Samuel Colt's first factory, the Patent Arms Company (Plant ruins site at: 40° 55' 01.04" N, 74° 10' 44.48" W) of Paterson, New Jersey manufactured 1,450 revolving rifles and carbines, 462 revolving shotguns and 2,350 revolving pistols between 1836 and 1842 when the business failed...
...In 1839, a hinged loading lever and capping window became standard for new revolvers and was retrofitted to the older designs. So modified, the revolvers could be loaded without disassembly. When the Paterson revolvers with loading levers finally reached Texas in 1842, Texas Ranger Captain John Coffee Hays was very pleased that his ranging companies could now reload from horseback.
Colt Paterson
Production history
Designer Samuel Colt
Samuel Hamilton Walker
Designed 1836
Manufacturer Patent Arms Company,
Paterson NJ
Produced c. 1836-1842
(assembled and sold by John Ellers after failure of Patent Arms company)
Number built c 2,800
Variants different calibers,sizes and configurations