Working the Remington Model 1875/1890 Revolvers and Replicas

The Model 1875 Single Action Army—also known as the Improved Army or Frontier Army—was Remington’s first largeframe metallic-cartridge revolver and a contemporary of the Colt Single Action Army. The two revolvers were very similar in size and shape, but Remington, the old New York gunmaker, once again made use of some reliable features from the popular percussion-era Remington-Beals revolvers.

Those features enabled the use of fewer parts, and included a frame and grip straps that were made in one piece, as well as the use of one less action screw in the frame. Another very distinctive feature of the 1875 was its unusual tapered-rib ejector housing under the barrel, giving the revolver something of the appearance of Remington’s Civil War-vintage percussion revolvers and the illusion of a greatly reinforced barrel.

This wedge-shaped ejector housing served as a guide, support, and as a container for the ejector spring. The ejector rod itself was for the most part, actually outside the housing. The 1875’s unique base pin extended from just behind the cylinder all the way out to the end of the ejector housing. Remington used a rather delicate, spring-loaded catch at the end of the base pin to lock it in place.

Remington Model 1875 revolvers were offered in .45 Colt (these are scarce), .44-40, and .44 Remington centerfire calibers. Most of these were sold with 7-1/2-inch barrels, although a few were produced with 5-3/4-inch barrels. On the American frontier, the 1875 proved itself a reliable weapon and several of our more notable figures including Frank James, the brother of the infamous Jesse James, are known to have used them. Roughly 25,000 to 30,000 of the 1875 Models were produced between 1875 and 1889.

It is believed that a substantial number (some say 10,000) of the 1875 model were intended for sale to the government of Egypt; however, due to Egypt’s default on another military contract with Remington, it is supposed that only a few were actually delivered. Another 683 of the Model 1875s were purchased in 1883 by the U. S. Interior Department for the Indian Police, and the Mexican government purchased about 1,000 revolvers during the 1880s.

By 1890, Remington had gone into receivership and was under the management of Hartley & Graham. In that year, the 1875 was replaced with the Model 1890. This revolver was almost identical to the earlier 1875, but in an effort to streamline the gun’s appearance, the mass of the web which formed the ejector housing was greatly reduced. Remington Model 1890 is very rare, with only about 2,000 produced. They were offered in both 5-1/2- and 7-1/2-inch barrel Revolver courtesy of Stoeger Industries.

Above left and In the photo on the right, the gunsmith’s finger is holding the safety in the "on" position. lengths and only in caliber .44-40. In all, comparatively few Remington 1875 and 1890 Model Single Action Army revolvers were manufactured. They were of excellent quality, however, and were respected in their day and they remain much copied and well thought of today. Internally, the Remington revolvers are simple and easy to understand.

They operate very much like the Colt Single Action Army, and repair procedures are virtually the same. Unfortunately, though, the parts are not interchangeable. Excellent, shootable-quality replica Remington revolvers are currently manufactured by A. Uberti in Italy, and sold in the U. S. under several brand names. Another very high quality and faithfully made Model 1875 replica is made in the U. S. and available from Hartford Armory. In a deviation from the original Remington, A.

Uberti has chosen to use the more reliable Colt smokeless-type, spring-loaded cross-bolt latch to hold the base pin in the gun. From the practical standpoint, this is an improvement on the original. Uberti has also fitted a sear-actuated, pivoting hammer-block safety, much like the ones used in their Cattle man revolvers. The Uberti version is illustrated here. Disassembly Instructions Uberti 1875 parts nomenclature is used in the text that follows.

With minor variations, as covered in the text, these instructions are suitable for use with nearly all of Remington’s large-frame, metallic-cartridge single-action revolvers, as well as replicas based on this design. 1) Start by making sure the weapon is unloaded. Hold the revolver firmly around the grip, being careful to keep your finger away from the trigger (#10), all the while keeping the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

Check to make sure this weapon is unloaded by opening the loading gate (#142), then pull the hammer (#2) slowly toward the rear until you have heard two clicks. That should place the hammer about halfway back into the loading position, and from here the cylinder (#5) should spin freely in a clockwise direction.

To make certain that the cylinder chambers have no cartridges in them, slowly rotate the cylinder two full revolutions by hand, all the while looking into the cylinder chambers through the opening that has been presented at the rear of the frame (#1) by the open loading gate. If cartridges are present, this is a loaded gun; proceed cautiously. Leave the hammer in the loading position, and the loading gate still in the open position.

Maintain your secure grip on the weapon, keeping your fingers away from that trigger. Now tilt the revolver so that the muzzle is facing away from you and upwards in a direction determined to be safe, so that if the gun does accidentally fire no one will be harmed. Use your other hand to rotate the cylinder slowly, one chamber at a time, pausing as each chamber aligns with the open gate. Allow each cartridge to fall out of the chamber onto your workbench.

If any cartridge does not fall out of its own weight, you should manually operate the ejector by pushing the ejector rod head (#164) located under the front, right side of the barrel, to the rear until the ejector rod has forced that cartridge out of the chamber. When you’ve made certain that there are no more cartridges left in the cylinder chambers, the revolver can be safely disassembled.

I like to make it a habit in such situations to move any live ammunition to a location apart from where I am working on weapons. 2) To remove the cylinder: With the hammer placed in the loading position so that the cylinder will spin freely, open the loading gate. The Uberti replicas use a push-button base-pin retainer system that is very much like the one used in the Colt Single Action Army. It’s really an improvement over the original system, which was

The strain screw at the bottom-front of the butt should be loosened before removing the spring. more fragile. Push in on the base-pin screw (#140) located on the left-front of the frame, just under the barrel. Withdraw the base pin (#21) to the front far enough so that the cylinder is free and can be rolled out to the right side of the frame.

On Remington originals, depress the base-pin catch located at the front end of the base pin, and withdraw the base pin out the front far enough so the cylinder becomes free and can be rolled out to the right side of the frame. 3) To remove the grips, mainspring and trigger guard, unscrew and remove the grip screw (#54) from the center of the left-hand grip, and then lift off the two grips (#45 & #46).

Loosen the mainspring screw (#53), and the bottom of the mainspring (#20) can be tapped sideways out of its slot in the grip frame (in either direction) using a small hammer and straight brass punch. Then lift the spring out of the frame. Unscrew and remove the triggerguard screw (#31) from the front of the guard bow. The triggerguard (#26) is now tilted down from the front and pulled forward and down off the frame.

Note: to reinstall the mainspring, hold its top up against the bottom of the hammer roller (#25) at the lower-rear side of the hammer, grasp the spring by its bottom side with a strong pair of pliers, and push upwards, causing the spring to bend just far enough for you to reseat it within its slot in the frame. Once you have the mainspring started into the slot, you can release your grip with the pliers and then use a small punch and hammer to reseat the spring fully into the frame slot.

Notice the gate screw, spring, and plunger at the bottom of the photo. 4) To disassemble the action, unscrew and remove the trigger-bolt spring screw (#35). This is the only screw inside the action part of the frame that faces straight up. When the screw is removed from the underside of the frame, the trigger-bolt spring (#19) will fall out the bottom of the frame. Remove the forward-most of the two screws on the left side of the frame.

This is also the smaller of the two screws and is called the trigger screw (#38); however, it holds the bolt (#12) and the trigger (#10) in place. The trigger and the bolt can now be removed through the bottom of the frame. The hammer screw (#37) can now be unscrewed and removed from the frame. Once that’s done, the

hammer assembly (#2) should be pushed down into the frame far enough so that the hand screw (#52) becomes fully exposed through the triggerguard opening at the frame bottom. Remove the hand screw and the hand assembly (#7 and #18) can now be pulled out from the bottom of the frame.

To remove the hammer, push the hammer back up through the frame, and remove it through the hammer opening at the top of the frame. 5) Finally, the support ejector is removed by first removing the support-ejector screw (#166) from the bottom-front of the barrel, and pulling the support ejector down slightly along with the ejector and base pin assemblies. Then pull forward and remove them out the front of the frame.

Once the support ejector is out of the frame, the base pin (#21) can be fully withdrawn from the front, and the ejector assembly (#219) along with the ejector spring (#135) can be withdrawn out the rear of the support ejector. To remove the gate (#142), unscrew and remove the gate-catch screw (#145) from the underside of the frame. The gate-catch spring (#136) and gate catch (#134) will fall out through this same screw hole.

The revolver’s gate is now free and can be pulled forward out 1 Frame 2 Hammer Assembly 3 Barrel 5 Cylinder 7 Hand Assembly 10 Trigger 12 Bolt 15 Front Sight 18 Hand Spring 19 Sear and Bolt Spring 20 Main Spring 21 Base Pin 25 Hammer Roller 26 Triggerguard 30 Hammer Roll Pin 31 Triggerguard Screw 35 Bolt Spring Screw 37 Hammer Screw 38 Trigger Screw 43 Right Grip Nut 44 Left Grip Nut into the cylinder opening of the frame.

Note: On the Uberti replica, the hammer-safety components should be disassembled only by factory-trained personnel.

As always, you reassemble the re Remington/Uberti 1875/1890 Single-Action Revolver (Specifications subject to change without notice) 45 Right Grip 46 Left Grip 51 Grip Pin 52 Hand Screw 53 Main Spring Screw 54 Grip Screw 91 Hammer Safety Bar 95 Firing Pin Spring 98 Firing Pin 134 Gate Catch 135 Ejector Spring 136 Gate Spring 137 Base Pin Spring 139 Base Pin Nut 140 Base Pin Screw 142 Gate 145 Gate Catch Screw 147 Hammer Safety Spring 149 Hammer Safety Pin 150 Hammer Safety Plunger 151 Hammer Safety Plunger Pin 152 Hammer Safety Stop Screw 161 Support Ejector Pin 163 Support Ejector 164 Ejector Nut 165 Firing Pin Sphere 166 Support Ejector Screw 219 Ejector volver in the reverse order.

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