Colt revolving rifle ( repro )

[F.G. Ford]

Has anybody seen the new rvolving rifle?
How is the quality?
Best Regards

Old Ford

 

[jdixon]

I looked over one of the Root revolving rifles that Dixie is now selling up at Friendship last week. One thing that I didn't like about it was the warning that came with it. They warn you not to fire it with your hand on the forearm or any place in front of the cylinder as you would be seriously hurt in the event of a chain fire. I never thought of that! I didn't have much interest in it in the first place, that warning eliminated what little I did have.

 

[wszumera]

The first time I saw a revolving rifle, I thought the same thing. I'd rather shoot a modern bullpup instead of one of those things.

Clutch

 

[rice1817]

Used to have one of the Uberti Revolving Carbines based on the 1858 Remington Action. Long barrel, fixed buttstock. It is one thing to fire a percussion pistol at arms length, but when you have that cylinder a couple of inches in front of your face your cheeks, forehead (and eyes if not wearing shooting glasses) get peppered with shrapnel and gas from the nipple blowback.

I think the concept of a revolving rifle is viable in a cartridge firearm, but creates too many problems in a percussion gun.

 

No, it's not a childproof design but a reproduction of a historic firearm. That's the way they made them the first time, did anyone expect/want the mfg to change the design or install safty features? Who among us shoots a muzzleloader due to it's advanced technology, design and safty features?

The Colt revolving rifle changed the nature of warfare, allowing the first use of cover by fire to advance on an enemy position. This device was actually the first "assualt rifle". Berdian's Sharpeshooters had the same problem with the design, during the Civil war, and learned to work around it.

It is not unsafe if you use it safely.

We all, hopefully, use our reproductions with the limitations of their designs in mind. Shooting is an inherently dangerous activity if pursued without constant vigilance.

 

[F.G. Ford]

I have had two of the early Uberti ( Remington design ) rifles.
They worked ok, but like others have said the blast from the cylinder and nipples to the face, and head,was something to experience, as well as the hard noise crack to the ears. ( no brains, not using muffs) Not to mention the inability to hold the barrel past the cylinder, for grease slatter, and the danger of lead shaving, or chain fire.
However many years ago I saw and held on original Colt rifle, the machineing, and quality of assembly, was worthy to behold.
I have not seen the new reproduction, although a little pricey, then again a little cheaper than an original, and you can shoot it.
Thanks Guys.
Old Ford

 

[faw3]

Ive got one like that but built on the Navy with a 12" barrel, shot it once and its sat for years, ghost has great points, but we dont have to use them in a life/ death deal like back then, if it was back then Id "love em", and Im not real sure but didnt the Sharpshooters even want to unload them as soon as they could for the Sharps? Anyway my face isnt any prize but it isnt going to be helped by powder and chuncks of caps in it. :rotf: Ande sure as I forgot to not put my hand in front... Fred :hatsoff:

 

[oldarmy]

Very well said Ghost :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[steve stanley]

Aren't these the same problems that made the originals short-lived as a design.....
Steve

 

[Zonie]

Yes, speaking of the Colt, the possibility of chain fire was one of the chief concerns when the rifle was introduced.
IMO, it also is the reason the Military didn't buy very many of them in spite of the obvious advantage of a high rate of fire.

I haven't seen the Colt Revolving Rifle repro.
but if it is a Root style, I will assume it is close to the original 1855 gun.
That would make the cylinder, frame and many other features MUCH larger than any of the Colt pistols.

Colt made several variations of the Root style rifle in various calibers.
These included the .36, .44, .50, .56, .64, 20 guage and 10 guage shotgun.

One of my dislikes of the Remington style "carbine"s being offered is that they look like they are little more than the Remington .44 pistol cylinder/main frame with a longer barrel and a stock added.
To me, this makes the Remingtons little more than another version of the Colt .44 cal. pistol with a removable shoulder stock. I may be wrong, but I don't think there was actually a Remington Rifle like the current repro. back in the days of the CW.

Would I want one of these Colt Root Rifles? I want any old style firearm I can get, but I wouldn't buy one right now.

 

[patch knife]

Aren't these the same problems that made the originals short-lived as a design.....
Steve[/quote
That's what I read , the soldiers that were issued these rifles didn't like them , and went back to thier old rifles the first chance they got (or so I read in an article about them , American Rifleman , I think) . Bad idea then , bad idea now .

 

[steve stanley]

Must admit,when I saw some of these in a Museum for the the first time,My first thought was "where do you put your left hand?".....
Steve

 

[faw3]

Zonie true everything you said I belive , Ive seen 2 different made ,by 2 companys I should say,it was the Root type. And real close (as faras Ive seen maybe 1/2 dozen at the Texas Ranger fory in Waco) to the real ones I saw, Same goes for Rem as with my Navy Colt, never saw a 44cal 51 Navy with 12" barrel and stock, but it sure looks neat! :rotf: Fred :hatsoff:

 

Here's some reviews that I found:

Thank you Dixie Gun Works. I recieved my 1855 Root rifle yesterday and am very impressed with it. The fit and finish are as good as any of the Italian makers replicas. The metal is nicely finished and blued. There are several small areas around the trigger guard that could be finished a little better, and the sling swivels are not polished, but this is minor. The stock and forend are well fit and finished. they are made from a plain straight grain Walnut. The hammer and loading lever are color case hardened in typical Italian style. The colors, mostly blues and silvery greys are faint. The action and cylinder operate smoothly and lock up tight. I cannot detect any appreciable movement in the cylinder. The rammer is a tight fit in several of the cylinders chambers, but this is an easy fix from my point of view. As soon as the weather warms enough I will be testing the rifle at the range and write a follow up review. I have wanted a shootable replica of the Root rifle for many years and Dixe Gun Works and Palmetto have produced a very nice replica. Dixie and Palmetto get an A+ for reproducing this unique and historical rifle. Let hope to see more unique reproductions from Palmetto in the future.

This is a follow up to my original review. I had an opportunity to take my new Root rifle to the range this past weekend and test fire it. First, I made some recommended changes to my rifle hoping to improve accuracy. After consulting with several professional gunsmiths, it was recommended that the cylinder’s chambers be opened up to .471”/.472” diameter. As the rifle is manufactured the barrels groove diameter measures .470” and the cylinders chambers only measure .451” diameter. This combination would not give very good accuracy because the projectile is starting out .019” smaller than the barrel’s groove diameter. By opening up the cylinder’s chambers, the use of a projectile that fits the barrel dimensions is possible. I also had timing checked, the action smoothed and the trigger pull adjusted. At the range, I had a limited amount of time so all my testing was at 50 yards using round balls only. After ensuring that the cylinders and nipples were clear, the rifle was loaded using 55 grains measure of Goex FFG, Hornaday .480 diameter, (actual measured diameter is .478”), swaged round ball and RWS caps. Crisco was used as a lube over the loaded cylinders. Firing at a 16” diameter target with a center hold, my first shot was at 12:00 8” high. Adjusting my hold to 6:00 my next two shots were touching each other at 2:30 in the 8-9 ring. My friend fired the remaining three shots into a 3” group. After reloading without wiping the barrel, I fired all six shots into a 2” group. I consider this very good accuracy given the rather elementary sights fitted to the rifle. All shooting was done from the sitting position with the barrel rested on crossed sticks. Recoil was almost non-existent making the rifle very easy to shoot. One word of caution, in addition to using the recommended modified two-hand hold eye protection is a necessity. I am having a bullet mould made to cast a conical heel bullet like the type originally used in the Root rifles during the Civil War. I will follow up with a more extensive range review using both conical and round ball at a future date. All in all this is a very fun rifle to shoot!

Range Report. I took the Colt Rifle to the range and gave it a workout. I started at the 50 yard line with a benchrest and had good success with 454 roundball. Windage was good and it was just a few inches high. Also tried some 454 conicals but had little luck. At 100 yards, the results were very spotty. I had no luck with the roundball and only about half of the conicals stayed on paper, so I'll probably just stay at the 50 yard line from now on.

Make sure to wipe down the front of the cylinder after each volly as the tolerances are close and the cylinder gets tough to rotate if there is much buildup. The hand spring needs to be stronger as it doesn't take much for the hand to slip off the cam, so make sure you visually check the cylinder alignment after each shot. Also make sure to wear safety glasses.

Removing the nipples is difficult because the recesses are very narrow.

All in all, it was good fun and I'm looking forward to seeing if I can improve its accuracy.

I bought a Colt Root rifle at the Civil War show in Nashville last December at the Dixie Gun Works table. Before the show was over I had showed the rifle around and convinced two of my friends to also buy one. One other that was at the show and another friend ordered one to be shipped to his house. The rifles look fantastic. I wish they had produced the military version which was a 5 shot .56 caliber but since I had always wanted one to shoot I bought the .44 as the only one available at present. My first experience shooting it was with blanks at a reenactment in my home state of Alabama. It was a real attention getter and I believe the first one used in action in my state. This was in April this year. The gun functioned flawlessly with blanks although I cannot say what the side blast was like since I was fighting as a skirmisher and not with the infantry. My next experience with the Root was not so pleasant. That was at the range. Since the cylinder is so long I decided to use conical bullets and a 50 grain charge of powder. The back blast was so fierce that my face was bleeding after a few shots. Forget shooting glasses. You need a motorcycle helmet with a face shield. Dixie should have Palmetto redo the barrel dimensions and cylinder dimensions before importing anymore of these guns. The first thing I would say is the rifling is too deep. 15 thousands deep is too deep. Also as stated in another review the chambers are too small with the bore size. Lead was splitting off bullets badly on my gun. I think a chamber throat, to ease entry of the bullets into the barrel from the cylinder, rifling that is about 7 or 8 thousands deep at the most, and opening up the cylinder mouth to match bore diameter would go a long way toward solving the problems with shearing lead. The cap blast was not bad and can be tolerated. I've fired Colt revolvers with attached shoulder stock and the experience is similar. Not bad. I do wish they would offer nipples that would take musket caps as the original Colt Root military version at least did use musket caps. I think the larger musket caps would stand up to the mighty Root hammer fall better than pistol caps also. As the gun is produced I would not recommend shooting with a live load.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Now does anyone wonder where the name "Colonel Colt's Revolving Wheel Of Misfortune" came from??!! :youcrazy: