6.5" New Model Navy one o' a kind

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Cult of 1858

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So.. here we have a New Model Navy, from 1863, with a 6.5" cut barrel.
Some peeps have said that this length was an option from Remington, just as Colt offered custom shop work, but I haven't found any reference to this.
Fact that the latch is dovetailed in probably means that this wasnt done 'at the factory'.
I HAVE found a reference to a couple of people buying up old 'Government ordinance' revolvers and cutting them down to 6.5" :what::what::what:

When i received it, it was quite dirty and the bore didn't look nice, plus the action was gummed up.
Spent a few hours disassembling it and a good dry clean. Now it locks up tighter than... erm... and the bore is almost pristine.
I would guess at 80% Blueing remaining, but I have no idea if it is original, the barrel is almost a deep blue black!

Grips old replacements. Frame is a Beals type that has been machined to show barrel threads. The cutout is nowhere as large as on the NMA frames and looks a like its was just ground out, frame also shows a casting fault on the left hand side and another on the right hand side of the loading lever.

The only inspection mark that I can find is on the bottom of the loading lever, and that is a C which has been X'd over and then almost filed out.

Cylinder shows no residue anywhere, the chambers look pristine and the cones came straight out with almost no effort. They are peened a little from dry firing, and one wont accept a #11 CCI cap so that needs altered a little. Hammer face was peened out from dry firing and needed a couple of swipes with the file before it would reliably cycle the action and not stick. Inside of the backstrap has RHA 54 AL K scratched into it. Research so far suggests that this is 54th Alabama Company K. Trying to walk through the archives just on those initials is going to take some time as i can't do 'wildcard' searches (like search for any surname beginning with A)

Serial number states 1863 manufacture. So I believe this most probably was carried in 'the war'. Lack of inspection marks would make sense if the original grip had a cartouche on it, no way to check now, but would have been most likely. According to Donald L Ware, "Reminton Army and Navy Revolvers 1861-1888; p352", a lot of the 'late' Navies went straight to Ordinance check to avoid the picky Naval inspectors. According to BBoGV (26th ed) "None were martially marked at time of manufacture"

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Load was 100 grain 'pear' conical, cast from the brass mould on top of 15gr Goex FFFg and 12gr COW. Lubricant mess over top of the lead. 15 yards 2 handed

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That's some mold!
Can we please get a closer look at it and/or one of the bullets it casts.
Do you know how much the bullets weigh? :)
 
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100gr weight, mic out at .376. Rebated heel to fit nicely into the chamber mouth.
I believe this is the type that were in the 'paper cartridges'.
Standard Remington style double brass mold - marked FIE Miami Florida .36 cal

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Great old sixgun and the bore looks amazing! I wouldn't call it 80% though and it's definitely been refinished.
 
Thanks for the comments. Yeah I agree that is probably had the blueing re-done.

Found a comment on the C stamp. This 'inspection mark' CAN be found on any Remington and states that part was Condemned. In this case, that could have been due to the casting faults. Its also noted that during the rush to get revolvers out to the contracts, the factory did reuse some of the C marked parts (but probably not barrel, frame or cylinder). This would explain the X over the C. The file marks are most probably from when person unknown redid the barrel length.
 
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