William Mason (Colt)
Encyclopedia
William Mason was an engineer
and inventor who worked for Remington Arms
, Colt’s Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company
, and Winchester Repeating Arms Company
in the 19th century.
. While at Remington in 1865 he designed and patented a revolver ejector mechanism to eject spent cartidge cases.
.
The revolver was chosen by the Army in 1872, with the first order shipping in the summer of 1873 for 8000 revolvers. After the success of the Colt Single Action Army and Colt's conversion of existing percussion revolvers to Richards-Mason conversions, Mason went on to design Colt's smallest revolver, "The New Line" in 1874. There were 5 variants , each differing in size and caliber, but all using a breechblock designed by Mason.
While Colt had first developed the concept of a "double-action" revolver as early as 1857 and a patent was filed, it was never built by Colt. With increased competition from their British rival, Webley & Scott, Colt had Mason design a double-action revolver for them in 1877, the Colt M1877. Following this, Mason once again teamed up with Richards to produce a larger framed version, the Colt M1878 Frontier in 1878.
His final design for Colt was the Colt M1889
, a collaboration with Carl J. Ehbets for a revolver with a swing-out cylinder. Ehbets continued to perfect the idea for 7 years after Mason left Colt for Winchester.
in 1882. While he was originally hired to design a revolver to compete with Colt's revolvers, Mason eventually made working prototypes of many of John Moses Browning's designs. One of his more notable design improvements was the Winchester Model 1886 rifle. In 1885 he became the Master Mechanic at Winchester and held that position until his death in 1913.
Mason was an inaugural member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
and over the course of his life he patented 125 inventions for firearms, ammunition, firearm manufacturing machinery, steam pumps and power loom
s. Winchester historian Mary Jo Ignoffo called Mason, "one of the most significant designers of the nineteenth century".
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
and inventor who worked for Remington Arms
Remington Arms
Remington Arms Company, Inc. was founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington in Ilion, New York, as E. Remington and Sons. It is the oldest company in the United States which still makes its original product, and is the oldest continuously operating manufacturer in North America. It is the only U.S....
, Colt’s Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company
Colt's Manufacturing Company
Colt's Manufacturing Company is a United States firearms manufacturer, whose first predecessor corporation was founded in 1836 by Sam Colt. Colt is best known for the engineering, production, and marketing of firearms over the later half of the 19th and the 20th century...
, and Winchester Repeating Arms Company
Winchester Repeating Arms Company
The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American maker of repeating firearms, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The Winchester brand is today used under license by two subsidiaries of the Herstal Group, Fabrique Nationale of Belgium and the Browning Arms Company of Morgan, Utah.-...
in the 19th century.
Remington
Mason began his career as an apprentice patternmaker, eventually working in the Arms industry for Remington ArmsRemington Arms
Remington Arms Company, Inc. was founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington in Ilion, New York, as E. Remington and Sons. It is the oldest company in the United States which still makes its original product, and is the oldest continuously operating manufacturer in North America. It is the only U.S....
. While at Remington in 1865 he designed and patented a revolver ejector mechanism to eject spent cartidge cases.
Colt
Mason left Remington Arms in 1869 to work for Colt as the Superintendent of the armory. Along with Charles Richards Mason patented designs to convert percussion revolvers into rear-loading metallic cartridge revolvers. Those converted revolvers are identified as the "Richards-Mason conversion". After working on these conversions, Mason began work on Colt's first metallic cartridge revolver in 1871: the Colt Open-top revolver. This was a completely new design and the parts would not interchange with the older percussion pistols. Mason moved the rear sight to the rear of the barrel as opposed to the hammer or the breechblock of the earlier efforts. The caliber was .44 rimfire and it was submitted to the US Army for testing in 1872. The Army rejected the pistol and asked for a more powerful caliber with a stronger frame. Mason redesigned the frame to incorporate a topstrap, similar to the Remington revolvers and placed the rear sight on the rear of the frame. The first prototype was chambered in .44 rimfire, but the first model was in the newest caliber known as the .45 Colt.45 Colt
The .45 Colt cartridge is a handgun cartridge dating to 1872. It began as a black powder revolver round developed for the Colt Single Action Army revolver, but is offered as a magnum level handgun hunting round in modern usage. This cartridge was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1873 and served as the...
.
The revolver was chosen by the Army in 1872, with the first order shipping in the summer of 1873 for 8000 revolvers. After the success of the Colt Single Action Army and Colt's conversion of existing percussion revolvers to Richards-Mason conversions, Mason went on to design Colt's smallest revolver, "The New Line" in 1874. There were 5 variants , each differing in size and caliber, but all using a breechblock designed by Mason.
While Colt had first developed the concept of a "double-action" revolver as early as 1857 and a patent was filed, it was never built by Colt. With increased competition from their British rival, Webley & Scott, Colt had Mason design a double-action revolver for them in 1877, the Colt M1877. Following this, Mason once again teamed up with Richards to produce a larger framed version, the Colt M1878 Frontier in 1878.
His final design for Colt was the Colt M1889
Colt M1889
The Colt Model 1889 was a revolver type pistol produced by the Colt Manufacturing Company in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-History:...
, a collaboration with Carl J. Ehbets for a revolver with a swing-out cylinder. Ehbets continued to perfect the idea for 7 years after Mason left Colt for Winchester.
Winchester
Mason left Colt to work for the Winchester Repeating Arms CompanyWinchester Repeating Arms Company
The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American maker of repeating firearms, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The Winchester brand is today used under license by two subsidiaries of the Herstal Group, Fabrique Nationale of Belgium and the Browning Arms Company of Morgan, Utah.-...
in 1882. While he was originally hired to design a revolver to compete with Colt's revolvers, Mason eventually made working prototypes of many of John Moses Browning's designs. One of his more notable design improvements was the Winchester Model 1886 rifle. In 1885 he became the Master Mechanic at Winchester and held that position until his death in 1913.
Mason was an inaugural member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering....
and over the course of his life he patented 125 inventions for firearms, ammunition, firearm manufacturing machinery, steam pumps and power loom
Power loom
A power loom is a mechanized loom powered by a line shaft. The first power loom was designed in 1784 by Edmund Cartwright and first built in 1785. It was refined over the next 47 years until a design by Kenworthy and Bullough, made the operation completely automatic. This was known as the...
s. Winchester historian Mary Jo Ignoffo called Mason, "one of the most significant designers of the nineteenth century".