soonerfan66
Member
Does the Colt Patterson have a safety notch , if they did not was it carried with 4 or 5 rounds loaded ?
Colt Patterson question
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ClickClickD'oh
Member
The Patterson did not have a safety notch. I could be carried downloaded or with the hammer resting between chambers.
I am under the impression that the cylinder cannot be rotated, and that there is always chamber under the hammer. ????
ClickClickD'oh
Member
Now you have me doubting myself. I could have sworn the cylinder rotated at the half cock notch. Maybe a difference between the '36 and '39 guns...
Monac
Member
BTW, the name is Paterson. I believe it is named after Paterson, New Jersey, because Colt's first factory was there. I apologize for nitpicking, but that may make it easier to Google for information.
Monac
Member
double post
soonerfan66
Member
Correct , I spelled it the way I say it with extra "t" believe it or not !! Have been shooting my cap and ball revolvers (Walker , Navy , Remington ) quite a bit and it got me thinking about the Paterson being only 5 cylinders and if had to leave 1 empty for safety it sure cut your available shots down but still better then single shot . Think I read the Rangers may have carried 2 of them like they did the Walkers but not 100% sure on that .
Driftwood Johnson
Member
Howdy
Having grown up in New Jersey not far from Paterson, I can attest it is spelled Paterson. It is pronounced as if it were spelled Patterson, but it is spelled Paterson. Named after William Paterson, a signer of the Constitution and Governor of NJ, Paterson was founded in 1792 near the Great Falls on the Passaic River. The water drops 77 feet at the falls. The falls themselves are too violent to be harnessed for water power, but canals carried the water to various mills that used the drop to power turbines. Paterson was the cradle of the industrial revolution in America, having been founded to allow manufactured goods to be made locally rather than imported from England. Many things were manufactured over the years in Paterson, including firearms and steam locomotives. Paterson was known as the Silk City because of the mills built there to weave silk cloth. My grandfather was a salesman who worked for one of the silk mills in Paterson. His main customers were hat makers, who used silk for the lining of high quality hats.
Anyway, yes the Texas Rangers were each issued 2 Paterson revolvers.
I do not know if there is a 'safety cock' notch on the hammer. Even if there is, I never trust the 'safety cock' notch on any old revolver and always load them with an empty chamber under the hammer.
Here are two videos about the Paterson, the first video is about an Uberti Paterson, which is no longer manufactured.
You can see what a pain it is to load one of these. Notice he only loads 4 chambers.
The second video is by Mike Beliveau. He is shooting a Pietta Paterson, which is still made. Mike also only loads four chambers.
Having grown up in New Jersey not far from Paterson, I can attest it is spelled Paterson. It is pronounced as if it were spelled Patterson, but it is spelled Paterson. Named after William Paterson, a signer of the Constitution and Governor of NJ, Paterson was founded in 1792 near the Great Falls on the Passaic River. The water drops 77 feet at the falls. The falls themselves are too violent to be harnessed for water power, but canals carried the water to various mills that used the drop to power turbines. Paterson was the cradle of the industrial revolution in America, having been founded to allow manufactured goods to be made locally rather than imported from England. Many things were manufactured over the years in Paterson, including firearms and steam locomotives. Paterson was known as the Silk City because of the mills built there to weave silk cloth. My grandfather was a salesman who worked for one of the silk mills in Paterson. His main customers were hat makers, who used silk for the lining of high quality hats.
Anyway, yes the Texas Rangers were each issued 2 Paterson revolvers.
I do not know if there is a 'safety cock' notch on the hammer. Even if there is, I never trust the 'safety cock' notch on any old revolver and always load them with an empty chamber under the hammer.
Here are two videos about the Paterson, the first video is about an Uberti Paterson, which is no longer manufactured.
You can see what a pain it is to load one of these. Notice he only loads 4 chambers.
The second video is by Mike Beliveau. He is shooting a Pietta Paterson, which is still made. Mike also only loads four chambers.
soonerfan66
Member
Thanks . I remember know seeing both of these videos several years back but forgotten about how they loaded them . The thought of going around with the hammer resting on a percussion cap , YIKES .
whughett
Member
I owned one but traded it off a few years ago. The cylinder rotated CCW, had five chambers no safety notches and had to have the barrel removed for reloading. I had the small loading lever that hooked onto the arbor for ramming the ball home.The trigger was smallish and heavy on the pull. All in all not a fun gun to shoot and not overly accurate.
As I only shot it while standing on the firing line I charged all chambers same as I currently do with all my cap guns. Then capped and fired the gun. Has never made much sense to me to load five when one is not going to holster or otherwise move the gun around before firing. Mike does it so he doesn’t have to deal with the comments. He said as much.
As I only shot it while standing on the firing line I charged all chambers same as I currently do with all my cap guns. Then capped and fired the gun. Has never made much sense to me to load five when one is not going to holster or otherwise move the gun around before firing. Mike does it so he doesn’t have to deal with the comments. He said as much.
soonerfan66
Member
I don't use any of my cap and ball revolvers for everyday carry and when I am just shooting I to load up all the cylinders . Mike Beliveau 's is a great source of information .
BobWright
Member
Reinforces my decision to stick with smokeless powder, metallic cartridge guns!
Bob Wright
Bob Wright
Driftwood Johnson
Member
Howdy Bob
I pretty much agree with you about metallic cartridges, but I like shooting Black Powder in some of them.
Regarding C&B, the last time I took a pair of C&B revolvers to a CAS match I had a whole bunch of failures. Mostly from spent caps falling into the action and jamming things up, but a few failures to fire too. Don't get me wrong, I bought my first C&B revolver in 1968, but that was because I could not legally buy a cartridge revolver yet. Shooting C&B at a match pretty much necessitates tuning the revolver, particularly putting a cap shield in so spent caps do not fall into the works and jam things up. Frankly, I was too lazy to do that with a pair of Pietta 1860 Colts, hence the problems.
I haven't loaded any Smokeless ammo in quite a while, most of my reloading in cartridges is with Black Powder. Can't remember the last time I sat down to load Smokeless, but I can certainly do so if I want.
I have never been much interested in the Paterson revolvers, I already knew they were a lot of extra work to load, more work than a standard 1860 Colt Army or 1851 Colt Navy.
Watching those videos has convinced me I have made the right decision about the Paterson model. At least for me.
Besides, I have my hands full loading 45 Colt, 45 Schofield, 44-40, 44 Russian and 38-40 with Black Powder. I do need to sit down and load some 44 Special one of these days with Smokeless for a bunch of old Smiths.
I pretty much agree with you about metallic cartridges, but I like shooting Black Powder in some of them.
Regarding C&B, the last time I took a pair of C&B revolvers to a CAS match I had a whole bunch of failures. Mostly from spent caps falling into the action and jamming things up, but a few failures to fire too. Don't get me wrong, I bought my first C&B revolver in 1968, but that was because I could not legally buy a cartridge revolver yet. Shooting C&B at a match pretty much necessitates tuning the revolver, particularly putting a cap shield in so spent caps do not fall into the works and jam things up. Frankly, I was too lazy to do that with a pair of Pietta 1860 Colts, hence the problems.
I haven't loaded any Smokeless ammo in quite a while, most of my reloading in cartridges is with Black Powder. Can't remember the last time I sat down to load Smokeless, but I can certainly do so if I want.
I have never been much interested in the Paterson revolvers, I already knew they were a lot of extra work to load, more work than a standard 1860 Colt Army or 1851 Colt Navy.
Watching those videos has convinced me I have made the right decision about the Paterson model. At least for me.
Besides, I have my hands full loading 45 Colt, 45 Schofield, 44-40, 44 Russian and 38-40 with Black Powder. I do need to sit down and load some 44 Special one of these days with Smokeless for a bunch of old Smiths.
Monac
Member
I pronounce it "Patterson" too. My father was from New Jersey, and worked in Paterson for a while in the 1940's, but I can't remember how he pronounced it.
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whughett
Member
So would it be Pater-son, Pat-er-son or Patter-son. 
soonerfan66
Member
It's PaT-Terson here in Oklahoma !!!! I think they are cool with the history behind them but don't think would ever spend the money on a repro because have not heard many great reviews . Back in the day yep they would be great to have in a fight compared to others but for target shooting not the best . I will admit I do have a plastic replica of one stuck on the shelf for show . It's not 100% correct , 6 shot cylinder and few other things but cool the same .
Driftwood Johnson
Member
Did anybody notice I said I grew up in New Jersey not far from Paterson?
I grew up there in the 1950s and 1960s.
It is spelled Paterson. The A in the first syllable sounds like the A in tattered, or battered.
I grew up there in the 1950s and 1960s.
It is spelled Paterson. The A in the first syllable sounds like the A in tattered, or battered.
Wolfman0125
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People who live in Paterson pronounce it as Patterson.
Wolfman0125
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I have one for the historical aspect. It was used by Texas Rangers, John Coffey Hayes, in the Comanche wars. It was the grandfather of all Revolvers. It is like the model T compared to the Ferrari.
It's a misconception that C&B revolvers are supposed fo be perfect out of the box. They're "assembled kits", you're supposed to sort of work on them.
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