Pretty funny, but I've been working on this post about the same thing for the Wright Brothers: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9291316. Great minds think alike. Maybe if we could put some guns on a plane...
Samuel Colt's “YC app” for the Summer 1851 batch
31–40 of 47 posts
Re: Samuel Colt's “YC app” for the Summer 1851 batch
#32Re: Samuel Colt's “YC app” for the Summer 1851 batch
#33[deleted]
Re: Samuel Colt's “YC app” for the Summer 1851 batch
#34Rejected. Won't move to SV. Takes to long.
Now if someone would only hack the isthmus of Panama...Hmmm
Re: Samuel Colt's “YC app” for the Summer 1851 batch
#35Seems like the barrel is a single point of failure. How is this better than simply carrying more than one pistol? Allowing complete fail-over in case of a malfunction. Pretty design, but the proprietary projectiles breaks compatibility with existing arms.
How do these guys think they're going to avoid gang-firing the whole cylinder and blowing up the pistol?
Re: Samuel Colt's “YC app” for the Summer 1851 batch
#36Pretty funny, but I've been working on this post about the same thing for the Wright Brothers: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9291316 . Great minds think alike. Maybe if we could put some guns on a plane...
Good read. BTW, the HN link says 1802 instead of 1902.
Re: Samuel Colt's “YC app” for the Summer 1851 batch
#37I can't believe they didn't mention their big US navy contract! Cartridged rounds are a big plus at sea!
Colt (and Remington, and other early revolvers) had a muzzle-loaded, cap-lock design for guns up until after the US Civil War, IIRC. (Also, IIRC, I don't think paper cartridges were ever a big thing for revolvers. Colt's early guns removed the cylinder to reload, which meant you could theoretically carry spare loaded cylinders; Remington guns had a built-in loading lever.) In fact,
"In 1852 an employee of Colt's, Rollin White, came up with the idea of having the revolver cylinder bored through to accept metallic cartridges. He took this idea to Colt who flatly rejected it and ended up firing White within a few years.[18] Colt historian RL Wilson has described this as the major blunder of Sam Colt's professional life.[19] Rollin White left Colt's in December 1854 and registered a patent on April 3, 1855 in Hartford, Connecticut, as patent number 12,648: Improvement in Repeating Fire-arms.[20] On November 17, 1856 White signed an agreement with Smith & Wesson for the exclusive use of his patent. The contract stipulated that White would be paid 25 cents for every revolver, but that it was up to him to defend his patent against infringement as opposed to Smith & Wesson.[21]"
...(from Wikipedia) with the result that patent licensing meant that Colt couldn't make or convert metallic cartridge guns until well after the Civil War (IIRC).
Re: Samuel Colt's “YC app” for the Summer 1851 batch
#38Rejected, doesn't know the market: It's much safer and more reliable than flintlock, which is what people are using now. In the enterprise of war, we use percussion caps these days.
Percussion caps were only invented in the early 1800s and weren't widespread until the 1830's, so this is not as wrong as it sounds. Flintlocks were still widespread when the Colt revolver was invented.
Re: Samuel Colt's “YC app” for the Summer 1851 batch
#39Rejected, doesn't know the market: It's much safer and more reliable than flintlock, which is what people are using now. In the enterprise of war, we use percussion caps these days.
Percussion caps were only invented in the early 1800s and weren't widespread until the 1830's, so this is not as wrong as it sounds. Flintlocks were still widespread when the Colt revolver was invented.
Fair enough, but the military (an similar orgs, e.g. texas rangers) were using percussion mostly by then right? The big customers they list are the military.
Re: Samuel Colt's “YC app” for the Summer 1851 batch
#40Funny idea. Are there more examples of fictional YC applications of historical or modern companies?
someone should do this for apple/microsoft/general motors/general electric/xiaomi etc.