Colt vs. Remington

[14th VA Cav]

Relized I have got a lot more to learn. As far as the public presentations go what do I pass on as far as Colt vs. Remington. If anyone knows of a website that has information I would really appreciate it. Thanks Jason

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Colt vs. Remington

Is this a question? What do you mean by Colt v Remington? If you mean a discussion
of the relative merits of these two different designs, utilize the search feature. Or do you
mean what was the 14th VA cav issued?

If you "have a lot to learn" this might not be the best place to post something like this...

[TexCavly]

Re: Colt vs. Remington

Hi Jason, I think that Colts were generally preferred for their quality and brand name status. Rimingtons were not around much till the middle of the war and even then in limited numbers. Colt had had more than a decade to get his guns out and about so for the general impression a Colt is preffrered. The best choice will be a Colt 1851 navy in 36 cal. Please don't get the brass framed ones from Cabelas.

The only reason I know any of this is because I was Told here and at the Cavalry COI.

[jaxenro]

Re: Colt vs. Remington

Hi,

I think that would depend on the outfit. The Union Army purchased more Colt 1860 Army pistols in 44 caliber than any other type, but second was the Remington in 44 caliber and not all that far behind. As a large chunk of the Southern arms were captures they would include both models. Many of the Colt 1851 or Navy type pistols were pre war purchases or smuggled through from England (Colt had stopped making revolvers in England by this time but examples exist with English marking and mid war serial numbers so some at least were marked in England)

The brass framed revolvers like the Spiller & Burr, or the Griswold & Gunnerson were far less common then they are today as reproductions. Production runs of 1,500 or less tended to mean they didn't have a large impact. The same could be said for the Leech & Rigdon, Dance Brothers, and other Southern manufactured revolvers.

Personally I would go with a Colt or Remington in 44 caliber for a Union impression and a Colt 1851 in 36 caliber for Confederate, with the Remington being more for the 1863 and later time period. Unless you can get records for your particular unit showing what was issued. I would avoid the brass framed revolvers, and the later Colts (1861 Navy and 36 caliber pockets) unless you have some documentation supporting the specific instance as they were less common and in the case of the Colts not generally issued but more private purchase. Of course an officer might be more likely to carry a private purchase arm then an enlisted man.

Joel Axenroth

PS
Just to give you an idea the government purchased around 125,000 1860 Army pistols at $25 each or $3,125,000 and 114,000 Remingtons at $12 each or $1,368,000. So almost as many pistols at less then half the cost. Kind of explains why Colt sales dropped off and Remington sales picked up later in the war, especially as Sam colt was no longer around to grease his favorite palms

[TexCavly]

Re: Colt vs. Remington

Very true Joel, thanks for showing this stuff! I have two 1860's and two brass framed 51's so I'm thinking about doing some pedling to those dismounted cav guys and getting me a steal famed 51.

[Mike Ventura]

Re: Colt vs. Remington

If you want a basic CS public impression, do it without a pistol, as only about 20-30% of CS cav troopers carried a pistol.

[IowaYank]

Re: Colt vs. Remington

What Mike said!!!

[TexCavly]

Re: Colt vs. Remington

I should probably say I'm not going to carry them all at once unless the impression calls for it and then only the correct ones.

[14th VA Cav]

Re: Colt vs. Remington

Thanks for the info that gives me alot to pass on at demostrations. Will look around and try and search older posts before asking my next dumb questions. Thanks again

[The Egyptian Homeguard]

Re: Colt vs. Remington

If you "have a lot to learn" this might not be the best place to post something like this...

Craig, While I agree with the utilization of the search function, prefer correct punctuation and do not like to answer redundant questions. I would rather have new guys to ask questions here and get correct information than other boards and get ignorant answers. Z

[jaxenro]

Re: Colt vs. Remington

Hi

Just to be clear I was quoting production runs from memory so don't quote me. Spiller & Burr and Leech & Rigdon were around 1,500 although some Leech were Leech & Ainsley later on. Griswold & Gunnerson I think were more prolific, maybe 3,600 r so, and LeMat was supposed to have had a run of around 5,000. Of course all this together pales compared to the half million or more Colts that had been produced by wars end (counting pre-war production)

My main point being that brass framed revolvers were rare compared to how we see them represented today

Joel Axenroth

[ButtermilkRanger]

Re: Colt vs. Remington

Jason,

I'm a huge opponent of portraying a specific unit in this hobby. It almost completely eliminates your ability to go to more than a small handful of events. Therefore, you can't outfit yourself like the 14th Virginia and then show up at somewhere like Chickamauga where the 14th Virigina never set foot. In my opinion, trying to decide on a Remington vs. Colt based on your current unit designation is putting the horse before the cart. I assume you primarily do events in the eastern US in the ANV theater? There are some on here who are well read on what kinds of pistols the ANV carried and I'm sure they can help you out. Your question was not stupid.

But some of the advice was sound. Why carry a pistol at all? If they were largely issued in the ANV, which I doubt, I'd argue that the Colt is the best bang for your buck. If any CS units were issued Remingtons, I haven't heard of them yet. Personally, I'd say throw the pistol away and invest in a good rifle. You can't go wrong with a good long arm in a CS impression. If you're doing both, then go with the Colt for your Fed impression and leave it at home most of the time for your CS impression.