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In his new factory, which was built to the latest standards of the day, Colt lost no time in specifying interchangeable parts for his firearms, some 80 percent of which were turned out on precision machinery. Because of the undeviating attention Colt – and capable lieutenants such as Elisha K. Root, a long-time friend and highly qualified engineer – paid to the manufacturing process, the Hartford production machinery achieved a remarkably high degree of uniformity for the mid-19th century. Typically, the metal parts of a Colt revolver were designed, molded, machined, fitted, stamped with a serial number, hardened and assembled right there in Hartford.

In the mid-1850s, Colt finished his remarkable factory and topped it with a marvelous blue onion dome resplendent with gold stars. Above it stood a cast bronze “rampant colt,” the rearing stallion holding a broken spear – half in its mouth and half in tandem across its legs – that would become the internationally-recognized Colt logo.

Sam also oversaw the building of a mansion, complete with greenhouses and formal gardens, which he named “Armsmear,” and he got married. His wife, Elizabeth, the daughter of a New England parson, would be instrumental in guiding the company through turbulent times following his early death in 1862.