mechanism, he left the company and patented his development. The patent drawing showed a drum drilled through completely cylindrical. The patent was granted on April 3, 1855 for 7 years and extended until April 1869, the Smith & Wesson company took over and was able to bring the first revolver for metal cartridges onto the market at the end of 1857 (see Smith & Wesson No 1 ).
At that time, all other weapon manufacturers were still bound by patents and could only offer their customers revolvers with front-loading drums. After Rollin White had unsuccessfully applied for a further seven-year extension of his patent, it became invalid in April 1869.
Development of the Colt Open Top .44
After the Rollin White patent expired in April 1869, Colt developed a revolver, first called "Army 42", to make it available to the US Army for testing purposes. Since the army decided to modify the Colt Army Model 1860 percussion revolvers, which were still available in large numbers, Colt offered the revolvers now known as "Open Top Frontier" on the civilian market. (Open Top stands for the frame that is open at the top). The Open Top was a cartridge revolver developed on the basis of the Colt Model 1851/61 Navy muzzle loaders. The first copies were built on the frame of the Navy Colt and bore the stamp of COLT's patent, later the "Two July" patent, known by collectors today, was opened. The Open Top had a detachable .44 caliber barrel with a rear visor. The first 1,000 Open Top revolvers produced still had the short Navy handle, later the longer Army handle was used. They differed from the conversion models in that there was no additional plate behind the drum. They fired rimfire cartridges in caliber .44 Henry , which were also fired in the Henry rifle and his successors. On the one hand, this obsolete cartridge was one of the reasons for the rejection of the army, on the other hand, the revolver with this ammunition was interesting for the owners of Henry rifles and Winchester 1866 - rifles and carbines.
With the army still showing no interest in the Open Top, Colt decided to develop a completely new closed-frame weapon, the Colt Single Action Army. This revolver, developed by chief engineer William Mason, was determined to be an orderly weapon of the American army after successful tests. Simultaneously with the start of production of the Single Action Army in December 1872, the production of the open top model was stopped; in total, a little less than 6,000 of these weapons were produced.
Other early Colt cartridge revolvers
In order not to miss the train, Colt launched Colt Conversions from 1870 , muzzle loaders converted to use cartridges. Even before 1870, F. Alexander Thuer, an engineer at Colt, developed a revolver that fired metal cartridges, the Thuer Conversion. In this weapon, the cartridges with slightly conical cases were still inserted from the front into the conical chamber; the Rollin White patent was not infringed, as it referred to cylindrical bored chamber.
Later, Charles.B. Richards and William Mason developed systems for converting percussion revolvers to rear loading. These weapons, known today as "Richards-Conversion" and "Richards-Mason Conversion", in calibers .44 and .36 fired rim or centerfire cartridges and were brought onto the market between 1872 and 1878.
In addition to these conversions, Colt also launched newly developed cartridge revolvers, the Colt House 1871 cal .41 and the Colt Open Top Pocket .22 revolver between 1871 and 1872 .
See also
literature
- Robert Q. Sutherland, Robert L. Wilson: The Book of Colt Firearms . Published by Robert Q. Sutherland, Kansas City MO 1971.
- C. Kenneth Moore: Colt. Single Action Army Revolver Study, "New Discoveries" . Andrew Mowbray Inc. Publishers, Lincoln RI 2003, ISBN 1-931464-07-3 .
- John E. Parsons: The Peacemaker and its Rivals. An Account of the Single Action Colt . William Morrow & Co., New York, NY 1950.
- R. Bruce McDowell: A Study of Colt Conversions and Other Percussion Revolvers . Krause Publications, Iola WI 1997, ISBN 0-87341-446-2 .