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The Colt revolver, popularized by inventor Samuel Colt, is a repeating pistol featuring a multichambered revolving cylinder behind a single barrel. Colt's innovative design, patented in 1835-36, allowed the cylinder to rotate and lock into place with the hammer, enabling successive shots without manual reloading.123

Early models were single-action, requiring the hammer to be manually cocked. Later advancements, particularly with the advent of reliable metallic cartridges around 1870, led to practical double-action revolvers where a single trigger pull both cocked the hammer and rotated the cylinder. The Colt Peacemaker, introduced in 1873, became an iconic sidearm of the American West.132

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