Their lincoln derringer kit is a real bowell movement. Reviews on the Dixie Web Site on this kit, the 1855 Root, the Whitney Revolver and the Harper's ferry caplock pistol are almost totally negative. The most favorable ones come from people who haven't taken them out to shoot them but there are a lot of complaints about poor fitting and rough finish.
A friend just visited Dixie and was totally put off by the Root Revolver. They also have a Root revolving rifle which he said was very well done. Some shooters have avoided the rifle because they are aware of the poor quality of the pistols.
I attempted to contact Palmetto by e-mail to ask about spare parts. They claim on their website that they service their products and that Dixie and other importers have all the necessary spare parts. this is not true. I contacted them about spare parts- Three e-mails two in english and one attempt to use babblefish to translate to Italian. No answer on any of them.
Dixie stocks these things because of customer demand- small customer demand that probably won't attract a reputable manufacturer. They let customers review the products and this is good so that people will kind of know what they are getting into. Dixie also has a pretty much no-questions-asked return/replace/refund policy. The Palmetto products seem to be geared toward people who want a semi-replica of some of the more obscure handguns but are not particularly interested in shooting them.