15 Facts About Rollin White

Rollin White was an American gunsmith who invented a single shot bored-through revolver cylinder that allowed paper cartridges to be loaded from the rear of a revolver's cylinder.

Rollin White learned gunsmithing from his older brother JD White in 1837 and would later claim that the idea for a "rear-loading" Pepper-box revolver came to him while working in his brother's shop in 1839.

Rollin White assembled these parts into a single bored-through cylinder that would fit in a Colt revolver.

Rollin White retained a royalty rate of 25 cents for every revolver.

Rollin White liquidated the company in 1864 and the assets were bought by Lowell Arms Company, which began manufacturing revolvers directly infringing on Rollin White's patent.

Rollin White sued them, but not until after they had made 7500 revolvers.

The courts mostly sided with Rollin White, but allowed these manufacturers to continue production runs, with a royalty paid to Rollin White.

The vote in the Supreme Court to affirm Rollin White's patent was tied with four for it and four against.

In 1863, Rollin White had another of his patents, US Patent 12649, which was for a front-loaded gun, reissued with a breech-loading feature.

Smith and Wesson's exclusive rights to manufacture bored-through cylinder cartridge revolvers in the United States ended when Rollin White's patent expired on December 11,1869.

Furthermore, Rollin White pointed out that the bulk of his earnings was spent on litigation as others infringed on his idea.

Rollin White continued his efforts with Congress, and by 1877 he finally gave up any possibility of extension.

Rollin White invented the knife-edge breech block and self-cocking device for the "box-lock" Model 1851 Sharps rifle.

Rollin White later designed a self-cocking mechanism for the 1855 pattern Sharps and built 50 of these rifles for a potential US Navy contract, but the Navy only purchased 12 of them.

Rollin White died in Lowell, Massachusetts, on March 22,1892.