Remington Model 1861 Army Old Model Revolver .44 Caliber Percussion. Obsolete Caliber

*Remington Model 1861 Army Old Model Revolver .44 Caliber Percussion. Obsolete Caliber*

Serial number 11381 etched under the loading lever. "S" on the trigger guard. N before the loading lever. A on face.

The Remington Model 1861 was contracted for production by the US government in June of 1862 with deliveries beginning in December of that year. The Remington 1861 Army revolver is a .44 caliber percussion.

The barrel legend on the 1861 is two lines and reads "Patented Dec. 17, 1861/Manufactured by Remington's Ilion, N.Y." all in upper case. The top line has faded though you can still see "1861" but the bottom line is very clear "Manufactured by Remington's Ilion, N.Y". (The later "New Model Army" has a 1858 patent date in three lines of print on the barrel with the third line reading "NEW MODEL")

Total production of the "Old Army" was between 10000 and 12000 revolvers in 1862. Some reference books state only 10,000 were manufactured and the serial number range starts at where the Remington-Beals model ended at approximately 1900 and runs through serial number 12,000. The range of 10,000 to 22,000 is often called the “transitional range” where some of the “Old Model” revolvers appear with some of the “New Model” features. The later New Army Model had approximately 135,000 manufactured and ran in the serial number range of 12,000 to 148,000.

The revolver is serial number 11381. This number is present under the loading lever. This serial number places it well within the range of “Old Model” guns, and at the beginning of the range of “transitional” revolvers. The transitional features include safety notches at the rear of the cylinder and a solid loading lever that prevents the arbor pin from moving unless the lever is lowered. The pistol bears numerous small sub-inspector marks throughout.

*Condition*
This is in excellent condition. Some minor tarnishing and pitting. Cocks and dry-fires. There is a small chip to the grip. Overall this is a very crisp, complete and original example of a very scarce, early Remington revolver. With only 4,902 M-1861 “Old Model” Army revolvers being delivered, they represent only 4% of total Civil War deliveries of Remington Army revolvers. Please see photographs as part of the condition report.

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