Colt Model 1855 Sidehammer Revolver

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Colt Root, early version, octagonal barrel, 3.5 inch

The Colt Model 1855 Sidehammer Revolver , also Colt New Model of 1855 , known by collectors as the Colt Root Revolver , was the first mass- produced Colt percussion revolver with a closed frame. It was developed by Elisha K. Root (1808-1865), an engineer who worked for Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company from 1849 . Between 1855 and 1870, a total of around 40,000 pocket revolvers in calibers .28 and .31 and long guns in various calibers were manufactured.

Development, function

Variant 1855

EK Roots patent 1855 for the drum rotation triggered by pulling the trigger forward and backward

In the first weapon developed by EK Root (Root's Patent Dec. 25, 1855), the barrel is not brought into the next firing position via the toothed rim on the rear of the barrel, but by a pin which is inserted into the grooves milled on the outside of the barrel intervenes. The pen is part of the trigger. If you push the trigger forwards and backwards, the drum rotates, the next loaded chamber is brought into the shooting position and the next shot is fired.

The patent drawing (Fig. 1) also shows that the ball setter has been changed. The loading lever attached under the barrel for operating the ram was no longer hinged to the bottom of the frame, but directly to the ram. This has teeth at the rear end that engage in holes made on the underside of the barrel. This system for pressing the bullet into the barrel bore was also used in the later Colt percussion revolvers Army M 1860, Navy M 1861 and Police Pistol M 1863.

2 shows a short drum axis screwed into the frame at the rear and a drum which is not completely pierced in the center. Only prototypes with the same system are known, no series production.

Root's patent 1856, drum rotation, triggered by metal strips between the tap and drum

Variant 1856

In the next variant (patent dated May 10, 1856) the cock and drum are connected by a metal strip (picture). Pulling the hammer back turns the drum and the weapon is ready to fire.

Variant 1857

Root's patent 1857, drum rotation, actuation via grooves milled into the rear of the drum

In the third variant (patent dated Feb. 24, 1877), the grooves are milled into the rear of the drum. When the cock is cocked, the drum is rotated by a pin attached to the bottom of the cock, which engages in the grooves.

Series production, function

In contrast to the Colt percussion revolvers, which were manufactured in series from 1847, the closed frame including the handle is in one piece. The octagonal or round barrel is firmly screwed into the frame. The drum placed on the drum axle rotates with it, the rotation is transmitted via suitable surfaces, one on the axle and one in the drum bore. The axle is fixed at the front end with a screw, in long guns with a spring-loaded push button. If this is released, the axle can be pulled out and the drum removed from the side of the frame.

In the case of the mass-produced weapons, the hammer is attached to the right side of an axis going through the lock housing. When the hammer is cocked, the blockage of the drum axle is released, rotates with the drum axle and moves the drum to the next shot position. Before the launch, a metal wedge attached to the top of the handle frame slides into a wheel attached to the rear end of the drum axis and blocks the rotation of the drum (picture).

The Model 1855 Sidehammer Pocket Revolver

Colt Root Revolver, 7th model with round barrel cal 31
Colt Root Revolver, round barrel, 4.5 inch

The weapon called Root's Model , designed by Elisha K. Root and known by collectors , was mass-produced as a pocket revolver in calibers .28 and .31. Only prototypes of the larger Root handguns (Colt Navy, Colt Dragoon) were made.

The first models had a smooth drum, later also a flooded drum. In early production the barrel was octagonal, later round barrels were also made. The barrel length was 3.5 inches (about 9 cm), more rarely 4.5 inches (about 11.5 cm).

From 1855 until the end of production in 1871

in caliber .28 from 1855 to 1861 (serial number 1–26 000)
in caliber .31 and from 1860 to 1870 (serial numbers 1–14,000)

a total of approx. 40,000 pieces manufactured.

During the US Civil War from 1861 to 1865, around 15,000 of the Model 1855 Sidehammer revolvers were sold to officers and other troops on the private market.

In relation to the Colt Model 1849 Pocket Revolver (production 1849 to 1873 331,000 pieces) the sales of the 1855 Sidehammer revolver were bad (sales 1855 to 1870 40,000 pieces).

US literature also indicates that Colt intended to manufacture the Root pocket revolvers in his Colt's London Armory, built in 1853. It did not come to that because this production facility was closed in 1856.

Colt Root "New Model" 1855 cal .36, cleaning rod above, grease gun in front of the drum. For comparison, 2 Colt 51 Navy cal .36
Colt Root "New Model" 1855 cal 36 rifle, barrel 68.5 cm
Colt Root Sporting Rifle, hunting rifle

The Model 1855 Root's long guns

The system of the 1855 long guns corresponds to that of the hand-fire revolver except for details. Civil rifles, muskets and carbines were produced in various barrel lengths, from 15 inches (37 cm) to 31 inches (76 cm) in calibers .36, .44, .50 with 6-shot drums. Those in larger calibers .56, .58 (for minie cartridges) .60 and .64 had 5-round drums. Shotguns were made in .60 (.20) and .75 (.10) calibers in various barrel lengths up to 36 inches (91 cm).

The Sporting Rifles (Civilian Models)

The first long rifle to be mass-produced was the Colt "New Model" 1855 cal .36 Sporting Rifle , in .36 caliber, rarely later also in .44 caliber, all with a round six-barreled drum. A little over 1000 of this type were produced in total, up to serial number approx. 300 with a wooden fore-end, later models without a fore-end. In order not to expose the shooter's hand to the combustion gases escaping between the drum and the barrel, projections were attached behind and in front of the trigger guard.

Later civil models, the Half Stock Sporting Rifle and the Full Stock Sporting Rifle , were used as hunting rifles with different barrel lengths of 24, 27 and 30 inches, in calibers .36, .44 with round 6-shot drums, in calibers .56 made with flooded 5-shot drums. Between about 1500 and 2000 pieces of the half stock models (picture) and the full stock models (with long fore-end) were produced. One of these rifles bears the number 11.255 (as an explanation for the high number it can be assumed that it is a military weapon that has not been removed and has been modified to a civilian weapon)

The weapon was also offered as a Revolving Shotgun Model 5 shotgun in calibers 60 (cal 20) and 75 (cal 10) with barrel lengths of 27, 30, 33 and 36 inches. Between 1860 and 1863 about 1100 of these shotguns were produced.

The military weapons

Cavalry carbines, artillery carbines with a wooden fore-end and bayonet socket and fully loaded muskets with bayonet socket were produced to equip the US Army, the US militia and foreign armies.

Colt Root M55 British Carbine, barrel 21 inch
Colt Root M55 carbine, both cal .56, above British model, lower weapon with bayonet attachment for Italian bayonet, barrel 24 inch

Before the outbreak of the US Civil War, the US Army acquired a little over 700 Root carbines and rifles, some of the weapons went to the southern states. After the start of the war, the Union also acquired around 4,800 of these weapons. However, problems arose for the troops equipped with it. If the weapons were not loaded correctly, overfiring to the next loaded chamber could occur and lead to serious injuries to the arm of the shooter. Because of these problems, the Root rifles and carbines were withdrawn and replaced by conventional weapons, but also by Spencer rifles .

Great Britain purchased around 2000 .56 caliber carbines with barrel lengths between 21 and 30 inches. The serial numbers of the weapons are between 10,000 and 12,000. They were used in the colonies and by English troops in the Crimean War.

The Root long guns were also used in the Risorgimento in Italy. A correspondence between Giuseppe Garibaldi and Samuel Colt is known in which Garibaldi thanks Colt for the generous arms deliveries. A bayonet attachment for the Italian bayonet was soldered onto the root carbine supplied in Italy.

literature

  • Robert Q. Sutherland / RL Wilson: The Book of Colt Firearms . Published by Robert Q. Sutherland, Kansas City, Missouri 1971.
  • Herbert G. Houze: Colt Rifles & Muskets . Krause Publications, Iola, WI 1996, ISBN 0-87341-417-9 .
  • George M. Chinn, Lieutenant Colonel USMC: The Machine Gun . US Govt. Printing Office, Washington 25, DC 1951.
  • Claus Hager: The Colt revolver in the single action system . Journal-Verlag Schwend GmbH, Schwäbisch Hall, Germany 1974.
  • Claus Hager: The Colt Root Revolver . Journal-Verlag Schwend GmbH, Schwäbisch Hall, Germany 1977.
  • Günter Schmitt: Samuel Colt's Revolver and its copies 1835 to 1885, Volume 1 . Ernst Weber Verlag GmbH, Satteldorf, West Germany 1968.
  • Joseph G. Rosa: Colonel Colt London . Fortress Publications Inc. PO Box 241, Stoney Creek, Ontario 1976, ISBN 0-85368-350-6 .