Remington & Sons Sept 14, 1858 pistol - looking for info

[Marsdenmanor]

Hello - I know there are many posts on this particular pistol, but I was hoping to find out more information/a fair market value for it. I inherited from my mother's family and do not want to part with it without getting a fair price of course. Thanks to reading posts on this site, I have learned a few things. This is what I know: on the barrel it says: "Patented Sept 14, 1858, Remington & Sons. Ilion, New York USA. New-Model". The serial number appears to be 850 in the middle of the under side of the barrel. There is also a marking toward the nozzle end that looks like a "1" and a possibly partially rubbed of number - could have been a 6 or 8? In front of that a mark that looks like a small triangle or arrowhead. It has an octagonal barrel, single action, and includes original holster (assume original). A little surface rust but all moving parts seem to work fine. Wood appears to be in good/very good shape given it's age. Looking for advice: should I clean the medal and wood/remove rust? If so, with what product that would not damage the pistol? Suggestions on where to have it appraised and where/how to sell it in order to get the best available price. I would be happy to email pictures if needed. Thank you for your time and assistance with this. This site has already been very helpful and I am grateful for that!

[Johnboat 225]

Use Big 45 frontier cleaner. It is a spiral coiled flat ribbon cleaning pad' when you rub the edges of pad lift off rust and crud but it does not remove the finish from the smoothed metal.

[Oyeboten]

Can you post some images of the old Remington?

On mine, which I doubt anyone had touched in a Century or more...I cleaned the Steel parts with Bronze Wool and Oil, and also some small Bronze Brushes and Oil.

I did not clean the Brass at all.

I did my cleaning with the Revolver dismantled.

I would definitely NOT use any kind of Steel Wool on any part of it, it will abrade off whatever Blue is still there, or also make it look horrible and brutalized.

[Johnboat 225]

See this YouTube "How to clean and old gun & review of Big 45 Frontier Metal Cleaner".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaLK3noQx4c

Its pretty home made but you will get the idea. He is confusing browning with brown patina. But this product will knock off surface crud and rust and leave the blueing or brown patina in tact. Always use very gently at first and see how it goes.

[Marsdenmanor]

Picture of pistol - serial # 850 (assume this is serial #)

[Marsdenmanor]

Picture of pistol - main view of pistol (looking for advice on possibly cleaning it or having it professionally cleaned?)

[Marsdenmanor]

Picture of pistol #3 - looking for advice on identifying a reputable gun dealer (ideally in Massachusetts/Connecticut/Rhode Island) to give me a fair valuation of what it is worth

[Marsdenmanor]

Picture of pistol #4 - hoping to locate/identify a reputable gun dealer/collector in New England (prefer MA/CT/RI) who would like to acquire this pistol for a fair price

[Marsdenmanor]

Picture of pistol #5 - I inherited this pistol from my grandmother in Maine (pistol history unknown prior to that)

[Johnboat 225]

Well it is a fabulous old family gun and holster.

1. The rust no doubt is the result of storing in the holster. A huge no no. The salts in the tanned leather caused the rust with ambient humidity.

2. I doubt anyone will object to knocking off that ugly surface rust with Hoppes #9 and the Frontier Big 45 cleaning pad I posted about. That rust is not romantic, patina or anything other than something that should be removed.

But, its still a very cool family find.

There are reputable dealers, but you must recognize that they are buying for resale.

[aardq]

It appears that you have either a Remington, Single Action Belt Model, or a Police model. The screws on the belt or police models enter the frame from the right while the Army and Navy models have screws that enter the frame from the left.

A Belt barrel should be 6 1/2", while a police barrel could be in several lengths up to 6 1/2". Originally it was a 36 caliber. But, it has been converted to fire a 38 caliber cartridge, probably 38 long. It could be center fire or rim fire, the location of the firing pin on the hammer will tell you which one it is. Later guns were made are cartridge models, but your low serial means it is probably a conversion.

I recommend the use of bronze wool in as fine a grade as you can get, and a light weight oil for lubricant, and rub the gun with the bronze wool. If the rust is heavy you can use more pressure rubbing, in areas where the rust is light, use light pressure to remove the rust. Do worry if you remove a little of the finish while removing the rust.
DO NOT use any chemicals to remove the rust, because they all will remove the finish!

At this point, the pistol has little collector value, mainly as a parts gun. It is very doubtful that a dealer would give you much for the gun, maybe 200 or so.

The holster appears to be home made so again, there is little value in the holster.

Keep both as a nice family memento, and store the gun out of the holster. Maybe a nice framing of the two together to hang on a wall, and to pass on to future generations.