Colt's · Rifle
Colt Model 1855 Revolving Rifle
Revolving · .56 Caliber Ball · introduced 1855
Also known as Colt's New Model Revolving Rifle, Colt Root Revolving Rifle, Model 1855 Revolving Carbine
About the Colt Model 1855 Revolving Rifle
The Colt Model 1855 Revolving Rifle adapted Colt's percussion-revolver mechanism to a shoulder arm, built on the Root sidehammer frame. Offered in .36, .44, and .56 caliber with a six-shot cylinder for the smaller bores and a five-shot cylinder for the .56, it gave a soldier repeating firepower decades before practical metallic-cartridge repeaters. Several thousand were bought by the US government for the Civil War, but the design was hampered by chain-fire risk and gas leakage at the cylinder gap.
Notorious for chain-fire, the revolving rifle could touch off every chamber at once; soldiers learned to keep the supporting hand well behind the cylinder, since a multiple discharge could maim the forearm steadying the barrel.
Colt Model 1855 Revolving Rifle specifications
General
- Type
- Rifle
- Action
- Revolving
- Firing mechanism
- Single action
- Trigger
- Single action
- Calibres
- .56 Caliber Ball, .44 Caliber Ball
- Magazine capacity
- 5 rounds
- Magazine
- Rotary magazine
Dimensions
- Barrel length
- 609 mm (24.0 in)
- Overall length
- 800 mm (31.5 in)
Barrel
- Rifling
- Right hand
Materials
- Barrel
- Steel
- Receiver / frame
- Steel
- Stock
- Wood
- Finish
- blued
Performance
- Muzzle velocity (typical)
- 312 m/s (1024 fps)
- Effective range
- 183 m
History
- Introduced
- 1855
- Discontinued
- 1864
- Production status
- Out of production
- Country of origin
- US
- Designer
- Elisha K. Root
Available calibres
Features
- Revolving percussion cylinder
- Loading lever
- Side hammer
- Rifled barrel
Built on Colt's Root-pattern sidehammer revolving system. Available with 15, 18, 21, or 24-inch barrels; .56 caliber used a 5-shot cylinder while .36 and .44 used 6 shots. Roughly 4,400-4,700 rifles were purchased by the US government.
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