Samuel Colt's “YC app” for the Summer 1851 batch
hscott.net
hscott.net
1) For a machine shop owner, you can already build such a "multi-shot gun" yourself quite trivially. I have a setup in my barn where I can spot-weld seven rifles together along the length of the barrel. I then use a bunch of loops of baling wire that run from the triggers to the end of the stock so that I can fire the correct rifle without any awkwardness.
I haven't tried this with pistols but the general approach should be the same.
2) My system also has the benefit of me not being tied to one company's proprietary standard of "interchangeable" parts. If you buy a Colt, you're stuck buying Colt parts forever. With my system, I can weld together any guns I want.
3) It does not seem very "viral".
- How are you going to scale production to meet demands? Does not look like you could reach the kind of growth YC wants. - Who is this guy and why should I trust his guns? How do I tell how many bullets I have left? - Seems like rearming would be a pain! Reloading just one chamber is already difficult.
Kill your darlings.
I've previously heard something like:
God made men
Sam Colt made them equal
Abe Lincoln may have freed all men,
but Sam Colt made them equal
Pretty design, but the proprietary projectiles breaks compatibility with existing arms.
It's much safer and more reliable than flintlock, which is what people are using now.
Disclosure: I work for GM.
Now if someone would only hack the isthmus of Panama...Hmmm
"In 1852 an employee of Colt's, Rollin White, came up with the idea of having the revolver cylinder bored through to accept metallic cartridges. He took this idea to Colt who flatly rejected it and ended up firing White within a few years.[18] Colt historian RL Wilson has described this as the major blunder of Sam Colt's professional life.[19] Rollin White left Colt's in December 1854 and registered a patent on April 3, 1855 in Hartford, Connecticut, as patent number 12,648: Improvement in Repeating Fire-arms.[20] On November 17, 1856 White signed an agreement with Smith & Wesson for the exclusive use of his patent. The contract stipulated that White would be paid 25 cents for every revolver, but that it was up to him to defend his patent against infringement as opposed to Smith & Wesson.[21]"
...(from Wikipedia) with the result that patent licensing meant that Colt couldn't make or convert metallic cartridge guns until well after the Civil War (IIRC).
I was thinking of doing an similar product but couldn't get time for it.. All the best for you guys.
BTW, Are you planning for global reach or targeting only local?
But I am worried that this might be a solo founder type team. We invest in teams, not just products. You'd be surprised how many times an idea changes midway through the project, and you will need each other to keep going.