Pistol Patent Day Date in the current year: February 25, 2026

Strictly speaking, a pistol is a type of handgun with a single integral chamber in its barrel. In contrast, a revolver has a rotating cylinder with multiple chambers that are separately aligned with the barrel. However, people often use the term “pistol” in casual speech to refer to any handgun. This is the case with Pistol Patent Day, which commemorates the invention of the revolver rather than the “true” pistol.

Most early handguns were single-shot pistols that required manual reloading after each shot. This changed in the early 19th century when American industrialist Samuel Colt invented a revolver that could fire several shots before needing to be reloaded. Although the revolver was invented before Colt, Colt’s was the first practical revolver.

Colt was born on July 19, 1814, in Hartford, Connecticut. While in school, he was introduced to the scientific encyclopedia Compendium of Knowledge. The articles about gunpowder and Robert Fulton inspired him to become an inventor and accomplish what was once deemed impossible. After hearing soldiers discuss the impossibility of a multi-shot gun, Colt decided to create the “impossible gun”.

Shortly before his 16th birthday, Colt caused a fire by conducting a pyrotechnic experiment. His father then took him out of school and sent him away to learn the seaman’s trade. During a voyage to Calcutta, Colt was inspired by the mechanism of windlasses and capstans to create the revolver. While aboard the ship, he used scrap wood to create a model of a revolver.

After returning to the United States, Colt continued working on firearms and toured the United States and Canada with public lectures and demonstrations to earn money to finance the development of his ideas. He also borrowed $300 from Henry Leavitt Ellsworth, a friend of his father’s who encouraged Colt to perfect the gun prototype before applying for a patent.

The prototype was ready in 1835. Ellsworth, the newly appointed Commissioner of the U.S. Patent Office, advised Colt to apply for foreign patents before applying in the United States, as an American patent would prevent him from applying in the United Kingdom. Colt then traveled to Europe and secured a UK patent for the first practical revolving firearm in October 1853. He then returned to the United States, applied for a U.S. patent, and was granted it on February 25, 1836.

With the patent, Colt raised money from investors and incorporated the Patent Arms Manufacturing Company of Paterson, New Jersey. Interestingly, the company’s first firearm was not the revolver, but the Colt first model ring lever rifle. The Colt Paterson revolver followed shortly thereafter.

Colt’s patent revolutionized gun manufacturing by enabling the mass production of multi-load handguns. Although semi-automatic pistols are much more widespread today, revolvers have not become obsolete and remain popular among American gun owners.