Colt Single Action: From Patersons to Peacemakers

by Dennis Adler

This book chronicles the entire history of Sam Colt's developments in handguns from the first Paterson revolvers through the legendary 1860 Army, and from the time of his death in 1862, the evolution of cap and ball revolvers into the cartridge models carried during the Western Expansion of the 1870s. Author and photographer Dennis Adler takes you on a pictorial voyage through history with striking studio photography of the world's greatest Colt revolvers, factory archival images and original patent drawings, and tales of the soldiers, lawmen, and lawbreakers who made Colt revolvers part of American history.

Genres: History

309 pages, Hardcover

First published May 30, 2007

About the author

Dennis Adler is the editor in chief of Car Collector magazine and consultant/historian/author for four publishers and organizations, including senior contributing editor of The Star -- the official publication of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America. He serves on the Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance Selection Committee and as a chief class judge at the Meadow Brook and Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance. He is a noted portraitist of automotive collectors and their collections and is the author of twenty automotive books, including The Art of the Sports Car and The Art of the Automobile.

In addition to his works on automobiles Award-winning author Dennis Adler is one of America’s most published historians on western guns and collectible firearms. Author and photographer for more than three dozen books and thousands of magazine articles, Dennis has published work in such publications as American Rifleman, Guns of the Old West, and The Robb Report.


He lives in western Pennsylvania.