Opinion to my very late 1858 NMA 144k

[Patrick78]

Hi, guys,
I'm new here in the forum and would like to ask for some information about my Remington 1858 NMA.
About my person: my name is Patrick and I live in Austria. I have been collecting historical weapons for many years and as a new addition I have this very late Remington 1858 NMA

The Remington is a very late production with 144k Serial number range. It is all matching in all three places. There are also inspection letters on the revolver. But these are not at the typical places. An N in front of the loading press, a W back of the cylinder, a J on the trigger guard left side and double N under the trigger guard.
What is your opinion about this revolver?

Every opinion and help is very welcome!

Thanks a lot!
Patrick

[billt]

Hello Patrick,
Welcome to the forum. Since there are no inspection marks on the barrel or frame and no cartouche on the left grip I would say you have a New Model Army, which for some reason was not accepted by the Ordnance Department and was therefore sold to the civilian market. It was manufactured in March of 1865.

Bill

[Patrick78]

Hello, Bill,

Thanks for your answer. I was thinking the same thing. But I wonder why those letters are in hidden places. Are these also inspector markings or do these letters mean something else? Could it be that this late production is one of the revolvers that were delivered to France in 1970? France is a neighbouring country of mine.

Thanks a lot Patrick

[billt]

Patrick,
I believe the small letter on the bottom of the barrel and the letters on the frame under the trigger guard are Remington factory inspection marks. According to Don Ware when Remington began shipping New Model Armies the Ordnance Inspectors were failing a large number of revolvers so Remington started their own internal inspection process.

Remington began converting percussion revolvers to cartridge shortly after the Civil War. They built approximately 4600 type 1 conversions for Benjamin Kittredge an arms dealer from Cincinnati, Ohio. Remington paid Smith and Wesson a royalty of $3.36 for each converted revolver because they controlled the Rollin White patent. These were five shot 46 caliber rim fire revolvers without an ejector. According to Roger Phillips in his book “Remington Large Bore Conversion Revolvers” first type Remington conversion revolvers are known to be connected to the French-German conflict. There is no mention of percussion revolvers.

Bill

[Patrick78]

Hello, Bill,

That's great information. This makes sense! Thank you very much for clearing it up. So there's no doubt in your mind that this is an original 1858, right?
I am aware of one civilian use of the 1858 revolver. I was just always confused because there were all these hidden letters.
I forgot to mention that the trigger guard has a remnant of silver (or nickel) coating in some places. But this could have been applied later.

Thanks also for the explanation of the French delivery. I did not know this.

Thanks
Best regards Patrick

[billt]

Patrick,
From everything I have seen I believe you have a genuine Remington 1858 New Model Army. I hope you enjoy it.

Bill

[Patrick78]

Hello, Bill,

Many thanks for your assessment. Yes I will cherish it. He will surely remain in my collection and when the time comes he will be passed on to my children.

Thank you very much.
Patrick