Why did Samuel Colt invent the colt 45?

Answer 1

Actually, Samuel Colt did not "invent" the Colt .45 (which is the name often given to the Colt Single Action Army revolver). Sam died in January, 1862 and the Colt SAA was introduced in 1875. Sam's big invention was the application of the wheel principle to repeating handguns so that a freshly charged chamber would be rotated behind the barrel and allow for several shots before the gun had to be reloaded. His first commercial revolver was sold in 1836 and was a 5 shot, .36 caliber, percussion gun called the "Patterson" after Patterson, New Jersey where the factory was located. It was a commercial failure. In 1848, Sam (with the help of a Texas Ranger named Walker) redesigned the handgun to make it significantly more sturdy and powerful and this gun was a commercial success. Improved designs followed and the Colt Patent Firearms Company grew and was profitable. The Civil War was very lucrative for Colt and thousands of 1860 Army and 1862 Navy revolvers were sold.

All of these wartime Colt guns were percussion firearms (meaning that they were charged with loose black powder which was followed by a round lead ball and the back of the cylinder fitted with a percussion cap.) Loading the gun was time consuming. It had been recognized that cartridge firearms were superior in almost every way to percussion firearms but the Smith & Wesson company owned the 1857 patent for a bored through cylinder and they weren't giving it up. Colt and other companies had to wait for the patent to expire in 1874 before they could sell guns with a bored through cylinder. Accordingly, in 1875, Colt introduced the Single Action Army in .45 Colt caliber and sold a boatload to the US Army as well as civilians. Remington sold a very similar gun also in 1875. Other companies quickly followed. Colt soon sold the SAA in other calibers to the civilian market.

The real answer to your question, though, of "why" did Colt invent the gun which eventually evolved to the .45 SAA is that he conceived of an idea for a machine which people would purchase. He combined several ideas together in a new way and made the new combination function. He wasn't a genius, but he was willing to work to make his ideas real and then work to make them accepted. The success of his company had more to do with timing (the Civil War and the subsequent opening of the West) than manufacturing or marketing brilliance, but that's how life works. Ask Bill Gates.