Uberti Paterson

[mec]

This replica sat under glass at a local gunshop from 1991-2003. This is because I was unable to find a source for the extremely numerous springs and lock parts. When VTI GunParts and Cimarron proved reliable I picked it up.

The Paterson was made at the Patent Arms Company in Paterson N.J. and was the product of Sam Colts Developmental efforts throughout the early/middle 1830s. He produced it in various sizes with calibers ranging from .28-40. He even designed a huge .54 caliber that never went into production. Revolving long guns were the first out the door and saw some service in the Seminole War in Florida. The primary customer was the Navy of the Republic of Texas with the revolvers quickly being picked up by Texas Rangers. The 1836 "Texas Paterson" is the most familiar of the Patersons and is generally reported to have been .36 Caliber like the Uberti reproduction.

In late 1842, Patersons with loading levers arrived- much to the approval of Ranger Captain Jack Hays who realized that it would now be possible to load the revolvers from horseback. The loading drill for the first one is quite cumbersome

Standard gear for Ranging Companies included two Patersons, an 1842 Carbine, a couple of holster (saddle) pistols that were likely either the flintlock of 1837 or the Aston-Johnson type of caplock that came in in 1842. Jack Hayes had most of this gear with him when he got trapped on the top of the Enchanted Rock near present Kerrville and had to fight off a big party of Comanches before being rescued by his surveying party. They also took part in the Hays Big Fight- wherein a party of about 15 rangers is said to have defeated 80 of Buffalo Hump's Comanches with the Patersons.

An' Artist's conception of this fight appears on the Dragoon and other revolvers.

The Uberti has a light trigger that makes up to some degree, for the odd-shaped grip. Precision shooting is not really in the offing but delivers "Combat Accuracy" out to a useful range. The rangers usually shot from horseback or at mounted targets so Hay's injunction " Don't shoot until you can touch 'em, boys!" turned out to be good advice.

The Patent Arms Company went broke in 1842 having produced about 2800 revolving handguns of all types and a number of revolving cylinder rifles and shotguns.

50 foot one-handed. Note trigger folds up into the frame and drops down when the hammer is cocked.

 

[trent/OH]

A revolving cylinder shotgun??? Now THAT sounds interesting!!

 

[mec]

It was REAL interesting. Particularly when there was a cross ignition from one chamber to another and your hand was out in front of the cylinder.

there is a story about Colt taking one of these to a garden party and breaking a bunch of arial targets.


One revolving long gun- not a colt actually had a ferris wheel type cylinder that always kept at least one chamber pointed back at the shooter. There is a story that some Native Americans carried one off from a wagon train raid. Sometime later, they found another wagon train and gave the gun back to the white-eyes figuring if somebody was going to hurt themselves with it, it might as well be the enemy.

 

[Keith]

I can't find it right now, but there is a oft repeated quote from a Texas (Houston?) newspaper about how dangerous the old Colt revolving rifles were. I almost think the newspaper complaint was the tended to explode. I need to think where that quote is and I'll try to post it.

 

[mec]

"Friends don't let friends shoot inlines." HAH! That's rich!

 

[bezoar]

whats wrong with a turret rifle or turret pistol? more shots than a colt adn you dont have to dissamble the whole gun to replace a cylinder.

and it was teh walkers that tended to explode. cylinders werent strong enough.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Several unpleasant things about the Colt revolving rifles. When the barrel got hot there was no comfortable place to support it with using your off hand (some did have forends). The cylinder gap would allow it to "spit" and burn your off arm (and clothing), and in the event of a chain-fire your left hand's wrist and piddies were out there collecting lead.


P.W. Porter Turret

Colt 1855 Shotgun

Colt 1839 Shotgun

Roper Revolving Shotgun

 

[Keith]

I found the reference I was thinking of, sort of. The book doesn't have bibliographical notes. I have read this elsewhere so it is not made up I am sure. In refering to chainfires it was written, "several accidents of this kind have occured in that city since the introduction of these pieces, owing chiefly to thier being in unskilled hands, and the inhabitants, in consequence, by way of ridicule, call the weapon 'Colt's Patent wheel of misfortune'." This was from an TX newspaper and the city refered to is Austin. The firearm was apparently one of the early 1839 (?) patent arms. The problem was not exploding as I thought but chainfires. With your support hand and arm out front of the firearm a chainfire would obviously be very bad indeed for the shooter.

 

[mec]

I've seen that- maybe in RL Wilson. When you brought it up, I had forgetten the Wheel of Misfortune thing.

The Walkers did explode- just under 300 went back for new cylinders from the 1847 fracas. IN 1860, when Colt came out with the Army Model, they put some out with fluted cylinders for lightness. In spite of the carbon controlled, "Silver Steel" some of those blew up too.

 

[Keith]

MEC, Truthfully, I forgot they were called Wheels of Misfortune until I found that myself. Keep the stuff about cap and ball revolvers coming I enjoy your posts.
Keith

 

[Birdwatcher]

With respect to eyewitness historical accouts of Texas history, Texas is blessed with three remarkable first hand accounts:

Noah Smithwick was a Gunsmith and Ranger who arrived in Texas just prior to the Revolution. He missed the Alamo on account of a fever, although he did meet Crockett as he passed through Bastrop en route, Crockett trading off his caplock longrifle for a flinter. The same Lipan Apaches that rode with Hays used to hang out in Smithwick's gun shop and Smithwick was likely the first American to reside with Comances for a spell.

Notable in Smithwick's accounts are a dearth of references to pistols or revolvers, him apparently still carrying a flinter when pursuing a pair of Comanche horse thieves as late as around 1840 (he refers to checking the priming on his rifle). The only reference IIRC to a revolver being a pepperbox he used when joining a party attempting to recapture a runaway slave (in his recollections "the meanest thing I ever did").

Smithwick, a Union man, left the State for California in 1861. In his last years he went blind and his daughter got him to recite his life story to keep him occuppied, his collected memoirs published as "The Evolution of a State or Recollections of Old Texas Days". Providentially available in its entirety online...
http://www.oldcardboard.com/lsj/olbooks/smithwic/otd.htm

Frederick Law Olmstead, later to design Central Park, travelled though Texas in the 1850's, his account of his travels published as "A Journey Through Texas" (University of Texas Press). Can't put my hand on it just now, but IIRC, Olmstead observed that virtually every man in Texas carried a '51 Navy Colt. Probably an exaggeration but indicative of how common revolvers had gotten.

The third source is the collected memoirs of John Salmon (RIP) Ford; "RIP Ford's Texas" (University of Texas Press). Ford was by turns a Physician, Ranger Captain, Newspaper Editor, Confederate Colonel and State Senator and, after Hays left for California gold, the premier Ranger Captain of his day. Ford led campaigns as diverse as going against Comanches in Oklahoma and Juan Cortina along the Border, in between fighting numerous mounted skirmishes on the Texas Plains. Notable too that he commanded the Confederate forces in the last battle of the War Between the States (he won). A remarkable account of more than 20 years of armed service, Ford himself coming across as low key and affable and often heaping high praise upon his adversaries.

Anyways, pertinent to exploding Walker Colts, this from p. 70 of "RIP Ford's Texas", relating an episode that occurred late in 1847 when he was serving in Mexico with Hays...

...While at Vergara, we drew six-shooters, the old-fashioned long-barrelled kind. It carried a ball as near to the mark, and to a greater distance, than the Mississippi rifle.
Many of the men had not used revolvers. Some of them put the small end of the conical ball down first. A single fire usually burst the cylinder.
Some let the loose powder trail around the cylinder; six shots would be fired at once.
On day a "greeny" was in his tent cleaning his pistol. The adjutant advised him to remove the caps. He said he would. In a minute or two a pistol shot was heard. Greeny had shot his own horse in the head and put himself afoot...

For anyone visiting San Antonio, most folks don't know that Samuel Walker himself, who drew upon his Ranger experiences when advised Colt on the design of his new six-shooter, is buried in an old cemetery about a mile from the River Walk. "Unlucky" Walker was one of the few casualties in Hays' famous fight with Comanches along the Pedernales River where the Rangers tried out their Pattersons, Walker being wounded by a Comanche lance. Samuel Walker was later killed in Mexico, his body returned to San Antonio for burial by his grieving comrades.

Another point of trivia; Colt appeared to have always been grateful to Texas for restoring his fortunes, featuring Texas battle scenes on all of his revolving pistols while he was still alive. The way I read it, the scene of mounted Texas combat featured on his Dragoon pistols was actually intended to portray Texas Rangers. The engraver, being unfamiliar with the Rangers' usual motley attire, portrayed uniformed Dragoons instead.

Birdwatcher

 

[Birdwatcher]

Here's a pretty good account of what was reportedly Hay's inaugaration of the Patterson in combat; fifteen Rangers against a much larger force of Comanches led by Yellow Wolf. Interesting that it occurred as late as 1844. Note that at least two Ranger casualties (including Walker) were inflicted by lances, indicative of the fierceness of the fight.

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/WW/btw2.html

...and a general link about Colt's revolvers in Texas from the same website (including Olmstead's observation).

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/CC/lnc1.html

With regards to Jack Hays being trapped on Enchanted Rock, a number of conflicting accounts have been written, Hays himself apparently leaving no account, all surviving accounts having been written second or third-hand some years later. It seems to have occurred in the Fall of 1841, and by most accounts Hays' Patterson revolvers featured prominently in the fight (which would seem to conflict with the 1844 affray at Walker Creek being the "first battle").

I have been on Enchanted Rock numerous times (an enormous batholith comparable to Georgia's Stone Mountain) and it becomes apparent that once Hays got up there, there was no way for the Comanches to get at him without crossing expanses of open rock. Within rifle range but likely out of accurate arrow range.

Reportedly the Plains Indians always did have an aversion to taking unneccesary casualties. It seems entirely possible to me that the Comanches did indeed trap Hays up on the rock surrounded him for a while, eventually concluding that the probable cost (I have yet to find a reputable body count from the incident) wasn't worth forcing the issue.

Anyways, for a couple of accounts see...
http://www.forttours.com/pages/jhays.asp#PEDERNALES

Hmm... seems I jumped all over this thread. I ain't had a good history discussion in a while and you guys are talking about my neck of the woods

Regards,
Birdwatcher

 

[mec]

I've read the story about the troop shooting his horse and also the material about backward seated bullets having something to do with the blow-ups. I didn't realize old "Rest In Peace" Ford was the source.

 

[Birdwatcher]

Mec... this thread got me to poring over Ford's memoirs again, specific to the accounting of 1850 when Ford's Company patrolled the area south of San Antonio between Corpus Christi and Laredo. Prominent in the events mentioned is their Scout, Roque Mauricio...

...He was a Mexican crossed with an Indian. He had been captured at an early age by Comanches. They made him a war captain. He spoke their language fluently, knew all the country above the upper line of White settlements, also west and south of the Colorado River. He was an expert trailer. His sense of smell was wonderful. He was indefagitable, never appeared to flag, never complained of being tired or hungry. He was in the habit of reporting the truth...

Of interest from a weaponry perspective was the account of a patrol in May of that year...

...Our pistols were unserviceable. Early in May the Captain organized a scout of about forty men. His object being to scout the country above Laredo, then move across the country to San Antonio, turn to the right, draw better pistols, and return to San Antonio...

Along the way Ford and sixteen of his men met and routed a similar number of Comanches...

...They had done remarkably well. A running fight has seldom been made by men armed with muzzle-loading guns and no pistols, inflicting such heavy loss upon their opponents...

The "muzzle-loading guns" identified elsewhere in the account as being Mississippi rifles.

With regards to those "better pistols"...

...A squad of four or five men had been sent to Corpus Christi, with pack mules, to receive and transport one hundred dragoon pistols -old fashioned, one-barreled weapons- and cartridges for the same...

Nevertheless they apparently used them to good effect. In the aftermath of a combat shortly thereafter against a Comanche War Party returning from Mexico, Ford relates...

...twelve men, armed with muzzle-loaders and one-barreled pistols, had attacked seven Comanches and killed them all- more than half their own number.

Another account from that same fight, again pertaining to weaponry, this time in the hands of the Comanches...

During the fight, the Captain noticed Sergeant Level; he appeared very angry.
"Level, what is the matter?"
"Damn them," he replied with clenched teeth, "they've shot my horse."
"Is that all?"
"No, they've shot me too."
An Indian, armed with a Swiss Yager, had fired a ball that had struck the shoulder of Level's horse, passed through the fleshy part, and entered the rider's leg just above the ankle. When this brave levelled his gun, the men seemed to hold their breath, expecting someone to be hit. Rangers could see an arrow and dodge; not so with ball.

A short time later, three Rangers returning to duty from furlough in San Antonio possibly encountered that same Comanche...

...They nooned at a water hole twenty miles beyond Santa Gertrudis where the late Captain King's ranch is located. The locality at that time was almost devoid of trees. One mesquite stood near the water hole. They mounted their horses and were in the act of leaving camp when they discovered thirty Indians not far off...
The Rangers had good horses and might have escaped by retreating... ...They decided to fight.

The Indians advanced upon them. One of the enemy had a long-range gun. He fired and the ball passed through Sullivan's body. He was lifted from his horse; the animal was tied to the lone tree. Sullivan told the boys not to stay with him.
"I am killed... you can do me no good... make your escape."
Another shot took effect in his head, and he died instantly.
Wilbarger ran in the direction of our camp. Judging by the pools of blood and other signs, he killed two or three Indians before he fell.
Neal had inadvertently attached his arms to the pommel of his saddle. He mounted; his horse ran under the rope of Sullivan's horse, and Neal was dragged off. The Indians soon caught the animal, possessed themselves of the arms, and began firing at Neal...

Fascinating stuff,
Birdwatcher

 

[mec]

this is the Aston-johnson Pistol. This one was made in 1855 and is accurate enought for governement work out to 50 feet. Thirty grains of Goex FFG will put the 54 caliber ball out at 530 fps.

It's hard to come up with consistent dates and details on these stories. I've heard dates ranging from 1842-44 for the Hays Big Fight- the one that made the cylinder engraving.
Possibly, the first Patersons came to the Texas navy in 1839,(pistols and long guns) The rangers got some of them pretty quickly and they were probably in some degree of use by the time of the Counsel House massacre, big raid by Buffalo Hump and the subsequent battles called Plum Creek. The Enchanted rock thing is generally dated as November, 1840. the top of the rock is a pretty interesting moonscap. I couldnt find any thing that looks like a crack he could have wedged himself into as is often reported.

It looks like the revolvers saw some use before the word got out about their impact on traditional battle tactics.

 

[Birdwatcher]

Thanks for the info, with respect to the Big Fight it must have taken some serious nerve for fifteen guys to approach about six times their number in Comanches. Said Comanches being neither simpletons nor inexperienced in combat.

A pity the Comanche side of all these fights ain't been preserved though, Ford himself states that a mounted Comanche with a bow could hit a running horse out to 100 yards and in a famous demonstration in early San Antonio (back in the days when Comanches would still periodically ride in peacably to trade) a Comanche warrior was observed to loft five arrows into the air before the first one hit the ground.

Unlike the movies, of their bow technique Ford has it that the Comanches shot their bows by "feel" rather than sighting down the arrow...

...Never ride upon a bowman's left; if you do, ten to one that he will pop an arrow through you. When mounted, an Indian cannot use his bow against an object behind and to his right...
...The bow is placed horizontally in shooting; a number of arrows are held in the left hand; the bow operates as a rest to the arrows. The distance - the curve the missile has to describe in reaching the object - is determined by the eye without taking aim. Arrows are sped after each other in rapid succession.
At the distance of sixty yards and over arrows can be dodged, if but one Indian shoots at you at one time. Under forty yards the six-shooter has little advantage over the bow.
At long distances the angle of elevation is considerable. It requires a quick eye to see the arrow and judge the whereabouts of its descent, a good dodger to keep out of the way, and a good rider withal to keep in the saddle. A man is required to keep both eyes open when engaged in an Indian fight...

Ford knew whereof he spoke, having lost a finger to a Comanche arrow. I have read accounts of Comanches carrying as many as forty arrows when expecting combat.

So at the big fight a party of ninety Comanches is routed by fifteen Rangers. Some accounts have it that the Comanches had been hunting at the time they discovered the presence of Hays and his men. One has to wonder to what degree all the Comanches were armed and how many might have just come along as spectators.

At Plum Creek (prior to this affair) the Comanches had been decimated by massed riflery and by the time of the Big Fight were well aware of the reach of a rifle. Many accounts speak of Comanches staying outside of rifle range, until such time as their opponents could be induced to fire their longarms, the Comanches then charging to within arrow range before their opponents could reload.

The counter to this Plains Indian technique being disciplined volley fire by the beseiged riflemen such that not all the rifles were emptied at one time, this technique being employed on the Plains by combatants as diverse as Mountain Men, Santa Fe Traders, Rangers, Black Seminoles, Shawnees, Delawares, and Kickapoos.

Interesting that in the case of the Big Fight the Comanches took cover at the approach of the Rangers and tried to invite an attack, perhaps some of them were afoot. Certainly the many combats with Comanches recited by Ford in his book and Smithwick in his have much more even outcomes, the winner generally being the side with the element of surprise and superior numbers. Like I said, not to take anything at all away from the Rangers, but I suspect the whole story of the Big Fight ain't been told.

I would respectfully suggest though that the date of the Big Fight is perhaps not as ambiguous as the Enchanted Rock skirmish. It was reported in contemporary newspaper accounts and Samuel H. Walker, whose career has been pretty well studied, was grievously wounded in it (one wonders if both Rangers wounded by a lance were attacked by the same guy).

Well, if I ain't bored everyone yet, on the topic of revolvers Texas apparently suffered a sort of revolver drought for a spell after the Mexican War. Likely the metallurgy in them Walker Colts wasn't up to snuff, not only the blowing up part but the fact that two years after the War (1850) those of the Rangers had "become unservicable". On the other hand, a short five or six years later Olmstead observes that the Navy Colt had become ubiquitous in Texas. Doubtless both these trends are reflected in Colt factory production figures.

Prob'ly this site needs a separate "Texas" board ::

Birdwatcher

 

[mec]

It's not too surprising that the early Patersons might have gone out of fix for the rangers- what with all the little bitty parts and springs. What surprises me is that some of them were STILL WORKING in 1847 when the US Army and the Texans invaded Mexico.

 

[Birdwatcher]

Mec... From what I gather the .36 Colt 1851 Navy was a benchmark in handgun development; the caliber big enough to be reasonably effective, yet small enough such that cylinders did not commonly blow up, and with sufficiently durable internals to be reliable in the field. That same limited level of steel technology required that the .44 caliber Dragoon series of revolvers be nearly as big as the original 5 lb, 18" Walker Colt.

As far as I know the subsequent .44 Colt 1860 Army was made possible by that "silver steel" technology you mentioned, steel then being good enough to allow an easily portable .44 caliber sidearm on an 1851-sized frame.

If it ain't too much trouble, could you briefly describe the changes in lockwork between the Patterson and later models?

Thanks Birdwatcher

 

[mec]

There is still a product called Silver Steel- carbon content is one percent according to the references I found.

Not the number of parts in the paterson. Much more complicated than the later types and has between three and four times the number of action parts as the navy and other later designs.
The breach and cylinder arbor are separt from the frame and the hand/pall is enclosed in the breach-driving a ratched pin that interfaces with the back of the cylinder.

the triger mechanism includes a sear and sear body unit instead of being a simple notch on the hammer.

 

[Birdwatcher]

From that Paterson schematic... "6. Carefully note position of trigger and sear slide. 7. Reassembling requires time and patience... 9. If the mechanism locks up, it is likely that the internal hand isout of synch with the cylinder rachet..."

Hmmm, prob'ly not the kind of task you'd want to do on a saddle blanket by the light of a camp fire somewhere out on the remote prairie.

Thanks,
Birdwatcher