Target Sports

BLACK POWDER: NAVAL REVIEW

Created on 19th May 2009

DEREK LANDERS tests the Uberti Remington New Model Navy revolver, which passes with flying colours

REMINGTON LAY claim to being the oldest surviving gun makers in America, tracing the company's history back to the early part of the 19th century. Initially producing barrels for local gunsmiths, Remington eventually progressed to manufacturing its own rifles and by the late 1850s had moved into the handgun market. For around 20 years the company produced a range of percussion revolvers ranging from the tiny Remington Rider Pocket model, a five-shot .31 calibre weapon, to the highly successful New Model Army, known to many as the Model 1858. Unlike their great rivals Colt, all of the Remington percussion revolvers had a solid frame with a top strap. This design led to claims that the 1858 Model was stronger than the comparative Colt, the 1860 Army, and indeed towards the end of the Civil War the Colt was being phased out in favour of the Remington.

Built around US patent No. 21,478 of September 14, 1858, held by Fordyce Beals, the larger (.36 and .44 calibre) Remington percussion revolvers shared a common design with minor differences in loading levers and cylinder pins throughout their development. The .44 Army model was slightly larger than its .36 counterpart, which came to be known as the Navy Model. What Beals' patent claimed was: "Constructing, applying and arranging the centre pin and rammer lever, substantially as described, so that the former is locked in place by the latter when the latter is close to the barrel, and that the former is permitted to be withdrawn by bringing the latter to a position in which the rammer will not interfere with the cylinder." Basically what he was saying is that by lowering the rammer, the pin could be withdrawn and the cylinder removed from the frame. This was a much more manageable operation than the Colt with its slotted arbour and wedge arrangement.

During the early part of the Civil War, the US Ordnance Department purchased both .36 and .44 calibre pistols from Remington but by 1863 it was ordering only the larger Army model. For some reason the Navy preferred the smaller calibre, and after purchasing a small number of Colt 1861 Navy revolvers at a cost of $23 each, from September 1862 onwards it bought only the Remington Navy models. One reason for the change was obviously the price charged by the Illion firm - $12 per pistol. Just under 6,000 Remington .36 calibre revolvers were purchased by the Navy Department during the conflict, of which 4,344 were of the New Model which is reproduced here.

Good Looker

Unlike the Colt, original Remington revolvers did not have a case-hardened frame (Uberti do make a '58 Remington Army with case colours and it is one of the most attractive revolvers I have seen, although historically incorrect), but rather all of the major metal parts were blued, or in Uberti's case, blacked. The exceptions are the case-hardened hammer and polished brass trigger-guard. As I have come to expect from Uberti, the black finish looks very deep and has a nice gloss. All of the edges are nice and sharp and the metal-to-metal fit is excellent. The grips on this revolver are thicker than I remember on my 1858 Army Model and afford a comfortable and firm hold. The extra thickness is carried the full length of the grip, making them stand proud of the frame at the top but the fit on the front and rear straps is very good. The typical Uberti high gloss varnish is obviously applied after the brass escutcheons are fitted to the grips, resulting in the latter having an orange tint. The pistol would, I think, look a little more attractive if the escutcheons were left in their natural state and quite why the varnish is applied after their fitting escapes me.

The robust top strap, which gives the pistol its strength, has a groove along its upper surface that culminates in a V-notch at the back end and this is the rear sight. Looking at the thickness of this top strap, and how high it is above the barrel, shows why the front sight has to be so tall. This blade sight, with a rounded profile, is dovetailed into the top flat of the 71/2 " barrel. The sight picture is surprisingly good for such a primitive set up. The hammer has a relatively short spur with good deep chequering and I think that the travel from rest to full cock is slightly less than the Colt 1860. Lock-up was good with only a miniscule amount of lateral play on the cylinder. The cylinder-to-barrel gap is so small as to be immeasurable and there is no fore and aft movement at all on the cylinder. The ‘web' under the loading lever is obviously there as a strengthening piece but does help to give the pistol a streamlined look and it looks, and feels very well balanced.

Removal of the cylinder is straightforward as described above, although it helps if you turn the cylinder clockwise as you remove it, and re-fitting is just as easy. You will see from the photographs that the hand that turns the cylinder protrudes well into the frame aperture. Combined with a strong spring on the hand, this means that the cylinder cannot simply be pushed into place. I have found that there is a knack to getting it back. Holding the pistol in your right hand, lay the cylinder on the fingers of your left hand and present it to the frame from the right side. When it has entered the frame, bring your left thumb round to the left side of the frame and grasp the cylinder. As it makes contact with the hand, begin to turn the cylinder clockwise. This pushes the hand back into its recess and the cylinder can then be lined up to insert the centre pin. It takes a little practice but works every time once perfected.

On loading the pistol for the first time I noticed that there is a shoulder on the rammer that limits the travel. As the cylinder on this pistol is longer than that on my Uberti Colt Navy, I wondered if I was getting enough compression of the powder with my standard .36 calibre load of 20gn of Henry Krank's powder, a lubricated wad and .375" diameter lead ball. Everything seemed OK but for those wanting to make a bigger bang you will get a little more powder in this cylinder. The capping cut out on the right of the frame is, I feel, too small but this is offset to a certain degree by the fact that the nipple holes are drilled at an angle and the caps are presented to the nipple slightly from the side. Each shoulder between the nipples has a notch into which the face of the hammer can rest to act as a safety catch should you wish to carry the pistol fully loaded.

This revolver is a little heavier than the 1861 Colt and felt recoil with the above load was minimal, and the thicker grip gave better control. It has a nice wide trigger, which broke without any creep. The top strap design of the frame means that broken or spent caps cannot fall down into the hammer recess, and there was not one misfire. I began to feel the cylinder binding after 30 shots but a drop of oil on the centre pin kept it going for a while longer (to 48 shots) before I took it out to clean it. I do not think that I could have matched the performance of the original tester back in 1862 who stated "At the one hundred and fiftieth round, the cylinder revolved with some difficulty".

The Remington is obviously not an out-and-out target revolver but performance for Westerners is more than adequate and the fact that broken caps are not a problem gives it an edge over the Colt models in a competition against the clock. I'm sure this pistol would also perform well in MLAGB events calling for originals or modern copies thereof. This is a strong, well-made revolver and for those looking for an alternative to the larger .44 calibre models it is an excellent choice.

I would like to thank Henry Krank for once again allowing me to sample a new model from Uberti.

Technical Specification

Make: Uberti
Model: 1858 New Improved Navy
Calibre: 36
No. of shots: 6
Barrel length: 7½"
O/all length: 13½"
Weight: 2lb 13oz
Trigger pull: 5lb
Price: £169.50

Distributor: Henry Krank
T: 0113 2569163
W: www.henrykrank.com

BLACK POWDER: NAVAL REVIEW

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