serial number locations
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Jim in Wisconsin
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2024 2:08 pm
serial number locations
On another site they talked about having a serial number on the back of the cylinder on a new model army. I thought they were only on the bottom of the barrel, on the left grip frame, and on the trigger guard tab. Were they also on the cylinder? It seems like there wouldn't be any room for it on the rear. Thanks
Last edited by Jim in Wisconsin on Sat Jan 31, 2026 7:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: serial number locations
Hi Jim,
A few, very few cylinders were numbered, but most collectors believe that these were numbered only if they required hand fitting, so that the cylinder will be put into the correct pistol after the finish is applied. Probably just the last 4 digits were applied with two digits between chambers, and the next two digits between the next two chambers. We know that it was done, but without records, the reason is just a guess.
Daniel
A few, very few cylinders were numbered, but most collectors believe that these were numbered only if they required hand fitting, so that the cylinder will be put into the correct pistol after the finish is applied. Probably just the last 4 digits were applied with two digits between chambers, and the next two digits between the next two chambers. We know that it was done, but without records, the reason is just a guess.
Daniel
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Jim in Wisconsin
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2024 2:08 pm
Re: serial number locations
Thanks, Daniel.
It doesn't seem to me that hand fitting could accomplish a lot - once those ratchet angles are machined into it, grinding or something on them would only make it worse. Maybe just smoothing some burrs or enlarging some of the slots that the bolt drops into - but then the cylinder would work in any gun and there would be no point in marking it.
Now that I think of it, if the hole in the bottom of the "window" in the frame where the bolt pops out of was positioned a little off, the slots in the cylinder would have to be adjusted to fit it. Then that cylinder would have to stay with that frame. The wouldn't have wanted to throw away a machined frame if there was a way to make it work.
I also wondered about silver plating on the trigger guard - evidently some were. Intended for civilian sales?
It doesn't seem to me that hand fitting could accomplish a lot - once those ratchet angles are machined into it, grinding or something on them would only make it worse. Maybe just smoothing some burrs or enlarging some of the slots that the bolt drops into - but then the cylinder would work in any gun and there would be no point in marking it.
Now that I think of it, if the hole in the bottom of the "window" in the frame where the bolt pops out of was positioned a little off, the slots in the cylinder would have to be adjusted to fit it. Then that cylinder would have to stay with that frame. The wouldn't have wanted to throw away a machined frame if there was a way to make it work.
I also wondered about silver plating on the trigger guard - evidently some were. Intended for civilian sales?
Re: serial number locations
Hi Tim,
We obviously don't know what adjustments were made to either the cylinder, or to the frame. There was no way to know that the corrected part would then work with any other part, and there is no sense in taking the chance that it would have to be worked on again, so the cylinder was numbered to insure that the two were reunited.
As to plating the trigger guard, I don't know. There are many examples of silver plated trigger guards, and there are more examples of non-plated trigger guards. If all were plated, the plating must have been very thin to wear off so often, and so completely.
You would think that a few traces of the plating would remain in the nooks, and on the underside, but there are many trigger guards that have no traces of plating, even on the hidden underside. Or for some reason, some were plated and some weren't. This may be one of the unsolved mysteries about Remington pistols.
Daniel
We obviously don't know what adjustments were made to either the cylinder, or to the frame. There was no way to know that the corrected part would then work with any other part, and there is no sense in taking the chance that it would have to be worked on again, so the cylinder was numbered to insure that the two were reunited.
As to plating the trigger guard, I don't know. There are many examples of silver plated trigger guards, and there are more examples of non-plated trigger guards. If all were plated, the plating must have been very thin to wear off so often, and so completely.
You would think that a few traces of the plating would remain in the nooks, and on the underside, but there are many trigger guards that have no traces of plating, even on the hidden underside. Or for some reason, some were plated and some weren't. This may be one of the unsolved mysteries about Remington pistols.
Daniel