1858 New Model identification questions

[Joosse]

Greetings.

My name is Evert Joosse, I’m from the Netherlands and I caught the Remington bug when I bought a Rolling Block Carbine last year.

Today I had the good fortune of being able to purchase an 1858 New Model and I was hoping to be able to identify it.



I already discovered thanks to this site that the cartouche on the grip probably stands for Giles Porter, but don’t know enough about it to be certain.



I was also wondering about the serial number. It looks to me like it’s R 6412, but the numbers stand so far apart. I was wondering if that is normal or that perhaps some numbers in between have gone missing?



Is there anybody out there who might be able to shed some light onto this and help me identify this magnificent handgun?

Thank you very much.

Kindest regards,

Evert Joosse

[Mike Strietbeck]

Magnification of your photo reveals that the serial number is 86412. That serial number falls in the range of the July 1864 deliveries of 5000 revolvers S/N 83210 through 89260 against the Ordnance Department contract of Nov. 21, 1863. While E. Remington documentation from this time period no longer exists, this information is extracted from Don Wares book Remington Army And Navy Revolvers 1861 - 1888. As such, tracking the history of this revolver is virtually impossible.

Best regards
Mike Strietbeck

[Joosse]

Thank you Mike!

I appreciate it.

That's an 8, not an R, I see it now.

Well, at least I now know that it dates back to the Civil War and most likely saw use in it. That's more than enough for me.

I also noticed that it has three very distinct notches in the grip. I certainly hope that does not mean what the urban legend says it means...

[gmaque]

The notches in th grips are probably for rats, rabbits and armadillos.