Help with Original 1858 New Model Army.

[Sonny B]

My friend's revolver appears to be all original. Ser #534xx. It's a six hole centerfire. Date of mfg? Which type front sight is needed? Can you please comment on the unusual configuration of the hammer? Is this a "Transitional Gun"? Thanks for any help. Great work on this RSA site! Sonny B.

[gmaque]

Sonny
Your revolver appears to be a 1858 New Model Army model that's been converted from percussion to cartridge. If it is a 6 shot revolver it is likely not a factory conversion since it is believed that the factory conversions were in .46 CF with 5 shot cylinders. It is not unusual to find some really nice 6 shot conversions that were done by early gunsmiths, most in .44 or .45. The hammer on your gun appears to have been modified for centerfire and the spur has been replaced/modified. As percussion guns became obsolete many of these old guns were converted to cartridge for the American frontier. Your gun could be considered to be "Transitional" in that it spans the time between the end of percussion guns and the beginning or factory cartridge guns. Time frame is roughly between 1866 and 1875. The front sight was a small, screw in, pinch type used on the 1858 New Models. Check the list of parts suppliers found here on the RSA site, I'm pretty sure you'll be able to find a one.
Good Luck and Thanks for posting your inquiry and picture here on the RSA site.
George McAllister

[Sonny B]

George,
Thanks much for your response and comments. I've attached a couple more photos here for your enjoyment and admiration. I assume this is .44 caliber. I wish it could talk! At the risk of wearing out my welcome, please let me ask a couple more questions:

-From my research, the ser number range of "534xx" indicates date of manufacture would be late in 1863. Do you agree?

-Because there is no "cartouche" on the grip, does that mean this revolver was NOT issued to the Military?

Thanks for your time.

Sonny B.

[gmaque]

Sonny
Good Morning.
I think your gun was built in January of 1864. If there are no small inspector marks on the frame, cylinder, etc and no evidence of a cartouche on the grips, then the gun was likely a civilian model. That being said, it's a old gun, marks can wear, grips wear or can be changed, so there's no sure way of telling. Thanks for posting the additional pictures, it's a nice gun. If your interest in Remington's goes farther than just this one gun, I'd reccomend that you consider joing the Remington Society of America. It's a great organization whose members are knowledgeable in just about everything that Remington has ever done. You'll receive quarterly issues of The Journal, a magazine filled with usefull aritcles, info and pictures. It's easy to join and can be done on the "How To Join" page here on the web site.
Thanks,
George
GBA

[Sonny B]

Thanks for the help, George. Have a GREAT day.

Sonny B.

[Sonny B]

We finally obtained an "Original" pinched type, screw-in front sight for this New Model Army, but we are having difficulty installing it onto the barrel. It screws into the sight hole only by two threads, and therefore does not go deep enough into the hole. It appears that the sight hole is too shallow to allow the sight to go in far enough. As can be seen in the attached photo of the sight hole, it looks as though there may be residue from the old sight broken off and left in the bottom of the sight hole. We feel certain the residue is metal, and not some sort of compound that may have been used in an attempt to keep the sight from becoming loose. I'm hoping that someone can tell me the exact demensions of the sight hole, and the thread size. Also, I would greatly appreciate any advice as to how we might safely go about removing the residue from the hole. Thanks for any help.

[admin]

It will be interesting to hear what a "real" gunsmith would do but I would...

Fill the hole with penetrating oil changing weekly for a month or so and drill two holes for a spanner.

Short of that I'd shorten the sight and use loctite

You could drill the right size and maybe peel the thread but good luck...

[Sonny B]

Hey Admin,

Your soak & remove plan sounds safe and effective. I like it, although I will have to learn more about the "spanner", as I've never seen one small enough for this application. Shortening the sight is good too, if all else fails. I still hope someone can tell me what the exact dimensions are for the threads and hole. We will proceed slowly and cautiously so that we don't end up with less than we started with. I'll post a status report if/when we get-er-done. Thanks for your great advice!

[admin]

There's small spanner screw driver/sockets, that small I haven't need to look, a slot for a screwdriver would be hard to do. (for me) Well I guess I could put it in the mill and walk it and put lots of holes but I only pretend to be a machinist.