Remington Model 1858 New Army
Remington Arms · Pistol · Out Of Production · 1858
Also known as: Remington New Model Army, Remington .44, Remington Army Model 1858, Beals Army Model, 1858 New Army
Overview
The Remington Model 1858 New Army is a six-shot single-action percussion revolver designed by Fordyce Beals for E. Remington & Sons and adopted by the U.S. Army during the American Civil War. Chambered primarily in .44 caliber round ball (with a .36 caliber Navy variant), it served as the principal rival to Colt's contemporaneous 1860 Army revolver and was carried in massive numbers by Union cavalrymen and officers. The revolver's defining feature is its solid one-piece frame with an integral top strap above the cylinder - a design that made it significantly stronger and more rigid than Colt's open-top competitors, allowing the Remington to absorb heavier powder charges and withstand harder service. Operation is strictly single-action: the hammer is manually cocked for each shot, which rotates the 6-shot cylinder and indexes a fresh chamber. Each chamber is loaded from the front using the hinged loading lever to seat a powder charge and round ball, with a percussion cap placed on a nipple at the rear of each chamber. A clever set of safety notches cut between the chambers at the rear of the cylinder allows the hammer to rest safely between loaded chambers, permitting all six to be carried charged - a practice unsafe on many competing designs. Perhaps the revolver's most tactically significant feature is the ease with which the cylinder could be removed and replaced: by lowering the loading lever and withdrawing the base pin, a shooter could swap a spent cylinder for a pre-loaded one in roughly ten seconds, effectively giving the Remington a field "reload" capability that the Colt 1860's integrated frame could not match. Constructed with a blued steel frame and octagonal barrel, a brass trigger guard, and smooth walnut one-piece grips, the 1858 was produced in Ilion, New York, with approximately 132,000 delivered on Civil War contracts and over 200,000 manufactured in total before production ended in 1875. After the Civil War many Remingtons were factory-converted for metallic cartridges in .46 Rimfire and .44 Colt, extending their service life well into the cartridge era and carrying the design through the frontier and Wild West periods.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 1275 g (45.0 oz) |
| Overall Length | 343 mm (13.50") |
| Barrel Length | 203 mm (7.99") |
| Height | 140 mm (5.51") |
| Width | 45 mm (1.77") |
| Firing Mechanism | Single Action |
| Trigger Type | Single Action |
| Magazine Capacity | 6 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Internal |
| Muzzle Velocity | 260 m/s (853 fps) |
| Muzzle Energy | 320 J (236 ft·lbf) |
| Effective Range | 45 m (49 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 75 m (82 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Number of Grooves | 5 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Walnut |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- .44 Caliber Round Ball · primary — also known as .44 percussion, .44 cap and ball, .451 round ball
- .36 Caliber Round Ball — also known as .36 Navy, .36 percussion, .375 round ball
Features
- Firing modes: Manual
- Feed systems: 6 Shot Revolving Cylinder, Loaded From Muzzle With Loading Lever, Percussion Caps On Rear Nipples
- Safety mechanisms: Hammer Safety Notches Between Chambers
- Features: Solid Frame Top Strap, Octagonal Barrel, Removable Cylinder, Percussion Cap Ignition, Loading Lever, Walnut Grips, Brass Trigger Guard, Open Sights Blade Front Notch Rear
Variants
- Remington New Model Army — Refined Production Model 1863
- Remington New Model Navy — Navy 36 Caliber
- Remington New Model Police — Compact 36 Short Civilian
- Remington New Model Pocket — Pocket 31 Caliber
- Remington 1858 Conversion (.46 Rimfire) — Metallic Cartridge Conversion
- Remington 1858 Conversion (.44 Colt) — Metallic Cartridge Conversion
Service history
Operators
- United States Army (Union) · adopted 1862 · as Remington Army Revolver
- United States Navy · adopted 1862 · as Remington Navy Revolver
- Confederate States Army (captured) · adopted 1862
- United States Cavalry (American Indian Wars)
- American civilian market · adopted 1858
Conflicts
- American Civil War (1861-1865)
- American Indian Wars (1865-1890)
- Wild West frontier era (1865-1895)
Production
Estimated total produced: 200,000 · Production years: 1858-1875
Approximately 132,000 produced under U.S. government Civil War contracts (1862-1865); total production across all Beals Army, 1861 Army, and New Model Army variants exceeded 200,000 before the line was discontinued in 1875. Figure includes pre-war Beals patent revolvers and post-war cartridge conversions.
Origin
Country of origin: United States
Designer: Fordyce Beals
Discontinued: 1875
Notes
Often retroactively called the "Remington Model 1858," though Remington themselves marketed it and its successors as the "New Model Army" (1863 onward). The pre-1863 variants are properly called the Beals Army (1860-1862) and Model 1861 Army ("Old Model Army"); the New Model Army introduced refinements including redesigned loading lever, safety notches, and improved cylinder pin. Effective combat range is short - roughly 25 to 50 meters - though the heavy .44 ball retained lethality well beyond that.
Background
Its solid top-strap frame made the 1858 dramatically stronger than the open-top Colt 1860 Army, and a trained cavalryman could swap a spent cylinder for a pre-loaded spare in about ten seconds - the closest thing to a magazine change that the percussion era ever produced. Clint Eastwood carried a cap-and-ball Remington as the Preacher in Pale Rider, and the same pattern of revolver was favored on the outlaw trail by Frank James and Cole Younger of the James-Younger Gang.