The Colt Walker, sometimes known as the Walker Colt, is a single-action six-shot black powder revolver. It was designed in 1846 by American firearms inventor Samuel Colt to the specifications of Captain Samuel Hamilton Walker. It was the first practical six shooter, and came to define the Old West gunfighter mystique and violence. Before Colt began mass-production in 1847, handguns had not played a significant role in the history of either the American West or the nation as a whole. It is the official handgun of the state of Texas.