Short barreled Belt Models

Topics related to Pre - 1898 Remington Pistols
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aardq
Posts: 439
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2005 1:02 pm

Short barreled Belt Models

Post by aardq »

Hello all,

In 2017 I had the chance to buy a DA Belt Model with a 4.5" barrel. The sight placement was correct, the gun showed no signs of a refinish, and the muzzle was crowned identical to the regular muzzles.

The gun was inspected by several knowledgeable collectors and they all thought that the gun was factory made, or the work was done by a factory trained machinist. Since the barrel may have been cut down, the price was lower than if the barrel was full length. I bought it!

In the following year, I found a few more in the Fritz Baehr collection, and James Skelly found several during his survey of Belt models. To date six short barreled Belt Models have been found with barrel at or near, 4.5" or 5/5." It’s possible that the bbls may be just a little shorter or longer than those sizes. The serial numbers are scattered through the serial range so they don’t appear to be made about the same time.

Are they special orders? There is nothing different or special about them, except for the short barrels. Are they factory experiments to see how well the would sell? I can tell you that my 4.5" gun balances very well in the hand, and in the 1860s I would have bought one! We don’t know, and without a lot of research we may never know.

If you have or come across a short barrel Belt Model in either SA ot DA, please let me know. Also let me know the serial, bbl length, and where the mainspring attaches to the frame.

Thank you,
Daniel
karu
Posts: 41
Joined: Sat Nov 23, 2019 9:03 am

Re: Short barreled Belt Models

Post by karu »

Hi Daniel,
Thank you for the information.

Now we want photos! :D

Karu
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