Tell me about the 1875 Remington

[9245]

I'm continuing to explore whether I want to do a cartridge conversion on my 1858 Remingtons or, for as much as that will cost, get something else specifically for cartridge shooting.  Unfortunately though my budget is limited so I am exploring more budget friendly options.  I see Single Action Armys sold in the right price range range ($400-$600) but I'm not a fan of the Single Action Army.  Unfortunately more capable options like the Schofield basically double the price.  That brings me to the 1875 Remington, it's about the same price as the Single Action Armys and I like the Remington designs and it would fit with the theme of my 1858 Remingtons.  However it appears to basically be a Single Action Army copy, but I am intrigued by the captive cylinder pin so it has me considering it.

Does it have a hot swappable cylinder like the 1858 Remington?  The captive cylinder pin suggests it does.  How practical is that?  Is there any historical evidence that that was done?

Does it have hammer notches or firing pin rests like the 1858 that will allow the hammer to rest between chambers and carry all 6 chambers loaded safely?

Do the current production (uberti?) .44-40s have the same accuracy issues as the original .44-40s or do they have the correct barrel?

Does it have any other differences from the Single Action Army?

[Jeremiah Jones]

I have a Urberti Remington 1875 in .45 and a Cimarron SAA also in .45. 

Does it have a hot swappable cylinder like the 1858 Remington?  YES The captive cylinder pin suggests it does.  How practical is that?  I have never had a reason to.

Does it have hammer notches or firing pin rests like the 1858 that will allow the hammer to rest between chambers and carry all 6 chambers loaded safely? No, but most have transfer bar or other safety.  But, I carry mine with 5 rounds loaded.

I like the distinctive looks of the Remington, but they both shoot great.

[Drydock]

 The Uberti Remington operates just like the current SAA in all facets, though with a much longer cylinder pin.  It's one of the things that is NOT original, as both the original  1875 and follow on 1890 used a screw to retain the pin much like the early SAA.

However!  You'ld be faster by practicing your ejection (advance the cylinder with the palm of your left hand, while using the left index finger to work the ejector) and use a corked tube to dump in your reloads while spinning the cylinder.

[RattlesnakeJack]

I have been shooting Uberti 1875 Remington clones for a couple of decades now, and have found them to be both accurate and reliable.  Mine are chambered in .45 Colt.

Fairly early on, having determined that a pretty high percentage of original Model 1875 Remingtons had lanyard rings and (being located in the erstwhile British Empire) really liking that look, I was puzzled why the repros have never been offered with that option, whereas the Model 1890 repros were offered with a lanyard ring.  I resolved the dilemma by purchasing the necessary "M'1890 spare parts" and fitting them to my 1875's ... gives them a rather unique, yet period-correct, look ...

[Jeremiah Jones]

Thank for the idea RSJ.  I know where some of my Biden Bucks will be going.

[9245]

I have continued to research this and see that apparently older reproductions had the same 4 click hammer as the Single Action Army (which also means they have the same issue of only being able to safely load 5 chambers), but newer ones have the 3 click hammer and can load all chambers safely.  It appears that Uberti just uses the same action as the Single Action Army.  What did the original have?  Was it also a 4 click hammer like the Single Action Army?

[Dave T]

9245,

I have to ask why you are so hung up on being able to load 6 rounds in your period style revolver, what ever it turns out to be? None of the shooting organizations allow carrying 6 rounds in the gun and historically most folks didn't either. Kind of like your desire to "speed reload". They didn't swap cylinders in the old days, they carried a second pistol. And again, I know of no competition that regularly calls for reloading under the clock. If they did, swapping loaded cylinders shouldn't be allowed. To bloody dangerous.

Dave

[9245]

9245,

I have to ask why you are so hung up on being able to load 6 rounds in your period style revolver, what ever it turns out to be? None of the shooting organizations allow carrying 6 rounds in the gun and historically most folks didn't either. Kind of like your desire to "speed reload". They didn't swap cylinders in the old days, they carried a second pistol. And again, I know of no competition that regularly calls for reloading under the clock. If they did, swapping loaded cylinders shouldn't be allowed. To bloody dangerous.

Dave

Two reasons:

I just mentally don't like the idea of having a "six shooter" that can only load 5.

I don't JUST want the revolver for competition, while that may be the main and intended purpose I'm a "working gun" kind of guy and like the idea that if I HAD to I could carry the revolver for defense as originally designed or hunting if I were so inclined.

I'll take you through my mental journey so far:

This started because of the ammo crisis, ammunition is near impossible to find, especially in the more popular modern calibers, but less common calibers and "cowboy" calibers are occasionally available.  I DO have ammo for my modern guns, but not enough to feel comfortable that in an extended scenario I would not run out and I do not have enough to go to the range, ammo is gold and irreplaceable.

My first move was to start getting in to reloading, I'm setup with a nice progressive press, ultra sonic cleaner, brass processor, lead melting pot, digital scale, and everything else I need.  Except die sets are as impossible to find as ammo, I can reload .38 special, .357 Magnum, and .45 ACP, that's it.  Likewise, bullet molds are impossible to find, I have a 20 pound capacity downward pouring lead pot but not a single mold except for an ingot mold.  Primers are also completely impossible to find unless you pay a scalper, which I refuse to do, I have been hunting for primers since fall and in that entire time I have found exactly ONE box of primers, a 1,000 count box of small rifle primers which I only got last week, I found it by luck.  I have only fired brass, and no bullets but gunpowder is oddly readily available.  I can make primers one at a time if I have to.  So reloading did not solve the issue.

I next looked at cap and ball revolvers.  I can't find percussion caps and they seem to be sold out of every store in the entire country, but fortunately I can make them.  I have gun powder but I can make that too.  I have no bullet molds and they are sold out everywhere, but theoretically if I can find one I can make my own bullets, so a cap and ball revolver gives me theoretically unlimited ammo.  I researched it and found the 1858 Remington to be the best choice because of the hot swappable cylinder and less cap jams.  However all cap and ball revolvers were also sold out everywhere.  In desperation, I bought an Armi San Marco's one from gunbroker not realizing that it was out of production and spare parts and extra cylinders were impossible to find.  I then started looking for others again, I called EMF to see when they might be back in stock and found out that I got lucky and they just got 100 in, I ordered one.

I now had two 1858 Remingtons and decided I liked them, not only did they solve my issue of never being able to go to the range and having no way to resupply ammo (provided I could continue to buy bullets as I still lack a bullet mold) they were fun too.  I became interested in the period and other designs and started thinking about cartridge conversions to use some of those occasionally available cowboy cartridges.  As I researched that it renewed my interest in the old west in general and of course got me thinking about cowboy action shooting.  I then realized that I already had two revolvers so already had a good start on what I had to have and I became more interested, and now I'm here.

So that is my thought process, yes I intend to use it in competition but I also will be using it as a range gun and it could conceivably be pressed in to service for other uses as well so I want it to be as capable as I can.

And I am aware of the irony that I am interested in a hobby that requires crap loads of ammo during a time when I can barely find 1 random box and only became interested because of attempting to find a way around the ammo shortage.

Unfortunately I do not anticipate the ammo shortage ending for years, the manufacturers have about a two year back order and as things destabilize more and more new gun owners are created that have to get ammo and existing ones continue to prep for even more.  And it isn't even riot season again yet, and the media has not yet created a panic for a new made up virus variant to justify more power grabs.  Not to mention looming war.  Hell I almost bought a flint lock and would have had I actually gotten an answer about where to get an antique Brown Bess lock fitted to a reproduction stock that was not inletted instead of a bunch of people telling me how it was perfectly "reasonable" to pay $3,000 to have that done.  I got fed up and bought the cap and ball revolver.

[DeaconKC]

Okay, with your explanation I understand where you are coming from. I would like to offer something to consider. Ruger has made several Blackhawk and Vaquero models that come with conversion cylinders, there are 45 Colt and .45 ACP, .357 Magnum and 9mm and a rare 38-40 and 10mm.

[Drydock]

Yeah, a dual cylinder 45 Vaquero 4 3/4" would be perfect for this application.

[9245]

Yeah, a dual cylinder 45 Vaquero 4 3/4" would be perfect for this application.

Still basically a Single Action Army copy, I do hear they are well built, my only objections is that a want something different, price becomes an issue at that point compared to the 1875 Remington or cartridge conversions, and I really do like that captive cylinder pin on the 1875 Remington so that I could do a cylinder hot swap if I wanted to.

Plus authenticity, yes I have practical concerns too but that's also an issue.  On that note, does anyone know how many clicks original antique 1875 Remingtons have?

[45 Dragoon]

Well, a quick look at current Reproduction  '75 Remingtons  show a safety notch. If the reproduction revolvers are correct copies and since Remington was trying to capture some of the SAA crowd when they offered it, I would assume they originally had safety notches as well.

The key to having a "4" clicker or a "3" clicker is the presence of a safety notch on the hammer. So, if your "3 clicker" has 4 then you have a timing issue .  .  .  same with the "4" clicker  .  .  .  if there's 5, you have a timing issue.

Mike

[9245]

Well, a quick look at current Reproduction  '75 Remingtons  show a safety notch. If the reproduction revolvers are correct copies and since Remington was trying to capture some of the SAA crowd when they offered it, I would assume they originally had safety notches as well.

The key to having a "4" clicker or a "3" clicker is the presence of a safety notch on the hammer. So, if your "3 clicker" has 4 then you have a timing issue .  .  .  same with the "4" clicker  .  .  .  if there's 5, you have a timing issue.

Mike

That's what I'm wondering, current reproduction Remington 1875s have a 3 click hammer the same as most current Uberti Single Action Army reproductions to allow all 6 chambers to be loaded safely, older Remington 1875 reproductions have a 4 click hammer like the older Single Action Army reproductions and the original Single Action Army.  My question is how many clicks did the original Remington 1875 have?  If it was 4 then I would have to get an older reproduction to match or retrofit a newer one but if it were some other number then I could justify the 3 click hammer and get the ability to load all 6 chambers like I want.

I think Uberti uses the same parts for the 1875 Remington as the Single Action Army, I know the original was a close copy but did it also have the same trigger parts with the same 4 click hammer?

[Coffinmaker]

No.

[45 Dragoon]

There ya go!!

Thanks Mike!

Thaother Mike!

[Coffinmaker]

:)BATTER UP!!   

9245, I understand where you coming from and where you're at.  Short Answer:

You Can't Have IT.

The "Hot Reload" is a fantasy from a Clint Eastwood movie.  In reality, it was never done.  Attempting to reload anything got a person killed.  A reload in the 19th century was grabbing another fully loaded handgun.

The methods for carrying six loaded, were to rest the Firing Pin between Cartridge Case Rims.  That's it for cartridge guns.  Percussion guns were the only handguns with a safety "rest" or "pin" between chambers.

Now, further, there are some modern cartridge conversions with a safety stop.  They are made by Kirst Converter.  For Colt pattern Guns.  The firing pin rests in a recess between chambers.  Only five chambers.

The only way to get a factory gun to safely carry 6, is a modern Double Action or a Single Action with a Transfer Bar.  That's it.

Stay Safe Out There

[Dirty Dick]

Like Glock says 'The fastest reload is no reload!'

[Tommy tornado]

I have one and love it.  It has given me some problems over the years but it is still a favorite.  I have owned it since 1998.  In that time, I have replaced the hand and spring 3 times.  The frame where the firing pin comes through was peening at one point and got enough of a burr that it would set off primers.  It was easily fixed with a file.  I bought the gun used and it has had a ridiculous amount of .45 colt through it.  It was used in CAS as a main match gun from 2000-2010.  I would buy another one if the opportunity presents itself.  I will one day add the lanyard ring to mine.  I love that look.

[Cole Younger]

I'm continuing to explore whether I want to do a cartridge conversion on my 1858 Remingtons or, for as much as that will cost, get something else specifically for cartridge shooting.  Unfortunately though my budget is limited so I am exploring more budget friendly options.  I see Single Action Armys sold in the right price range range ($400-$600) but I'm not a fan of the Single Action Army.  Unfortunately more capable options like the Schofield basically double the price.  That brings me to the 1875 Remington, it's about the same price as the Single Action Armys and I like the Remington designs and it would fit with the theme of my 1858 Remingtons.  However it appears to basically be a Single Action Army copy, but I am intrigued by the captive cylinder pin so it has me considering it.

Does it have a hot swappable cylinder like the 1858 Remington?  The captive cylinder pin suggests it does.  How practical is that?  Is there any historical evidence that that was done?

Does it have hammer notches or firing pin rests like the 1858 that will allow the hammer to rest between chambers and carry all 6 chambers loaded safely?

Do the current production (uberti?) .44-40s have the same accuracy issues as the original .44-40s or do they have the correct barrel?

Does it have any other differences from the Single Action Army?

The Remington Army cap and ball conversions to cartridges were some of the first done and THE first IIRC, to be mass produced.  They were 46 rimfires and so the 45 Colt's that the new ones are commonly converted to or built as if they are a factory gun, will not be totally correct.  They are still sweet though.

Certainly the 1875's will not only take a 45 ACP cylinder (if they're a 45 Colt to begin with) but many have been supplied with both cylinders.  I had one.  It was nice.  My current 1875 is a 44-40.  They are nice guns also.  The simplest solution for you would seem to be to obtain a new or used 1875 in 45 Colt with the 45 ACP cylinder with it.  I'm not sure that would be the cheapest solution though, especially due to current conditions. 

[Lord Eoin MacKenzie]

 The dual cylinder 1875 and 1890's  are just under $750 MSRP and were in stock.
Ruger MSRP for Dual cylinder models were about the same.