REMINGTON NEW MODEL NAVY 1863
It is a fact that
these Remington percussion have been - and still are - widely copied, in the USA
but especially in Italy (Uberti, Pietta and others), and that these copies are
damn well made.
But this weapon is
indeed an original Remington New Model Navy 1863. The most obvious evidence is:
- Original marking on
the barrel, in 3 lines (not only VERY difficult to imitate, but above all
forbidden worldwide and subject to sanctions almost equivalent to those provided
for counterfeiters):
- Serial number on
the left side of the stock frame, in misaligned numbers (individual punches) -
the copies have their number on the butt of the stock, on the outside.
- Last digits of this
number on the front tab of the trigger guard (NEVER appears on copies)
- Quality of the
brass of the trigger guard (those of the copies have undergone a treatment
making them "unalterable" and not allowing them to patina; moreover, their alloy
is different, and it is obvious like a fly in a cup of milk)
- Absence of Italian
proof marks (Brescia) on the right side of the frame (deep and difficult to
remove).
- Absence of the
horrible mention "BLACK POWDER ONLY" on the left side of the barrel.
- The fact that a
number does not appear under the barrel is also very common; apparently, these
numberings, affixed during production (therefore before the hardening of the
barrel and the assembly on the chassis) were entrusted to the service
gougnafier.
Without military
marks on either the frame or the stock, this is indeed a civilian model, very
popular in the USA after the Civil War.
The total production
amounted to about 32,000 pieces, but the larger serial number is explained by
the fact that these revolvers were numbered after the model 1861 (5,000 ex) and
the Beals Navy (an even larger predecessor), in the same series.
Marcel
