Remington 1858 New Model Army

Origins

E. Remington & Sons of Ilion, New York, entered the revolver business in 1857 with designs by Fordyce Beals, whose patent of September 1858 gave the family of guns its name. The early Beals and 1861 Army models evolved, through small changes to the loading lever and cylinder pin, into the "New Model Army," made from 1863. With the American Civil War creating enormous demand, Remington offered the government a .44 revolver at a lower price than Colt, and when a fire gutted much of the Colt armory at Hartford in February 1864, Remington became the Union's main supplier.

Design & Construction

The Remington's defining feature is its solid frame. Where the Colt 1860 Army is an open frame, its barrel held on by a wedge through the cylinder arbor, the Remington's barrel screws into a frame that continues over the top of the cylinder as a solid top strap. That makes the gun stiffer and keeps the barrel and cylinder in alignment, and the top strap carries a groove that serves as a fixed rear sight. The cylinder turns on a pin that slides forward when the loading lever is dropped, so a trooper could pull an empty cylinder and snap in a loaded spare in the field, far faster than recapping six chambers under fire. The eight-inch octagonal barrel, six-shot .44 cylinder with safety notches between the chambers, brass trigger guard and walnut grips complete a revolver that weighs about two and three-quarter pounds. The notches let the hammer rest between chambers rather than on a live cap, a real safety improvement for a revolver carried on horseback. Its sighting arrangement, a groove along the top strap and a front blade, was also more consistent than the Colt's notch in the hammer.

Combat Use

The government bought well over 100,000 New Model Armies, making it second only to the Colt 1860 in Union service, and cavalrymen who could choose often preferred it for its strength and its quick-change cylinder. The Navy version in .36 caliber served afloat and with officers. Confederate soldiers captured them in quantity. After the war many Remingtons were converted to fire metallic cartridges, and the design went west in the hands of soldiers, lawmen and settlers.

Legacy

The New Model Army's solid-frame layout led directly to Remington's cartridge revolvers, beginning with the Remington Model 1875, which kept its lines almost unchanged. Collectors seek martially marked examples with inspector's cartouches. Today the 1858 may be the most popular black-powder revolver of all: Italian makers such as Pietta and Uberti, and importers including Traditions, sell it in many variations, and its easily swapped cylinder has made it a favorite of reenactors, cowboy action shooters and film armorers. Reproductions are not firearms under U.S. federal law, though several states regulate them.