The Remington Model 1858 was a
secondary firearm issued by the United States Army of the Union until
the Colt Manufacturing Company factory fire of 1864. While it is
called Model 1858 for the year it was patented, it was not produced
in full scale production until 1861. [Remington: America's
Oldest Gunmaker, Roy Marcot Bequette, Primedia
1998]
Remington Conversion Model, Taylor Firearms |
After the Civil War, the Remington 1858
Army revolver saw service in the American West, both as the original
percussion model and the new metallic cartridge conversion. Civil War
veterans who went out West would have gunsmiths convert their old
reliable pistols to the “new” metallic cartridges available in
.36, .44, .46 and .45 caliber.
The Remington1858 was used by both the US and Confederate army.
Remington .36 Caliber |
The Remington was a single-action,
percussion revolver produced by E. Remington & Sons in
Llion, New York based on the Fordyce Beals patent. It was a
large-framed revolver that was chambered for .44 caliber and had an
8-inch barrel; although a slightly smaller model was produced for the
Navy in .36 caliber with a 7.5-inch Beals barrel. The pistol weighs
empty at 2-lb, 13-oz.
When the Civil War began, most
percussion revolvers were fired with commercial combustible
cartridges referred to as paper cartridges, that were
constructed of a powder paper envelope glued to the base of a conical
bullet. The treated paper was consumed when firing. To load the paper
cartridge, one dropped the cartridge with the envelope first into the
chamber and seated it firmly with the loading lever until all six
chambers were loaded. After all six chambers were loaded, a
percussion cap was placed on each of the six nipples at the rear of
the cylinder where the hammer struck to fire a chamber.
To prevent
chain firing and reduce black powder fouling, grease was often put
into each chamber on top of the loaded projectile. Combustible
cartridge (paper cartridges) were pre-greased with beeswax, so the
soldier did not have to bother greasing it.
Both US and CSA Army used paper-cartridge pouches like these |
Remington percussion revolvers are
accurate and capable of considerable power with muzzle velocities in
a range between 550 to 1286 feet-per-second; depending upon the
charge loaded by the shooter. Combustible (“paper) cartridge
velocities range from 700 to 900 feet-per-second depending upon
powder quality.
Remington Model 1858, .44-caliber |
The Remington revolver's durability is
the solid frame design with a topstrap; which earlier models did not
have. It was what made it better than the Colt revolvers of the time.
The internal action of the Remington is similar to the Colt in
construction. The Colt uses separate screws for the hand and trigger,
while the Remington used the through-frame screw method.
For safety, percussion caps were not
installed to the quick replacement cylinder until after installation,
in case it is accidentally dropped. This safety measure is continued
today by cowboy action shooters and black powder firearm enthusiasts.
The only disadvantage over the Colt
firearm of the era was that the Remington had a small-diameter
cylinder pin that became vulnerable to black powder fouling buildup,
making it hard to rotate the cylinder; and more modern black powder
increased the fouling residue problem. Colts were less prone to
cylinder binding, even with the more modern black powder, because the
cylinder pin is larger in diameter and is scored with spiral grooves
that collect the majority of fouling.
William F. Cody, commonly known
as Buffalo Bill, had an original New Model Army Remington with
ivory grips that is part of the Remington Arms Company museum
collection. It is on display with a note from Cody:
This old Remington Revolver I carried and used for many years in Indian wars and buffalo killing. And it never failed me.
Cody
carried the revolver as a percussion and never converted it to
cartridge use, probably as sentiment because he owned cartridge
pistols and rifles.
The
first Remington offered in metallic cartridge form was in 1868,
referred to as the Remington 1868, and it was chambered for .46
caliber rimfire. Remington paid a royalty fee to Smith & Wesson
to use the bored-through revolver cylinders used for cartridges.
Remington was the first to offer cartridge conversion revolvers and
even beat the sales of the Smith & Wesson .44 caliber for two
years. Gunsmiths produced cartridge conversions from the cap-and-ball
versions in .44-40 and .45 Colt, which became popular in the West.
Gunsmiths would buy as many Civil War revolvers as possible, refit
and upgrade them for resale. On the average, the revolvers cost $12
to $13, depending how much workmanship was applied. Today replicas
cost about $500 to $800, depending once again on the features.
The
Remington Arms
Company remains
one of America's popular firearm manufacturer who still makes its own
ammunition as well. Founded by Eliphalet
Remington
(1793-1861), son of a blacksmith of an English immigrant family from
Yorkshire, England. He had three sons who kept the company in the
family after their father's death. The business location was selected
in an area that became an important trade route in the early United
States and thus helped make it a stiff competitor to the Colt
Manufacturing company.
Today
Remington leads in quality firearms in the American firearm industry,
its Remington Model 700 rifle being the most popular despite a recent
so-called voluntary
recall
due to the new variable trigger mechanism. This may stain the
company's reputation because it did not recall the rifles for its
trigger mechanism problems until several lawsuits involving serious
injury over several years. It involved primarily the Walker
Trigger
and the newer X-model adjustable trigger action. Note that the Walker
Trigger
is still found in some Model 770/710 rifles.
REMINGTON
MODEL 1875
Remington 1875 Reproduction with antique charcoal bluing - Uberti/Taylor Firearms |
This
model is the same size as the Model 1858, but was strictly designed
for metallic centerfire cartridges and was intended to compete with
the famous Colt
Peacemaker.
It
became a favorite, along with the Peacemaker in the Old West,
especially lawmen. Colt had a two-year start before this model was
produced; and thus Colt had already secured contracts with the US
Army to produce new Army Colts. Remington did, however, procure
contracts for 650 1875 models for the Indian police and another 1,000
sold to the Mexican government around 1880. The Egyptian government
liked the revolver and requested a contract of 10,000 1875 revolvers,
but the Egyptians had still unpaid debts for their contract for
Rolling Block rifles. [Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms,
8th
edition, Norm
Flayderman,
2001; page 145]
During
the years 1875 to 1889, 25,000 to 30,000 revolvers were produced in
the “new” centerfire cartridges: .44 Remington, .44-40 and .45
caliber. The .45 caliber cylinders were made longer to prevent
accidental insertion into a .44 frame. It featured the fluted
cylinder, walnut grips, case-hardened hammer and loading gate, a
lanyard ring and was available in blued or nickel-plated finishes.
The standard barrel length was 7.5-inches, but some were produced
with 5-3/4 inch barrels.
In
1888, a Pocket Army model was introduced based upon the 1875.
Remington-Beals Pocket Revolver |
Today,
these pistols are reproduced by the famous Italian firearm company,
Uberti
–
available in Outlaw,
Frontier,
and Police models.
They are chambered for modern smokeless powder cartridges, available
in the traditional .45LC or .357 Magnum, the latter also accepting
the .38-Special cartridge. Cimarron Firearms
and Taylor Firearms
offers
these in .45LC, .44-40, and .38-Sp.
In a military or police environment, the semi-automatic pistol is the choice; however, I like the feel of the old revolvers and their reliability and ease of maintenance is unquestionable.
Action cowboy shooting has become a popular firearm sport that includes mounted shooting; which the female gender has come to dominate.
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