It`s really a gentleman`s agreement to avoid each other. The nineteenth century was the era of Social Darwinism and two of the fittest survivors were Samuel Colt and Oliver Winchester. In fact, when it came to who dominated the wild jungle environment that characterized the business world at the time, Colt and Winchester were the tigers. If there had been a link between them, there would certainly have been more than an agreement on the road to fierce competition. Among the dozens of gun manufacturers who invented and manufactured firearms with shutter cartridges in the second half of the 19th century, two of them are beyond the rest: Colt and Winchester. Colt, of course, produced legendary revolvers, while Winchester highlighted legendary lever guns. But to this day, we can get a good argument as to whether it`s Winchester`s Colt revolver or action gun that really deserves the title of “The Gun That Won the West.” And there`s a broader argument to the legend that, in order to avoid competition, the two companies signed a gentlemen`s agreement that Colt would cling to the manufacture of revolvers and Winchester to the manufacture of lever guns. Colt Burgess` short production history has led to much speculation about the reasons for its downfall. Legend has it that when Winchester heard about Colt`s entry into the leveraged weapons market, he began developing a prototype revolver to compete with the Colt market.
This was followed by a “gentleman`s agreement” between Colt and Winchester, with Colt agreeing to stop production of the castle and Winchester abandoning his plan to develop a revolver. The truth of this story has never been fully verified and, as such, the reason for the short history of bourgeois gun production is unknown. [1] [4] [5] A gentlemen`s agreement was not in itself a separating factor between these two giants of the American Industrial Revolution and their products. When it came to business, neither Colt nor Winchester were a gentleman. Both were fierce competitors, with survival and success at all costs as their main motivations. The design of the firearms they manufacture has shaped the direction and market of each company. Shortly after the match, Colt stopped making his lever guns and Winchester never started building the revolver. Houze therefore confirms that the mythical non-competition clause between Colt and Winchester has indeed taken place. Here you are: J.S. (Stan) Robinson: Did you know that Winchester built a revolver? [corregidor.org/acgq/web_redirect_3628.3645.8883/forum_pages/student%20of%20arms/robinson_0804.html] Jon C. In 1884, four years after Winchester`s death, senior officials from the Winchester and Colt companies met to discuss the ongoing battle for market share.
With the unscrupulous barons, each lying peacefully in their graves, the companies forged an agreement under which Colt would stay on their side of the road and build pistols while ceding lever gun production to Winchester. Ask any Western gun enthusiast which gun won the West, and you`ll have a pretty universal agreement that it was 1873. Ah; but which ones in 1873? In 1873, when a legislator or outlaw was supposed to be in business, it meant packing a Colt Peacemaker 1873 SAA. Or maybe an 1873 Winchester rifle. Or probably both. Shortly after the meeting, Colt stopped making his lever guns and Winchester never started building the revolver. Really a gentleman`s agreement to avoid each other. Of course, Colt had to have an ace up his sleeve and write a pretty cleverly tight chord that was strictly limited to leverage actions, as in 1884 Colt introduced his Lightning Pump action rifle. But that`s another story. A gentlemen`s agreement alone was not a factor in separating these two giants of the American Industrial Revolution and their products.
When it came to business, neither Colt nor Winchester were a gentleman. Both were fierce competitors, with survival and success at all costs as their main motivations. Like everything else, the design of the firearms they made shaped the direction and market of each company. “(…) Slide percussion rifles are still popular today,(…) This would explain why Uberti chose to produce a replica of the medium-sized variant: www.ubertireplicas.com/product/1884-lightning-rifle-carbine/ and thus targets less saturated market segments (zipper guns that fire cartridges the size of a handgun). According to Colt`s promotional material, Nothing was faster than Blitz www.guns.com/news/2014/01/09/colt-lightning-pump-action-rifles-lightning-bottle I`m not sure that`s true compared to the leverage of that time, but it seems like an attractive marketing slogan. Did Winchester react in any way? One still wonders which of these two was shown to colt`s CEO in 1883. Elmer Keith explained that the “gentleman`s agreement” actually existed and that this was the reason why Colt`s-Burgess and Whitney-Scharf lever guns were not highly sought after. The nineteenth century was the age of Social Darwinism and two of the strongest survivors were Samuel Colt and Oliver Winchester. In fact, when it came to who ruled the brutal jungle environment that characterized the business world at that time, Colt and Winchester were both tigers.
If there had been a link between them, there would certainly have been more savage competition than interrogation. revivaler.com/winchester-1883-prototype-revolver/ 1884, four years after Winchester`s death, senior officials from the Winchester and Colt companies met to discuss the ongoing battle between them for market share. Long after the death of the company`s two founders, an agreement was reached to bind Colt to the revolvers and Winchester to the rifles. For the most part, this agreement lasted throughout the last century and continues to this day. Among the dozens of gun manufacturers who invented and produced rear-loading cartridge weapons during the firing period of the last half of the 19th century, two names stand out from the rest – Colt and Winchester. Colt, of course, produced legendary revolvers, while Winchester produced legendary lever repeating rifles. But to this day, we can make a good argument as to whether it was the Colt revolver or the Winchester lever gun that really deserved the title of “The Weapon That Won the West”. And you can get into a bigger argument over the legend that the two companies, in order to avoid competition with each other, entered into a gentlemen`s agreement where Colt would stick to the production of revolvers and Winchester to the production of lever repeating rifles. The short history of Colt-Burgess production has led to much speculation as to why it disappeared.
Legend has it that when Winchester heard about Colt`s entry into the lever rifle market, he began developing a prototype revolver to compete with the Colt market. This was followed by a gentleman`s agreement between Colt and Winchester, with Colt agreeing to stop production of the castle and Winchester abandoning his plans to develop a revolver. The truth of this story has never been fully verified, and therefore the reason for the short production history of the Burgess rifle is unknown. [1] [4] [5] I did not refer my comment specifically to this arm, but mainly in the general sense. Back in the old country, we had Italian Western pants (blue jeans) with a prominent name on Patch RIFLE. People, most of whom did not know the correct English pronunciation, called it Rif-leh 🙂 After failing to convince the U.S. Army to adopt its rocking rifle design, John Pedersen went in search of other countries that might be interested in the weapon. One of them was Japan, which […] Although the Henry rifle was never as widely used or benefited from lucrative government contracts as the Colt, it changed the face of the battle with its rapid-fire capability, and within just over a decade, the design had evolved into the Winchester of 1873; “the weapon that won the West.” Samuel Colt had died on January 10, 1862. Oliver Winchester died on December 10, 1880.
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