1855 Colt Revolving Rifle

4

.44walker

Inactive
Now I know a while back that Dixie carried these for sale made by Palmetto Arms Co in Italy because they were used in 3:10 to Yuma even though the 2 they used for the movie were converted to use 45-70 blanks. Now my question is, does anybody know if ANYONE is importing guns made by Palmetto or if they are even in business anymore. I can't find anything on the Net about the company other than they are located in Brescia, Italy.

Thanks guys. :)

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Well...........Dixie Gun Works used to sells these. But, I just checked the on line catalog & they're not listed anymore. IIRC they had a price of around $1800.00 on em.
 
they are very nice looking and a great conversation piece, but are actually very dangerous to shoot- to shoot them like a real rifle, your hand must be up forward on the forearm- and if you have a chainfire, a ball coming out of the side cylinders will shoot your hand or fingers off. The same dangers existed with those guns back in the 1800's. Even if you don't have a chainfire, the powder and lead debris from firing a single shot, will fly outward to the sides from cylinder/barrel gap, and will get embedded in your hand and arm. I had my hand next to the side of a BP revolver Colt 1851 when it was fired one time, and was picking blackpowder debris from my hand for the next week- it looked like 75 tiny slivers in my hand.
 
I was surprised to learn that the Colt 1855 model was originally made in both 10 & 20 gauge as a shotgun, in calibers as diverse as .36 & .56 as a carbine, and in .28 & .31 caliber as a revolving pistol.

And while many might think that the Remington 1858 was the first model to have a top strap,
it would appear that the Colt 1855 designed by Root was first.
That is unless there was another model that pre-dated it that he copied.

Click on the following link for historical background information about Elisha K. Root:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=279291&highlight=root


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Those are some very nice looking rifles, I would love to own one but wow, they are pricey.

Articap, I think I saw that revolver in the last issue of wild west, It was in an old picture of Custer from west point, Im not 100% sure though, it looked pretty small.

Very cool revolver though as well.
 
I read some letter from a Berdan Sharp Shooter complaining that someone lost a digit when they placed their hand on the forearm to shoot one of those guns. Even if there was no chain fire, some sharpshooters complained about picking out lead from their wrist or forearm (or face of an adjacent soldier) from the splatter that leaked from the barrel/cylinder gap. I'd never use the forearm, even if it was benchrested.
 
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