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Title:	REVOLVER -  REMINGTON REVOLVER MODEL 1863 NEW MODEL ARMY .44 SN# 52728
Maker/Manufacturer:	REMINGTON ARMS
Date of Manufacture:	1863-1875
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 1233
Measurements:	OL: 35.5CM 14" BL: 20.3CM 8" 2.14 lbs.

Object Description:

REMINGTON REVOLVER MODEL 1863 NEW MODEL ARMY .44 SN# 52728
Manufactured by Remington & Sons, Ilion, N.Y. - Standard Remington New Model Army 6-shot single-action revolver. Blade front sight with rounded base. Rear sight in frame. Blued finish except for hammer which is casehardened. Two piece smooth walnut grips. Weapon weighs approximately 2.14 lbs.

Markings:
Barrel: PATENTED SEPT. 14, 1858/REMINGTON & SONS, ILION, NEW YORK, USA/NEW MODEL. 52728. W T.
Frame: P W.
Left grip: Government inspector's mark appears to be GP in oval.
Triggerguard: P.
Cylinder: W.

Exhibit label: "Remington New Model Army .44 caliber, 1863-1875, 132,000 manufactured. The New Model Army was the last of the .44 caliber percussion revolvers made by Remington."

Notes: This was the second most popular Civil War revolver. It incorporated Samuel Remington's U.S. Patent 37,921, March 17, 1863, which prevented the cylinder pin from being entirely withdrawn from the frame.

"At the close of the Civil War, in accordance with Circular No. 13 from the Adjutant General's Officer, honorably discharged enlisted men were permitted to purchase their government issued arms and equipment. Under the provisions of this circular, 9,875 Remington revolvers were retained by Union soldiers mustering out of service. Of these, 456 were retained by Kansas volunteers. Whether 'Bill' Cody acquired his Remington New Model Army revolver from one of the mustered-out Kansas volunteers or from some other source, was never recorded. Whatever the source, during his post-War career as buffalo hunter for the Kansas Pacific Railroad and as a scout for the U.S. Army, Cody acquired and carried with him a Remington 'New Model Army' revolver, serial number 73,293, a pistol that had been manufactured in 1864.
Cody retained this revolver until 1906. On December 13th of that year, Cody presented the revolver as a Christmas gift to his Nebraska ranch foreman and his wife, Charlie and Carrie Trego. With the revolver, 'Buffalo Bill' included his business card, bearing a quickly scrawled handwritten note which read: 'This old Remington revolver I carried and used for many years in Indian wars and Buffalo killing, and it never failed me'....
In 1863 Remington introduced its 'New Model Navy' and 'New Model Army' revolvers. On the basis of serial numbers, the latter replaced the 'Model 1861 Army' revolver about serial number 11,000, or at time of the Army delivery of March 3rd, 1863....
The 'New Model,' which reverted to the earlier Beals' patent cylinder pin and a scalloped cut-out in the frame where the barrel joined the cylinder, continued the serial number sequence of the Beals and 'Model of 1861' revolvers. When deliveries were completed on the contract of June 13th, 1862 on the 8th of July, 1863. Remington continued delivering 'New Model Army' revolvers under its new contract of July 6th, 1863. This contract called for Remington to produce all (up to 20,000) 'which they can deliver within the present year.' Under its terms, Remington provided 18,208 'New Model Army' revolvers in 1863 at $11.82 each.
Deliveries continued throughout 1864 and 1865 at the rate of 1,000 revolvers per week (2,000 per week in four shipments between December 26th, 1864 and January 20th, 1865). The deliveries during this period were under two contracts. That of November 21st, 1863 called for 57,002 Army revolvers through 1864 at the price of $12,00 each. Upon completion of this contract Remington immediately commenced on a new contract entered into on October 24th, 1864 for 20,000 more Army revolvers, with the price adjusted to $15.50 to account for war-time inflation. By the end of this contract on March 23rd, 1865, Remington had provided the Union Army with 116,765 Army revolvers in all three varieties, as well as 16,736 Navy revolvers.
Although production of the Army revolver virtually ceased with the end of the Civil War, between 1865 and 1875, Remington assembled another 30,000 'New Model Army' revolvers, primarily for the civilian trade. During the Franco-Prussian conflict (1870-1871), R
"When the war broke out, the old established firm of Remington, which still remained largely a family concern, was not fully prepared to meet military demands. It was not yet producing an army caliber revolver, and apparently had not anticipated the substantial military market. Remington produced a pistol in navy caliber, and during the first year of the war sold a number of them to the army, but it would be 1862 before production of army revolvers would begin.
Remington's greatest advantages in breaking into the military market were the superior strength and lower cost of their revolvers. Major Hagner of New York City was favorably impressed with the Remingtons, although they were still in .36 caliber. He set about to get as many of them as he could for the Western forces. 'I have seen no revolver I like as well,' he wrote Ripley, 'and the price is nearer the cost than with some others.' Major William A. Thornton at the Watervliet Arsenal also though highly of the Remington revolvers and recommended that Samuel Remington deliver his samples in person to Brigadier General Ripley. Presented with the specimens in July, 1861, Ripley was favorably impressed and responded immediately by ordering 5,000 in army caliber. Ripley understood the manufacturing of arms as well as any soldier of his time, and the Remington had features which greatly appealed to his knowledge and experience.
Central to Remington's design was it solid frame with a topstrap. The frame, which included the grip, was made from a single forging which was then machined to the proper specifications. It required less machining than the more complicated Colt; it was stronger, and it was more economical to manufacture than its Hartford competitor. The base pin which held the cylinder in line was an independent steel rod, itself held in place by the butt end of the loading lever, and required no screws or wedges, as did the Colt. The barrel was a straight tube screwed into the frame, and was in way part of the housing for the loading lever. The army and navy revolvers were built alike, except the army was larger in size and caliber. Both were well below the price of the Colt.
It took some time to get the Remington .44 caliber army revolver into production; although the firm continued to deliver about 2500 navy revolvers per week, it did not deliver its first army revolver until March of 1862. Remington asked $15.00 for its army pistol, only sixty percent of the price of the Colt.
Remington was one of the few firms to gain from the Ordnance Commission hearings of 1862. Samuel Remington testified before the commission that on large contracts he could produce the revolver and sell it profitably for $12.00, and that his firm could produce the Colt or any other pistol for about the same price, with not more than a dollar difference on each gun. He made similar claims on the production of the rifled musket. Remington's testimony was in large part responsible for the major change in pricing policy on government arms. Colt, for example, was forced to negotiate new contracts, dropping the price of their army pistols from $25.00 to $14.50 each. After the commission hearings, Remington's contracts were considerably modified. The new contracts of June 13, 1862, called for 5,000 navy revolvers, 5,000 Model 1861 army revolvers, and 15,000 new model army revolvers, the latter being modified to add safety notches to the cylinders and more securely anchor the base pins. Remington Arms had broken the Colt monopoly.
Remington's already large firm rapidly expanded, and by 1863 was producing revolvers in numbers comparable to Colt. But the end of the war, it had delivered over 125,000 of its army revolvers, and more than 133,000 revolvers of all types to the government. In total sales for the period it ranked only slightly behind Colt; by the end of the war, it
References:
Davis, Carl L. SMALL ARMS IN THE UNION ARMY, 1861-1865. University Microfilms International. Ann Arbor, Mi. 1979.
Madaus, Howard M., Simeon Stoddard & Paul Goodwin. THE GUNS OF REMINGTON: HISTORIC FIREARMS SPANNING TWO CENTURIES. Biplane Productions Publisher. Dayton, Ky. 1997.