Curious Relics #139: A Short List – The Remington Model 1875 Part II
Welcome, if you are a newcomer to this fun bi-weekly segment of AllOutdoor.com! In the last article, I covered the history of the Remington Model 1875 and the man whose name is on the replica I am working with. This time we are on to variations, and as I have had to say a few times now with guns like this one, the list is shorter than you would expect out of a revolver that ran for a dozen years. What is there is interesting though, and one thing I said last time needs cleaning up now that I have dug deeper. Let’s dive right into the Remington Model 1875!
Recent Curious Relics Coverage:
- Curious Relics #138: Two Years Too Late – The Remington Model 1875
- Curious Relics #137: Little Colt Speaks – Colt 1862 Police Part IV
- Curious Relics #136: By the Numbers – The Colt 1862 Police Part III
- Curious Relics #135: Two Guns, One Name – The Colt 1862 Police Part II
- Curious Relics #134: Last Gun Sam Colt Made – Colt 1862 Police Part I
Welcome to our recurring series of “Curious Relics.” Here, we want to share all of our experiences, knowledge, misadventures, and passion for older firearms that one might categorize as a Curio & Relic – any firearm that is at least 50 years old according to the ATF. Hopefully along the way you can garner a greater appreciation for older firearms like we do, and simultaneously you can teach us things as well through sharing your own expertise and thoughts in the Comments. Understanding the firearms of old, their importance, and their development which lead to many of the arms we now cherish today is incredibly fascinating and we hope you enjoy what we have to share, too!
Variations: The Remington Model 1875
Two things before we get rolling. First, this is not a definitive guide and it could not be even if I wanted it to be (there is no dedicated book on these, which still surprises me). The best piece of research I have found is a 2004 article by Don Ware in the Remington Society of America Journal, and just about everything below leans on it somewhere. If these revolvers interest you at all, the Remington Society is well worth your time.
Second thing, and this one matters more than it sounds like. Remington did not throw parts away. When they changed a hammer or a trigger they kept building guns out of the old bin until it ran dry, and Ware points out they did this for the entire twelve year run. So you can absolutely come across a later revolver wearing early parts. All that being said, everything below is a rough timeline and not a set of hard cutoffs.
Now, some cleanup from last time. In Part I I passed along the common line that few if any of the Egyptian contract revolvers were ever delivered. Having read Ware directly, I do not think that holds up. He says he has seen enough to convince him a significant number went over. There is one in the Cairo Museum. There are six in the Imperial War Museum in London. He owns one engraved to a corporal of the 1st Life Guards, Cairo, Egypt 1882, which lines up neatly with the British invasion and a whole lot of these coming home as war trophies. The contract did fall apart over money. But guns shipped, folks.
The Three Chamberings: Remington Model 1875
This is the real spine of Model 1875 variation, and the thing to understand is that these were not options. You did not walk in and pick one. The caliber was decided by what year Remington happened to build the gun.
.44 Remington Centerfire: The original, and the only chambering for the first several years. A proprietary Remington round used in exactly one firearm ever made (this one, obviously). It sold poorly…which is most of the reason the other two exist.
.45 Government: That was Remington’s own name for it, which caused confusion then and still does now. Short version is a .45 revolver will take either the .45 Colt or the .45 Government, better known today as .45 S&W. The part that matters if you are handling one of these is that the .45 cylinder is physically longer than the .44 cylinder. That was on purpose, so nobody could drop a .45 cylinder into a .44 frame and touch off something exciting. Good thinking on Remington’s part.
.44-40 WCF: The popular one, and the reason Frank James could feed his revolver and his Winchester out of the same belt. Sources put the changeover somewhere around serial 14,000 to 16,000. Remington kept listing the old .44 Remington in the 1881 and 1882 catalogs alongside the other two, though Ware is confident they had quit making it by then.
Barrels, Finishes, and Running Changes
7.5 Inches: Standard, and what nearly every Model 1875 you will ever lay eyes on is wearing.
5.75 Inches: Very late production and very rare. There is no known Remington advertisement for it anywhere, which is odd. Ware examined several and has no doubt they are authentic, and he floats the idea that most of the short ones ended up converted into Model 1888s later on. More on that shortly.
“Remington Model 1875 Revolver with Relief Carved Pearl Grips.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/4096/83/remington-model-1875-revolver-with-relief-carved-pearl-grips. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.
Blued or nickel-plated, with a case-hardened hammer and loading gate on the blued guns. Walnut grips, fluted cylinder, lanyard swivel in the butt. Remington’s catalog described that swivel as being for slinging the revolver to a saddle or carrying it over your back, which Ware has some fun with and so will I. Picture a fellow at a full gallop with a two and a half pound revolver hanging off a thong around his neck, beating a rhythm on his own ribs the whole ride. Sounds like a wonderful afternoon.
Nickel outsold blue the whole way through even though it cost more, which I find odd for a gun that was already losing the price fight. Beyond finish you could order engraving, ivory grips, or pearl. Those are extras rather than variants, and they show up in the catalogs priced accordingly.
“Remington Model 1875 Single Action Army Revolver.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/4095/87/remington-model-1875-single-action-army-revolver. Accessed 3 Aug. 2026.
Speaking of small parts, there are three hammer types and three firing pins, each pin a little more pointed than the last, which Ware reads as Remington chasing a problem with primers not lighting off. Early hammers had no safety notch at all. Both of those changes turn up around the 12,000 serial range during the Egyptian deliveries, so it is a fair bet the inspectors complained and Remington listened. The trigger and trigger guard changed at the same time and nobody has worked out why, Ware included. The front sight went from a pinched blade to a plain one later on. Caliber markings moved around the gun over the years too, but that is a dating tool more than a variation and I am holding it for next time.
The Contract Guns: Remington Model 1875
These are the closest thing the Model 1875 has to true variants, because they carry markings you can actually point at.
Egyptian Contract: Delivered blued and marked with a JWR cartouche on the grip. Ware has examined guns wearing every inspector stamp except that cartouche, which reads like revolvers that either failed final inspection or passed it and never shipped once the money dried up.
“Egyptian Remington Model 1875 Single Action Army Revolver.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/1049/1024/egyptian-remington-model-1875-single-action-army-revolver. Accessed 3 Aug. 2026.
Mexican Government: And here is the good stuff. These are not new production at all. They are reworked .44 Remington revolvers, a good many of them almost certainly that stranded Egyptian order, converted to .45 and moved out the door. New longer cylinder, a little milling in the frame, done. Every one wears a Liberty Cap and most have R de M. I threw out a figure of around 1,000 guns last time, but Ware says the number was never pinned down and one confirmed source puts it at 500. Almost none of them survive with the original barrel length either, because Mexican revolutionaries carried them shoved in a waistband, and a 7.5 inch barrel riding in that particular spot on horseback is an unkind thing to do to yourself.
“The Remington 1875 Revolver: Celebrating 150 Years.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/riac-blog/remington-1875-for-sale. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.
Indian Police: 639 nickel revolvers ordered by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1883 and spread across several agencies. Fifty went to Pine Ridge in South Dakota, and that agent is the only one known to have marked the guns before issuing them. Those are the ones collectors chase. Do not confuse any of these with Model 1875s wearing Mexican State Police markings, which are later guns and usually .44-40.
“Indian Police Attributed Remington Model 1875 Revolver.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/4096/171/indian-police-attributed-remington-model-1875-revolver. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.
The Rest of the Family: The 1888 and the 1890
The Model 1875 does not really have descendants so much as it has two guns built out of its leftovers.
Model 1888 “New Model Pocket Army”: When Hartley took over in 1888, somebody found a pile of unsold 1875s sitting in the Ilion inventory. Rather than dump them as they were, Remington cut the barrels down to about 5.75 inches, milled most of the web off the ejector housing, and sold them as a new model at $10.50. Fewer than 1,000 were made and nearly all are nickel (a literal handful are known in blue). Collectors wrote these off as gunsmith work for most of the twentieth century, until an advertisement turned up in a rare 1889 Hartley & Graham catalog. That ad is still the only period mention of the gun anywhere.
“Remington Arms Inc 1888 Revolver 44-40.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/60/1142/remington-arms-inc-1888-revolver-4440. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.
Model 1890: Mechanically the same revolver as the 1888, with a new barrel address reflecting the new ownership, checkered hard rubber grips, and .44-40 only. Just 2,020 shipped. That is it. That is the whole run.
And with the 1890 the sail is gone. Milled away to make the thing look more like a Colt. That bums me out a little, because that useless slab of steel under the barrel is my favorite part of the whole design, and it was the one feature that made a Remington unmistakable from across a room.
“Scarce Remington Model 1890 Single Action Revolver.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/5022/25/remington-model-1890-single-action-revolver. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.
If you want to see that difference in the metal today it is still out there. Uberti builds both patterns, and their 1875 Outlaw and 1890 Police are the same revolver apart from the ejector housing. The nickel Frank on my bench is the 1875 pattern, sail and all.
End of Part II: The Remington Model 1875
So there you have it. Not a long list, but an honest one, and I would rather hand you a short accurate list than pad it out with every screw Remington ever swapped. What sticks with me looking back over all of it is how much of this revolver’s story is a company using up what it already had. Egyptian guns became Mexican guns. Old 1875s became 1888s. Leftover parts went into new revolvers for a decade straight. That is a company doing arithmetic, not a company chasing glory.
Next time we get into dating these, which I have been promising you for two articles now and which is going to be an adventure, plus specifications and the aftermarket situation for both the originals and the Uberti. See you then.
A big thank you to the folks at Uberti for sending out the Frank for this series. Being able to put hands on a Remington 1875 pattern revolver and actually shoot the thing makes a world of difference when you are trying to write about one, and I appreciate it.
This installment is part of the Curious Relics series – an ongoing archive of historical firearms documentation. Browse the full series here.
In closing, I hope our Curious Relics segment informed as well as entertained. This all was written in hopes of continued firearm appreciation and preservation. We did not just realize how guns were supposed to look and function. It was a long and tedious process that has shaped the world we live in. If you have a question or you are sitting on information that could sharpen up an article like this one, you can find me through my Linktree. Until next time!
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