“ That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard!” These words were reportedly once spoken by Samuel Colt during a discussion about double-action revolvers. Sam Colt thought the double-action handguns like the “pepper boxes,” Remington-Rider and the then new Pettengill were fragile toys next to his new powerful and accurate 1860 Army and 1861 Navy revolvers, both adopted by the military. The Civil War was raging, and these were the kinds of pistols that would help the North win; not some short-barrel gun with which one couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. No, not as long as he was alive!
Sadly, however, Col. Samuel Colt passed away on January 10, 1862, possibly from pneumonia, and things began to change if ever so slowly. The double-action Remington-Rider .36-caliber percussion revolver came…
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Guns of the Old West (Digital) - 1 Issue, Spring 2022