Colt's inspiration for designing revolver weapons came from an idea he had when he was a sailor. On a voyage, young Colt discovered that the winch mechanism on the ship was similar to the working principle of firearms. Therefore, in his spare time at sea, he carved this idea into a set of wooden wheels. This wheel principle is not only applicable to long weapons such as rifles, but also to small weapons worn on the body.
1836 Colt established his first weapons manufacturing factory in Patterson, New Jersey, and soon became one of the fastest growing weapons manufacturing companies in the United States. At the age of 22, Colt became the company's chief operator and product designer. Soon, Colt developed three different types of revolvers-pocket pistols, belt pistols and large pistols with holsters. At the same time, he also developed two kinds of rifles: one uses hammer firing and the other uses lever firing. All types of guns are filled with gunpowder and bullets in the bore of the runner, and fire caps are designed outside the bore. When launching, pull the trigger and hammer the fire cap. Although the weapons using this new principle have made a qualitative leap compared with the old weapons, these weapons are unsalable after leaving the factory because of the dependence of users on the original products at that time. Fortunately, the American government at that time bought a small number of lever rifles, but the total number sold was less than 100.
1842, Peterson's company finally closed down, so Colt turned his business to selling waterproof ammunition and mines for port defense to the government, and signed a sales agreement with Moss, the inventor of waterproof ammunition and mines.
1845, American National Mounted Police joined hands with Texas Mounted Police to wage a fierce battle with local Indians. In this battle, the national cavalry and mounted police successfully used Colt's weapons and won a great victory. This successful example left a deep impression on the officials of the US War Department. So 1846 When the Mexican War broke out, Captain Walker of the United States Army found Colt and cooperated with him to design a more powerful new revolver.
Within a week after the successful design of the new gun, the United States Ordnance Department ordered thousands of guns, and Colt named the gun "Walker" revolver after his collaborator. Although the contract was signed, Colt at that time suffered from not having his own production plant. So he turned to Eli Whitney for help. Whitney has a factory in Connecticut. It was in this factory that Colt completed the manufacture of thousands of new pistols and delivered them smoothly in the middle of 1847.
185 1, colt set out to do two important things for his future career development. First, it is unusual to open a factory in Britain, because it is the first time in the history of American manufacturing industry to open a factory in Britain, thus greatly enhancing Colt's prestige. Another thing is that he bought a grassland construction factory in Hartford, the capital of Connecticut. Because the grassland is not far from the Connecticut River, it is often hit by floods. In order to avoid the flood, Colt built a 2-mile (3218m) long dam. 1855 workshop completed and put into production.
Colt deployed the most advanced processing equipment for this factory at that time, and produced 5000 high-quality pistols in the first year of construction. Since then, he has taken the time to update the equipment, and the update rate has reached 80%. By the middle of the 20th century, the products produced by the factory had reached a high consistency.
At the same time, Colt also made a move with his advanced consciousness. He designed a round roof with a very strange shape like an onion at the top of the factory in Hartford, and cast a portrait of a Mercedes-Benz pony (colt also means pony) in bronze. Such a flamboyant image design caused a sensation in the local area. Colt did it only to attract the attention of local residents and foreign tourists to the building, and also to attract people's attention to Colt Company. In the present words, Colt has adopted a very novel brand promotion strategy.
1855, colt established colt patent gun manufacturing company in Connecticut, and issued 10000 shares, most of which he held himself, and the rest were distributed to other business partners. 1856, colt company has reached the output of Nissan 150 guns, and its products are all over the world, and it has won a high reputation for its excellent quality and superb skills. Colt himself has become one of the top ten business tycoons in America at that time. The Connecticut government awarded him an honorary title in recognition of his support for the government.
With the increasing demand for Colt weapons from all walks of life, Colt carved exquisite patterns on weapons gifts and display weapons, and inlaid precious gold and silver decorations. In fact, Colt has always preferred to carve gold and silver ornaments on weapons. It is precisely because of this feature and its superior quality that Colt weapons became the first choice for gifts from heads of state at that time.
Colt has adopted various channels in arms sales: first, through agents; The second is to wholesale products to wholesalers, who then sell them to retail stores all over the country; The third way is to set up sales offices in new york and London. In addition, the company's sales department also accepts direct orders from rich people and celebrities. This marketing method was later greatly respected by the business community and was recognized as one of the earliest manufacturers in the United States to effectively implement marketing operations.
From 65438 to 0860, on the eve of the American Civil War, the demand for weapons increased rapidly. Colt kept sending weapons to the joint forces in the southern United States, as long as the troops needed them. Up to 186 1, colt company has been running at full capacity.
1862 65438+1October 10 samuel colt unfortunately died young at the age of 47, but he made more than 400,000 weapons in his life. His real estate value is $6,543,805,000, equivalent to $300 million in the 1990s, making him the richest man in the world. After Colt's death, the company was taken over by his widow and family. A series of important events happened during the period when Mrs. Colt and her family were in charge.
1864, colt company and some nearby offices were caught in a fire, and in the next three years, except for assembling military products, the company has been in a state of suspension. During this period, Colt mainly modified the firing mechanism of thousands of single-acting military weapons to enable them to fire central firing bullets. The sale of this single-action military weapon was very successful and became a household name in the United States, "winning the gun of the West". Later, Mrs. Colt decided to rebuild Colt Company and demanded that the new factory should be as fireproof as possible.
1867, colt company began to produce Gatling machine guns. This machine gun rotates by shaking the crank by hand to drive the 6 ~ 10 barrel to rotate, and the ammunition is supplied by the ammunition supply mechanism outside the gun tail. 1872, the company began to produce its first modern revolver-this is the famous M 1873 single-acting military revolver, which fired a metal shell bullet with primer. By the beginning of 194 1, Colt had produced more than 350,000 M 1873 single-acting revolvers with different calibers, of which 40,000 were 0.45 inch caliber models ordered by the government.
Colt's production scope continues to expand. Up to 1880, the company's products range from smaller Dellinger racing pistols to larger shotguns, as well as a large number of double-acting revolvers, single-acting revolvers, pump rifles and barrel machine guns of various calibers. Although colt company has made great achievements at this time, it also faces many powerful competitors. Among them, Smith-Wei Sen Company is the biggest competitor of pistol category; Rifles and shotguns compete with Remington and Winchester; Of course, in terms of machine gun production, no company in the United States at that time could compete with Colt.
189 1 At the beginning of the year, Colt Company began to produce the water-cooled machine gun designed by Browning, and delivered it to the US Navy in 1897, which played an important role in the war between the United States and Spain. The production of this gun has established a long-term and mutually beneficial cooperative relationship between Colt and Browning, including the production of Browning machine guns, the famous Browning automatic rifle (BAR) and Colt's 0.45-inch semi-automatic pistol (m191/m19/kloc-0. At the same time, Colt also promoted this weapon to the civilian market and achieved great success.
During the 54 years from 190 1 to 1955, colt company faced the same problems as all weapons companies at that time. For example, during the war, the demand for weapons increased rapidly, and after each war, the demand for weapons decreased rapidly, which requires enterprises to change their products quickly in order to survive. Faced with this complicated situation, Colt Company successfully responded. 1942, the number of employees in colt company reached 15000. During the war, the company worked hard to produce weapons. After the war, the company immediately adopted a product diversification strategy to produce various types of machinery, such as printing machines, punching machines, plastic products machines and dishwashers. However, since the last year of World War II, the company's production performance began to decline due to the decreasing demand for weapons and the aging of the company's equipment. This situation makes the American government gradually lose trust in the management level of Colt Company.
From 65438 to 0955, the company's performance continued to decline, book losses, monthly orders gradually declined, and some original orders were cancelled. Faced with this situation, the management of Colt Company decided to find a partner. In September of the same year, Leopold D. Silberstein proposed to cooperate with Colt. The company belongs to Payne-Texas Group. After the cooperation, Colt Company became an independent subsidiary of the Group.
1955 introduced the famous Python revolver, which was heavily equipped for American law enforcement forces in 1970s and 1980s. This kind of revolver is famous for its fine workmanship and practical and reliable performance. With the trend of modern law enforcement units and military equipment with automatic pistols, pythons have been retired from production on 1993, but they are still the favorite of collectors and gun fans. Now, if you want to get a python, you can only order it from the manufacturer through second-hand channels or at a high price, and the retail price exceeds $65,438+0,000.
1960 is a milestone for colt company. In this year, the company introduced the production line of semi-automatic rifle AR 15, followed by automatic rifle M 16. During the Vietnam War, the American government asked Colt to provide weapons for the army.
During the period of 1964, the company underwent major changes and the parent company was reorganized again. Although the development of Colt Company is difficult, it has always explored the market with a positive and enterprising spirit, and has successively launched the reproduction business of Sharps rifles, Sol rifles and black powder. At the same time, according to the demand of weapon carving business, the company continues to expand carving personnel.
1984, colt introduced the m1911a1pistol production line. However, in the same year, the US military decided to remove the M1911A1pistol, which made Colt suffer an unexpected blow.
1988, colt company lost the contract to order M 16 rifles from the American government, which was a disastrous blow to the company. 1989, Colt Company announced that it would resell most of its assets to Hoding Company. 1990, Ding Huo Company sold it to private investors in Connecticut and renamed it Colt Manufacturing Company. New Colt Company began to produce double eagle two-handed guns, ananda 0.44-inch Ma Genan double-acting revolvers and sports rifles.
1994, colt company won the contract to produce nearly 1 9000 M4 carbines for the U.S. military and joint special forces. To this end, the company built a new factory in the west of the original factory and closed the original factory in Hartford. In September of that year, a group of new investors bought Colt, and the company got rid of the bankruptcy dilemma.
1995, colt company introduced a single-action military gun named "the last shot", which is a traditional weapon carefully carved and inlaid with gold ornaments, representing the prestige of colt weapon family. This year, the company also produced various new products, which can be said to be quite rewarding. At this time, Colt, as an industry leader, began to cooperate with the National Association of Justice to develop "smart guns" (guns that can only be fired when the gunman pulls the trigger). From 65438 to 0996, Colt Company once again opened up a new front. Together with the professional cowboy association, it carefully designed a single-acting military revolver named "The Legend" and put it on the market. In recent years, Colt has continuously introduced new production lines and produced a variety of products, once again consolidating its leading position in the industry.
Although the times have changed several times, samuel colt and the colt company he founded have brought great influence to the light weapons industry, which has not disappeared yet and will continue.