Need help!
I belive i have a 1861 Remington Old Model Army Revolver made in 1863. Serial number 7231.
The screw on the loading lever is mounted.
Markins "S" on barrel "S and" A" on frame "R" and "B" on trigger guard and "X" on the cylinder.
"PATENTED DEC. 17 1861 MANUFACTUREDBY REMINGTONS´ ILION. N.Y" on barrel
Made fore the army, no inspectors mark on the grip?
Is there any data where/when it was delivered?
Were there serial numbers on the cylinder?
Whats correct "Remington OMA 1861" or "Remington OMA 1858" ?
How many shots can I expect from an original OMA before it gets worn out. The plan is to buy a replica for practice.
Remington 1858 OMA
Re: Remington 1858 OMA
Hi,
You have an Old Model Army, which was manufactured and delivered to the Ordnance Department in December of 1862. The various marks on the revolver parts are inspection marks. After the revolver passed inspection the Principal Sub-Inspector stamped his cartouche on the left grip-indicating acceptance by the Ordnance Department. The cartouches tended to wear off on revolvers which have seen heavy use so it is not unusual to find one with very faint or no cartouche.
Normally there are no serial numbers on the cylinders, however when a cylinder or frame had to be modified to work properly a number was stamped on the back of the cylinder to insure the cylinder and frame were properly mated after the finish was applied. I have seen cylinders with partial serial numbers, complete serial numbers and other numbers or letters, which had no relation to the serial number.
There were three 44 caliber (Army) percussion revolvers manufactured by Remington during the Civil War. The first is the Beals, which has the 1858 patent date on the barrel address. The Beals was followed by the Old Model or Elliot Model, which has the 1861 patent date. This patent was for William Elliot’s design, which allowed the cylinder to be removed without dropping the loading lever. This design did not work out because the cylinder pin could drop down which caused the cylinder to lock up. The fillister screw you mentioned on the loading lever was the solution to this problem. The final revolver was the New Model or Remington 1858 which went back to the 1858 patent date on the barrel address and back to the loading lever retaining the cylinder pin.
I have no idea of how many shots can be fired before the barrel is worn out.
Bill
You have an Old Model Army, which was manufactured and delivered to the Ordnance Department in December of 1862. The various marks on the revolver parts are inspection marks. After the revolver passed inspection the Principal Sub-Inspector stamped his cartouche on the left grip-indicating acceptance by the Ordnance Department. The cartouches tended to wear off on revolvers which have seen heavy use so it is not unusual to find one with very faint or no cartouche.
Normally there are no serial numbers on the cylinders, however when a cylinder or frame had to be modified to work properly a number was stamped on the back of the cylinder to insure the cylinder and frame were properly mated after the finish was applied. I have seen cylinders with partial serial numbers, complete serial numbers and other numbers or letters, which had no relation to the serial number.
There were three 44 caliber (Army) percussion revolvers manufactured by Remington during the Civil War. The first is the Beals, which has the 1858 patent date on the barrel address. The Beals was followed by the Old Model or Elliot Model, which has the 1861 patent date. This patent was for William Elliot’s design, which allowed the cylinder to be removed without dropping the loading lever. This design did not work out because the cylinder pin could drop down which caused the cylinder to lock up. The fillister screw you mentioned on the loading lever was the solution to this problem. The final revolver was the New Model or Remington 1858 which went back to the 1858 patent date on the barrel address and back to the loading lever retaining the cylinder pin.
I have no idea of how many shots can be fired before the barrel is worn out.
Bill