.44 Cap n Ball Remington

by JimT, Texas, Wednesday, March 13, 2024, 09:24 (253 days ago)

In 1863 Remington introduced what was to become the major competitor of the Colt 1860 Army Model, the Remington 1861 Army Revolver. These carry the patent date of December 17, 1861 and distinguished from the later models by a lack of safety notches on the rear of the cylinder and by a channel cut along the top of the loading lever. In combat this feature proved undesirable and the New Model (introduced in 1863) did not have it. The New Model carries the patent date of Sept. 14, 1858 and is marked "New Model". It has the safety notches between the nipples on the rear of the cylinder. This allowed the shooter to load all 6 chambers and then lower the hammer between the nipples for safe carry. The New Model was produced until 1875. It was the last of Remington's percussion revolvers.

My Dad had a number of them. The first was a "wallhanger" that had been plowed up by a neighbor. When he was 16 he went to Spokane and purchased a Remington .44 New Model and an 1860 Army Colt. The Remington proved much more accurate than the Colt. However it would also tie up from powder fouling quicker than the Colt. The Colt on the other hand had a problem with fired caps falling off into the rather large open area at the rear of the cylinder when the hammer is pulled to full-cock. A fired cap falling into there bound up the action. The Remington with its closed frame did not have that problem. Many oldtime gunmen would throw the Colt up nearly vertical while cocking the hammer. This had the effect of tossing any loose caps to the rear and kept them from dropping into the gun.

After WW II Dad bought a shipment of Remington .44's from the noted collector and author James Serven. These were all rejects as collector items having poor finishes and in need of mechanical repairs. Dad says he paid $10 each for load of them. He rebuilt some, remodeled others and then put them up for sale. Some were converted to .22 rimfire. Quite a few were cut to 6 1/2" barrel lengths from the original 8" length. Target sights were installed and the guns were sold to target shooters. At least one was converted to .357 Magnum. How it worked out I don't know.

In 1970 I decided I wanted a Remington .44 cap & ball sixgun. By then you could not touch an original Remington for $100 let alone $10 as Dad had done. I eventually bought an Italian-made replica that was imported by Hawes. Two things I immediately found to different from the originals. ONE: the bore was .445" instead of .452" as on the original. TWO: the rifling of the Italian-made gun was a straight twist instead of gain twist as in the Remingtons. And while it was a fun gun to shoot it did not live up to my expectations either as to power or accuracy.

In order to improve it I set about doing some modifications. The first was a decent set of sights. I silver-soldered a Smith & Wesson target front sight onto the barrel and then cut the shallow rear notch so that it became a nice square rather than the "V" as on the original. Good sights helped a lot. Measuring the chambers I found them to be extra tight, shrinking the ball a lot before it was even fired. The barrel proved to be tight at the throat and loose at the muzzle. I started with barrel, screwing it out of the frame and reaming a long, tapered throat in it. The "throat" was about 3" long, tapering from .456" at the breech down to .445". I reamed the chambers so I cold seat a .457" diameter ball in them.

The results were more along the lines of what I had hoped for. Velocity increased and accuracy improved. Your hands and ears could tell the difference. Before the change the gun would BOOM when it when off. Afterwards, a full load would make a CRACK when it fired. Shrinking the ball .011" really increased the efficiency of the powder. Apparent recoil was heavier also, although the cap & ball guns never really kicked like the big-bore cartridge guns do.

I experimented some with both 2Fg and 3Fg black powder as well as with Pyrodex. Pyrodex gave the 2nd highest velocities. The highest velocity was recorded using a Duplex load of 5 gr. 3Fg Black and a cylinder-full of Pyrodex on top of it with a ball compressed tightly onto it. You are on your own if you try this. I am not suggesting that you do so. This is for information purposes only. If you blow up your gun do not try to say I told you you could do it! One thing I did find out. Use too much Black powder with the Pyrodex and the hammer would blow back to full cock- while the ball was exiting the barrel. It was kind of hard on the lockwork. If you build too much pressure; not only does the hammer blow back, the top of the gun can depart to regions unknown.

The oldtimers who carried these guns in war and for self-defense were not in any way under-armed. They have a lot more power than one would think if they had not used one. I once saw a man shot with an 1860 Army .44. The ball took him in the lower stomach and went clean through. It bounced off the kitchen table, went through a cupboard door and stopped in a loaf of bread where we found it later. Then man dropped immediately. They got him to the hospital in time to save him but he was down for a long time. I do not know if he ever fully recovered.

One Javelina season I took my old .44 Remington-copy after the little pigs. I hunted the canyons until I spotted a herd, made a 300-yard stalk and got to within 30- 40 yards. One large pig was scratching his rear on a rock outcropping and was mostly sideways to me. I lined up the sights behind the right front shoulder and touched it off. Peering through the large cloud of smoke in front of me I could make out the pig, laying on the ground kicking. The ball had taken him behind the right shoulder, ranging forward and exiting the left side of the neck behind the ear. An instant "lights out". It was a fitting use of the fine old .44 cap & ball sixgun.

Some of the imports now have the gain-twist rifling of the originals. These are target-grade guns and you will pay accordingly. Very fine accuracy can be had with these. Seems we have come full circle. The Remington was popular in its day. It grew old and was almost forgotten. Then it was revived. I'm kind of glad. It is a pretty good old gun.

Chronographed velocities at 7 feet from muzzle to first screen
.445" diameter ball
38 gr. 2Fg ..........................951 fps

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.457" diameter ball
38 gr. 2Fg............................992 fps
38 gr. 3Fg..........................1036 fps
full load of Pyrodex P.........1087 fps

Javelina with the Remington copy

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Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.