I've known the Colt Root revolver existed for many years and always knew it was kind of an outlier in the Colt lineup of percussion revolvers. I guess I always thought that it was a early model that was succeeded by the more prevalent designs.
The other day something made me start looking up the history of the 1855 Root, and it made me wonder: How did the 1855 Root fit into the Colt product line?
The 1849 Pocket Model was already in production and off to great success when the Root was introduced. Colt made over 300,000 of them. The 1855 Root was also a pocket revolver. Why would Colt introduce another pocket revolver of totally different design when the 1849 was already doing well in the market? Roots were reportedly made until 1870 but only around 45,000, so production was way smaller than the 1849.
Was the solid frame Root thought to offer an improvement over the 1849, but it wasn't accepted in the market and never found success?
Certainly no one is left from the 1850's to tell us what factors were at play, so we are left to speculate.
Does anyone have any theories or (even better) any historical sources that may shed some light?
The other day something made me start looking up the history of the 1855 Root, and it made me wonder: How did the 1855 Root fit into the Colt product line?
The 1849 Pocket Model was already in production and off to great success when the Root was introduced. Colt made over 300,000 of them. The 1855 Root was also a pocket revolver. Why would Colt introduce another pocket revolver of totally different design when the 1849 was already doing well in the market? Roots were reportedly made until 1870 but only around 45,000, so production was way smaller than the 1849.
Was the solid frame Root thought to offer an improvement over the 1849, but it wasn't accepted in the market and never found success?
Certainly no one is left from the 1850's to tell us what factors were at play, so we are left to speculate.
Does anyone have any theories or (even better) any historical sources that may shed some light?