Remington Model 1861 Navy

E. Remington & Sons · Revolver · Out Of Production · 1862

Also known as: Remington Old Model Navy, Remington-Elliott Navy, Remington Model 1861 .36

Overview

The Remington Model 1861 Navy, often grouped with the Remington 'Old Model' revolvers, is a .36 caliber percussion (cap-and-ball) single-action revolver made by E. Remington & Sons of Ilion, New York. It is the .36-caliber counterpart to the larger .44 Model 1861 Army, sharing that gun's solid-frame, top-strap design derived from the earlier Beals patents and improved by William Elliott's December 1861 patent covering the grooved loading lever. The six-shot cylinder is loaded from the front with a ball or conical bullet seated over a loose black-powder charge, ignited by a percussion cap fitted to a nipple at the rear of each chamber, and the hammer is thumb-cocked manually for every shot. Its roughly 7 3/8-inch octagonal barrel and integral loading lever ride on an enclosed top-strap frame that gave it greater rigidity and easier sight alignment than the open-top Colt Navy revolvers it competed against. Produced only briefly during the American Civil War, the Model 1861 Navy was quickly superseded by the redesigned New Model Navy of 1863, which corrected the earlier model's loading-lever and safety shortcomings.

Specifications

Overall Length	337 mm (13.27")
Barrel Length	187 mm (7.36")
Action Type	Single Action
Firing Mechanism	Single Action
Trigger Type	Single Action
Magazine Capacity	6 rounds
Magazine Type	Revolving Cylinder
Muzzle Velocity	229 m/s (751 fps)
Muzzle Energy	152 J (112 ft·lbf)
Effective Range	45 m (49 yd)
Barrel Rifling	Right Hand
Frame Material	Steel
Barrel Material	Steel
Stock Material	Walnut
Finish	Blued

Calibers

.36 Caliber Percussion (Cap and Ball) · primary — also known as .36 cal, .36 percussion, 9.1mm

Features

Firing modes: Repeating
Feed systems: Revolving Cylinder
Features: Solid Frame With Top Strap, Octagonal Barrel, Grooved Loading Lever, Removable Cylinder, Six Shot Cylinder, Case Hardened Hammer, Fixed Iron Sights, Single Action Percussion

Variants

Remington-Beals Navy Model (1858) - Predecessor
Remington New Model Navy (1863) - Successor

Service history

Operators

Union Army · adopted 1862
United States Navy · adopted 1862

Conflicts

American Civil War (1861-1865)

Production

Estimated total produced: 7,000 · Production years: 1862-1863

Estimates vary; roughly 7,000 .36-caliber Model 1861 Navy revolvers are commonly cited before the New Model Navy superseded the design in 1863.

Origin

Country of origin: United States

Designer: Fordyce Beals

Discontinued: 1863

Notes

Reference weight for the Model 1861 Navy could not be confirmed to a single reliable figure and is left null; the encyclopedic source consulted reports a family weight of about 2 lb 13 oz (~1.27 kg) that appears to reflect the heavier .44 Army rather than the .36 Navy. Barrel length is the standard 7 3/8-inch octagon (~187 mm) and overall length about 13.25 in (~337 mm). Muzzle energy is computed from a typical .36 cap-and-ball ball weight and velocity and should be treated as an estimate. Original barrel rifling specifics (twist rate and groove count) could not be confirmed and are left null. The '1861' in the name refers to the Elliott improvement patent date; volume production ran mainly in 1862 before the 1863 New Model Navy superseded it.

Background

The Model 1861's grooved loading lever was a clever double-duty part - a slot let the cylinder pin be drawn forward to drop the cylinder out without lowering the lever - but under recoil that same pin could creep forward and jam the cylinder solid. The flaw, shared with its .44 Army sibling, drove Remington's 1863 redesign into the New Model line that Civil War collectors later misnamed the 'Remington 1858'.