Remingtons

This is an Extremely Rare Remington M..44 Caliber.  It is a Factory 5-3/4 inch barrel model of 1875. In quoting Flayderman 9th edition, ONLY a few were made, and considered worth a Premium. In the many decades I have been in the Antique Arms business, I cannot recall when last I have ever seen one, besides this one. In addition it has another scarce factor, it was made a Factory Blue revolver. the vast majority of 1875’s were nickel plated. It is 100% Original, all parts and components. Only missing the actual Lanyard Ring, as the Ring Guide is still present.  MOST Important, it is 100% correct on ALL of the Working Actions. It cocks, cylinder rotates precisely and indexes correctly, each time the hammer is cocked. It cocks and locks ! and releases to fire perfectly. It has it’s original Walnut grips. The original blue has faded and mixed with a soft gray/plum patina. It has never been cleaned or buffed, all original natural finish after about 145 + years. This example is Serial No. 12X / Possibly Batch No. 12X the grips have a smooth natural hand patina, **with one deliberate notch line on the upper left grip, deliberately place there. All screw heads are clean and crisp. It’s just a very clean and pleasing appearance for a very rare Remington 1875.

THE REMINGTON MODEL OF 1890 IS THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER OF THE CARTRIDGE REVOLVERS FROM RENMINGTON. IT IS THE DIRECT DESCENDANT OF THE MODEL 1875 SINGLE ACTION ARMY REVOLVER. IN FACT ! IT IS ONE OF THE MOST SOUGHT FRONTIER LARGE FRAME SINGLE ACTION ARMY REVOLVERS, APPEALING TO ALL WHO COLLECT THIS GENRE. JUST A BIT OF BACKGROUND HERE:REMINGTON BY 1888 WAS IN FINANCIAL TROUBLE DUE TO UNPAID SALES TO FOREIGN BUYERS,  HARTLEY & GRHAM OF NEW YORK CITY PURCHASED REMINGTON. THEY HAD A “BRAIN STORM” HOW TO SELL MORE REVOLVERS. THEY TOOK EXISTING MODEL 1875’S AND MODIFIED THEM. THE WEB WAS GROUND AWAY, IN AN ATTEMPT TO BE MORE LIKE THE COLT SINGLE ACTION ARMY, MAYBE ABOUT 1,200. AFTER MANY YEARS AND THE DISCOVERY OF AN ANCIENT H&G CATALOGUE, THE MODEL DESIGNATION OF 1888 WAS ASSIGNED THIS REVOLVER. HOWVER BY 1890 REMINGTON WAS BACK IN BUSINESS AND THEY MANUFACTURED A NEW MODEL, THE MODEL OF 1890.

IT CAME IN TWO BARREL LENGTHS, 7-1/2 INCH AND 5-1/2 BUT WAS REALLY 5-3/4 INCHES. THEY WANTED TO STICK WITH THE KNOWN DESIGNATION, SO LISTED AT 5-1/2 INCHES. THE BARREL NOW MARKED REMINGTON ARMS CO. ILION, N.Y.

REMINGTON STILL WAS UNCERTAIN, SO THEY PRODUCED ONLY 2,020 REVOLVERS. ACYUALLY THE 7–1/2 INCH BARREL WAS THE LARGEST AMOUNT, WHICH WAS RELATED TO ME BY A MEMEBER OF THE REMINGTON SOCIETY. THE SERIAL NUMBER OF THIS REVOLVER IS 255. BASED ON RECENT RESEARCH SHIPPING TIMES/QUANTIY  1891/125 1892/844 1893/5381894/467 1895/O, 1896 /1

BY THIS CALCULATION PERHAPS AND MOST LIKELY THIS 1890 SHIPPED IN  1892

THIS 1890 IS IN VERY STRONG ORIGINAL CONDITION WITH ABOUT 75% OF THE FACTORY ORIGINAL NICKEL FINISH. THE BALANCE IS A SOFT LIGHT UNOUCHED METAL SURFACE LIGHT GRAY PATINA. NO CONTRAST ! ALL FACTORY APPLIED MARKINGS ARE CLEAR: BARREL ADDRESS , CALIBER DESIGANTION ON LEFT FRAME 44 C F W THE SERIAL NUMBER IS CLEAR UNDER GRIP ON FRAME IT HAS THE FCATORY LANYARD RING STILL PRESENT. THE HARD RUBBER GRIPS ARE IN EXCELLENT CONDION. THE CHECKERING SHOWS HAND WEAR, BUT STILL PRESENT. THE COMPANT LOGO AT TOP OF EACH GRIP HAS LITTLE WEAR AND IS ABUNDANTLY CLEAR. MOST IMPORTANT: ALL WORKING MECHANICAL ACTIONS ARE FUNCTIONING 100% EVERY TIME USED, NO, NO MECHANICAL ISSUES HERE. ALL APRTS ATE THE FACTORY ORIGINAL !!!! THIS IS A VERY FNE 1890 FOR ALL INTERESTED COLLECTORS, AND EMEBER 1890’S SELDOM SHOW UP ! AND IF THEU DO, GENERALLY NOT IN THIS  EXCELLENT OF CONDITION., INCLUDING GRIPS.

The 1875 Remington Army Model revolver, in 44/40 caliber ( other calibers but 44 was the bulk of production), was manufactured from 1875 until 1889. An estimated 25,000 + revolvers, compared to competitors a small amount. Remington wanted to “get a piece” of the Frontier revolver market mostly dominated by Colt , and S&W. The revolver sold at a lesser velocity and they kept production limited to ” batch” runs. A batch run could have been any number of revolvers, each starting Serial Numbers over again!  Only the first run of 1875’s are true serial numbers. It is a very sturdy revolver and well balanced, why not a bigger seller ? They came to the game late, as 1875 was three years behind established makers ! HOWEVER, many Western Celebrities swore by Remington: Frank James, Bill Cody for a while. The Interior Department purchased these 1875 revolvers and issued them to Indian Police on various reservations. This was done twice thru two different government service agencies. It just came down to a personal preference in hand guns. This 1875, Serial No. ( Batch) 32 has about 45-50% original nickel plate finish, the balance a blending original untouched gray patina. ALL factory applied markings are clear and present: barrel address, serial number. ALL parts are the original parts, no replacements. The working actions functions correctly, safety hammer click, half cock is weak and sometimes does not hold, full cock holds perfectly. The cylinder rotates freely, when cocked it indexes, and locks perfectly, and releases to fire correctly So, it is a correctly working 1875 Remington. WHAT MAKES THIS ONE  INCREDIBLY INTERESTING ??? When taking off the grips, you find hand cut name and location ! in side both grips. One grip has: Kiowa Harris…the other has: Bluejacket..Okla…ITY 1878. There is no doubt these hand carved/deep scratched markings have been there since 1878. Doing RESEARCH: Bluejacket ITY was founded in 1871 as a train stop of the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railway ( The KATY RR). It ran thru Kansas thru Indian Territory down into Texas. It was named after Bluejacket, a noted Shawnee war chief and leader. It became part of Cherokee Nation in 1894. I have copy of this information which will go with the sale of the Remington. I think it is fair to say Kiowa is an Indian Name, but Harris probably not. This show the mélange of peoples in Indian Territory during that period. Perhaps more research will reveal who Kiowa Harris was at that time. This is a VERY interesting 1875 Remington, one that was actually there and more than likely did something in the Old Territory.