Colt 1855 Sidehammner repros?

[dogfood]

Hey folks,
With the great amount of repro cap and ball revolvers having been on the market in decades past and present, does anyone know whether the 1855 sidehammers were ever made? I've always loved the aesthetics of them and would love to get my hands on one. Not that my google skills are perfect, but in not coming up with any results I'm assuming that the 1855s would likely have been too niche to go to market- small caliber and an odd, perhaps too intricate design.
In any event, any light you could shine on the issue would really be appreciated!
Cheers,
dgfd

 

[hawkeye2]

Palmeto made a few variations a number of years back and they have been out of business for a long time now so finding a new one would be extremely difficult. I don't believe they sold well and there was only one run to the best of my knowledge. Even though Colt sold a lot of these I never had any interest in them and so didn't follow the offering. Here is a link to an informative review on them and I expect it's quite dated.

https://www.gunmart.net/militaria/r...lmetto-arms-company-1855-new-model-sidehammer

 

[Zonie]

In the 2005 issue of the Dixie Gun Works catalog on page 94 they show two "DIXIE 1855 SIDEHAMMER POCKET REVOLVER"'s for $362. They are both .31 caliber. One has a 3 1/2" barrel and one has a 5 1/2" barrel. They were made by Palmetto/Italy.

I have read of people having these pistols and sorry to say, their reputation wasn't very good. That's not surprising. The original Colt 1855 side-hammer pocket pistols also didn't have a very good reputation for dependability even when they were brand new as the lock-works were rather complicated.

I think owning one of the Dixie guns to add to a cap and ball pistol collection would be worth doing though. Except for the Colt revolving rifle, they were the only "closed frame" guns made by Colt until the cartridge revolvers were made.

 

[dogfood]

Thanks for the info, fellas!
I guess I'll keep my eyes peeled but won't hold out hopes.
Hope you both are doing well.
-dgfd

 

[hawkeye2]

"Hope you both are doing well."

Thanks and the same to you.

 

[TNGhost]

The quality of Palmetto's efforts were disappointing. Owned a couple, and the workmanship and quality control just wasn't there. Not "junk" but not well done and close to that. Still have an 1862 I bought on impulse in Dixie's store some years back, when I was more of a novice to these things. Very poor barrel alignment due to the barrel pin holes in the bottom of the frame being drilled cattywhampus.

It would be cool, as Zonie said, to have a Colt Root style revolver, at least to add to a collection. It is a shame the Palmetto's were so bad and no one else has picked up the baton.