1st YEAR Antique Pre-CIVIL WAR COLT Model 1855 ROOT POCKET Revolver .28 Cal With Great Cylinder Scene!

Product Description

1^st YEAR Antique Pre-CIVIL WAR COLT Model 1855 ROOT POCKET Revolver .28 Cal

With Great Cylinder Scene!

Here we present an antique Colt Model 1855 “Root” Sidehammer Pocket Revolver, made circa 1855 in Hartford, Connecticut. This Samuel Colt design was named for his factory superintendent Elisha K. Root and is a telling example of Colt’s desire to innovate, which was probably the single biggest factor in his success. Though the Colt 1849 Pocket had been introduced only 6 years prior, the “Colonel” attempted to make an improved pocket revolver.

The Root features Colt’s debut of the “creeping” style of loading lever which allowed for better mechanical advantage when loading the gun, Colt’s first solid frame, a hammer mounted on the right side for access to the cylinder axis pin, and a cylinder axis pin which was the point at which the hand turned the cylinder (versus on the cylinder itself). Many good ideas were tested in this design, and some would prove worthy to be used in the future. The small parts used in the Root Revolver’s mechanism proved quite fragile, however upscaling them into the 1855 series of Revolving Rifles and Shotguns seemed to help. Colt is even known to have experimented with the Root design on a Dragoon pistol, a precursor to the 1860 Army. Overall, about 44,000 Root Revolvers were made from 1855-1870, much fewer than the 1849 Pocket with 340,000 produced. Of the 44,000 revolvers produced, 30,000 were in .28 caliber and 14,000 were chambered in .31 caliber.

One of the most aesthetically pleasing aspects of this revolver is its cylinder scene. Cylinder scenes during this period were common, especially for Colt, not only for their visual appeal, but because it made a revolver more difficult to forge. The Model 1855 Sidehammer bore two different roll-engravings, depending on the barrel shape. Sidehammer Model 1855s with round cylinders and octagon barrels reveal what collectors refer to as the “Cabin and Indian” scene, showing an Anglo settler, armed with a brace of revolvers, warding off a band of Indians. Root revolvers made with round cylinders and round barrels were decorated with the familiar stagecoach holdup scene found on 1849 Pocket Models and other smaller Colts. The stagecoach robbery scene is that of a stagecoach drawn by four horses. A woman in a dress is seen framed in the doorway of the side of the coach. The driver is standing alongside wielding his pistol against multiple assailants as the horses rear and struggle against their harnesses. Several of the bandits lay dying on the ground, one tries to control the horses, two are running away and one is in the process of falling dead after being shot. Not a bad way to show interested buyers what a pistol like this would be good for. It did a fine job as a self-defense handgun for the average citizen in 19^th Century America.

Though not a primary military arm during the American Civil War, handguns were commonly privately purchased by soldiers for use on the battlefield. Whether legend or fact, it is interesting to note something commonly read about pocket revolvers of the day: that while they could be used for self-defense against the enemy, many soldiers kept them on their person to defend themselves against an unwanted amputation in the primitive field hospitals that were notorious, even in their day.

The overall condition is fine. Original blue finish. Great cylinder scene. The action is excellent. The bore is in great shape with sharp rifling. The grip is solid. Numbers match: “1365”. A very nice Root!

Own the original! This is a legitimate antique and not a reproduction.

Barrel is 3-1/2 inches.

Caliber: .28 Percussion

Overall condition as seen in photos.

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$3200
#247165