Remington New Model Army 44

[Hunter-Swede1963]

Hello everyone! I am a newcomer from Sweden who is interested in black powder shooting and I am looking for some information about a couple of Army revolvers that I am interested in buying here in Sweden. It is difficult to find information here, so I turn to you and hope for assistance. My question is whether if there is any information somewhere that they were used in the Civil War according to the serial numbers? And if so where?

The first one:
Serial 86570

The other one:
Serial 95597
On this one, someone for some reason has hollowed out the bottom of the handgrips.

The third one:
Serial 76173

[Jim in Wisconsin]

In the book "Remington Army and Navy Revolvers" by Donald l. Ware, it says:
#76173 was made in June of 1864
#86570 July 1864
#95597 August 1864
This is a worthwhile book to get if you can find it.
I don't know if it's possible to find out where they were used - other people on this site know a lot more about that than I do.
You have 3 Remingtons made in America in the 1860's and I have 3 Volvos made in Sweden in the 1960's.
I hope you enjoy your revolvers as much as I enjoy my cars!

[billt]

Hello Hunter,
Welcome to the Remington Society Forum. Just to add some information to what Jim wrote. The Ordnance Department purchased approximately 122,000 Remington revolvers during the Civil War. The serial numbers ranged from 1 to 148,550. There were some civilian purchases along with the government sales. A revolver which was accepted by the Ordnance Department should have a cartouche at the bottom of the left grip. In addition there will be small letters on various parts which are inspection stamps. In some cases the cartouche may be worn off. A revolver with no cartouche or inspection letters is most likely a civilian purchase. Unfortunately there is no information by serial number as to which unit the revolvers were issued. However I have an old list from the Springfield Research Center of the units to which some Remington Army revolvers were issued. The closest serial number to 76173 is 76111 which was issued to Company D, 16th Indiana Mounted Infantry in 1865. The closest to serial number to 86570 is 86525 which was issued to Company H, 16th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry in September of 1865 and the closest to serial number 95597 is 95515 which was issued to Company K, 8th Michigan Volunteer Cavalry in 1865. The bottom of the grips were hollowed out to allow a lanyard to be strung through the hole around the bottom of the frame to keep the revolver secure when riding horseback.

I hope this helps,

Bill

[Hunter-Swede1963]

In the book "Remington Army and Navy Revolvers" by Donald l. Ware, it says:
#76173 was made in June of 1864
#86570 July 1864
#95597 August 1864
This is a worthwhile book to get if you can find it.
I don't know if it's possible to find out where they were used - other people on this site know a lot more about that than I do.
You have 3 Remingtons made in America in the 1860's and I have 3 Volvos made in Sweden in the 1960's.
I hope you enjoy your revolvers as much as I enjoy my cars!

Thank you, Jim, and thank you for the response and book recommendation. PS. 1960s Volvo cars are cool cars !

[Hunter-Swede1963]

Hello Hunter,
Welcome to the Remington Society Forum. Just to add some information to what Jim wrote. The Ordnance Department purchased approximately 122,000 Remington revolvers during the Civil War. The serial numbers ranged from 1 to 148,550. There were some civilian purchases along with the government sales. A revolver which was accepted by the Ordnance Department should have a cartouche at the bottom of the left grip. In addition there will be small letters on various parts which are inspection stamps. In some cases the cartouche may be worn off. A revolver with no cartouche or inspection letters is most likely a civilian purchase. Unfortunately there is no information by serial number as to which unit the revolvers were issued. However I have an old list from the Springfield Research Center of the units to which some Remington Army revolvers were issued. The closest serial number to 76173 is 76111 which was issued to Company D, 16th Indiana Mounted Infantry in 1865. The closest to serial number to 86570 is 86525 which was issued to Company H, 16th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry in September of 1865 and the closest to serial number 95597 is 95515 which was issued to Company K, 8th Michigan Volunteer Cavalry in 1865. The bottom of the grips were hollowed out to allow a lanyard to be strung through the hole around the bottom of the frame to keep the revolver secure when riding horseback.

I hope this helps,

Bill

Thank you for your detailed response! I interpret it as meaning that none of the revolvers were likely used in the war since it ended in April 1865? The seller who has the revolvers has a couple more with lower serial numbers. One has the number 54812 and it has barely visible markings on the left grip according to the seller. It also has inspection letters. The number is correct except for the cylinder, which seems to have been replaced. The cylinder axis has also been replaced with one of later production.The other one has the serial number 71623 and according to the seller looks very nice with preserved bluing. It is a so-called 'New Jersey' revolver purchased by New Jersey according to the marking 'NJ'. Could either of these two have been involved in the war? Kind regards / Roger

[billt]

Roger, Please do not make the assumption the three revolvers you are looking at were not used in the Civil War. The Ordnance Department did not have a First in First out inventory system so just because the closest revolvers on the Springfield list were issued late in the war does not mean the three revolvers you were inquiring about were not issued when they were received in 1864. There are only 1778 records on the Springfield list out of 122,000 purchased by the Ordnance Department so the chances of finding a particular revolver are slim to none. Lastly it was the Company Clerks job to keep a list of the serial number of the arms issued to each member of the Company in case an ownership dispute arose. Unfortunately this practice was not always performed.
The state of New Jersey purchased 1000 revolvers which are serialized in the 71000 range. They would have been received in May of 1864 so they most likely saw some Civil War service.
Serial number 54812 was delivered in February of 1864. The cylinders were not serialized on New Model Army revolvers. If there is a number on the cylinder it is because some hand fitting was required to enable for the revolver to function properly. A portion of the serial number was sometimes used to be able to match the cylinder to the frame after the finish had been applied.

Bill

[Hunter-Swede1963]

Thank you, Bill, for your helpfulness and detailed answers. It is appreciated!