Samuel Colt, born near Hartford, Connecticut in 1814, Colt was shipped off to sea by his father. While on board, Colt noticed that the helmsman's wheel always lined up with one of its spokes through the use of a simple clutch and locking device. In 1830 his ship sailed to India, where Colt saw a repeating pistol invented by Bostonian Elisha Collier. On his return voyage, Colt combined the mechanism of the helmsman's wheel with the idea of a repeating pistol and developed his Colt " revolver ."

Colt used a pawl mechanism to rotate the cylinder that held the bullets. The cylinder was locked into place by cocking the hammer. Colt was in his teens at the time, and his design was so simple that he whittled a wooden model while still on board ship. In 1832 Colt returned to the United States with plans to manufacture his pistol.

In 1836 Colt received...