1875 Remington Offered In What Rounds?

[Shotgun Franklin]

What different rounds was the original 1875 offered in?
Were the proprietary rounds, like the .44 Remington, just copies of other factory rounds or something entirely different?

[Tuolumne Lawman]

.44 Remington was basically a copy of the .44 Colt.  Sometimes they interchange, sometimes they don't depending on gun and maker of ammunition.   Some were later re-chambered to 44 WCF, though these cylinders had excessively large mouths on the cylinder and accuracy suffered. Most were produced in 44 WCF, though some were made in .45 Colt for the Indian Police.  When researching an 1875 Remington article for the Cowboy Chronicle about 10-12 years ago, I came across a reference to the XIT (Ten in Texas) ranch having a .45 Colt in its armory.  I don't recall where I found that, though.

[Grapeshot]

The Remington 1875 was originally offered in .44 Remington, a round similar to the .44 Colt.  At least one was submitted to the trial boards for the Ordnance Department chambered in .45 Colt.  The Army decided that it did not have any significant advantages over the Colt, so it was rejected.  When sales slowed, Remington changed the barrel to .427 but instead of producing new cylinders for the .44 WCF, they bored out existing stock cylinders to chamber the .44 WCF which left them with a revolver that was very inacurate.

Some were chambered in .45 Colt and sold to the BIA and issued to the Reservation Police.

Today's copies have been offered in .357 Magnum, .44-40, and .45 Colt.  I owned two in .44-40 and had two .357 Mag. cylinders bored out to chamber the .44 Special.  I could shoot .44 Russian, .44 Colt, and .44 Special in that cylinder.  I shot .44 Colt through them as I wanted to simulate the original .44 Reminton loading.  They had a tendency to bind up when shooting Black Powder through them, but a squirt of Moose Milk and a wipe from a rag cleaned the cylinder face enough to continue the match.  Used Bore Butter to lube the cylinder pin.

[Hoof Hearted]

Today's copies have been offered in .357 Magnum, .44-40, and .45 Colt.  I owned two in .44-40 and had two .357 Mag. cylinders bored out to chamber the .44 Special.  I could shoot .44 Russian, .44 Colt, and .44 Special in that cylinder.  I shot .44 Colt through them as I wanted to simulate the original .44 Reminton loading.  They had a tendency to bind up when shooting Black Powder through them, but a squirt of Moose Milk and a wipe from a rag cleaned the cylinder face enough to continue the match.  Used Bore Butter to lube the cylinder pin.

I have one in 45 Colt that I rechambered a spare .357 cylinder in 44 Colt Heel Base.
I also cut the 7.5" barrel to 6 inches............

Regards, HH

[Grapeshot]

I have one in 45 Colt that I rechambered a spare .357 cylinder in 44 Colt Heel Base.
I also cut the 7.5" barrel to 6 inches............

Regards, HH

How well does it shoot?

[Hoof Hearted]

How well does it shoot?

Shoots like a champ

I like the look of the barrel length, better balanced, with the look of an original.
I also dovetailed in a post front sight from an 1858 (correct for an early 1875).

Reagrds, HH