Mystery 1858 Remington?

I used to work for an Italian company that made reproduction 1858 Remington Revolvers and I have never heard of a "Nova" replica Remington revolver.

Regardless, the gun (if it is Italian made) should have Italian proof marks on both the barrel and cylinder. IF it is Italian made it should also have a two letter "date code" stamped on the frame.

There was one very small American gun company that produced a replica of the 1858 Remington for a short while-but it went out of business. Many of their guns were unmarked.

IF your gun DOES NOT HAVE PROOF MARKS and the screws use standard rather than metric threads there is the off chance that you have a rare American made replica! The United States has no proof laws.

While I think the odds are against that revolver being American made, the threads of the screws should tell us a lot. Some Italian and Spanish made replica revolvers occasionally showed up in this country without any proof marks at all.

Is it possible that he has an ORIGINAL? One thing to look for is a prominent label somewhere, usually found on the barrel, that says something to the effect of "Black Powder Only". The absence of any such label would further support the possibility of it being an original, since at the time smokeless powder did not exist - black powder was the only game in town - so such a label would have been meaningless.

Maybe try this site:

http://www.scorrs.org/

It's dedicated to that model of revolver, both original and replica.

The chances of it being an original Remington with no exterior markings are very small. It's much more likely a defarbed Italian replica.

Very good site! The different C&B loads are intresting in that they vary so much AND include the shooters opnions. I never considered the fact that light loads don't explode the cap fragments. I learned somthing there!
I have noticed that my Piettia/Remingtons run much smoother than my Colt copies.
The Remingtons are a fascination in themselves and really deserve a site like this!
Thanks for the info.
ZVP

Remmie Mystery: This Might Be a Possibility

I have been to Brescia, Italy and it is completely different from anything here in the United States. First and foremost-because there is a Government "Proof House" in Brescia much of the entire Italian firearms industry is centered around Brescia and the surrounding countryside. Here in the United States, because we have no Proof Laws, gun manufacturing companies are scattered all over the U.S.

My point is, that found in Brescia is everything from the main Beretta plant, which is rather large and modern, a "World Class" facility and manufacturing complex to literally "Mom & Pop" "Gun Companies" that just might have a lathe or mill in the back of the garage attached to their home-and everything in between.

A lot of these "Mom & Pop" operations specialize in producing not whole guns but only a few gun parts. Say you live in Brescia and want to get into the "Gun Business" by producing a replica of the '58 Remmie. Well your Cousin Vito can make the barrels and cylinders for your replica Remmie. A man down the street can mill out some of the parts. You can buy investment cast frames from the foundry across town, etc.

Well, when you have all the parts for twenty or thirty guns, you and your family finish, blue and asssemble them one weekend. "Presto-You are in the "Gun Business!" So your Remmie MIGHT BE FROM ONE OF THOSE ITALIAN "MOM AND POP" OPERATIONS. It might have been a prototype, or more likely a "Sales Sample" for a limited run.

Now, regarding those missing proof marks. Italian law is very specific. ALL GUNS HAVE TO BE PROOFED. That is more for "show" than for any real testing of guns because the powder used in the Italian proof house in Brescia is a very weak powder.

So, the lack of Proof Marks might be an indication that your Remmie is either a sales sample or from a very limited run. That whoever made that Remmie of yours never sent it to the Proof House to be "Proved."

I doubt that at any time your gun has been "Defarbed" because if it had been, all the markings would have been removed. You just have a unique Remmie and like they say: "If only these guns could talk and tell us their stories!"

Is there the possibility that it is a "non firing replica"? A pistol built to have the appearance of a functional unit to be used for display only? I only mention it as I have seen such items sold over the years.

that could also explain the rough function and lack of proofs.

I like the Italian mom and pop gun shop possibility. I can just see it in my mind's eye -- the delicious smells of lasagna sauce cooking on the stove and the wonderful sound of a small milling machine turning out small specialized gun parts. And then this beautiful girl pulls up to the house in an Alfa Duetto with a case of Moretti and... Great stuff!

The only reference that I can find for a name that includes "Nuova" is for the former manufactuer known as Armi Jager which produced guns from the 1960's-1990's when production ended.
The owner then continued doing business as a gun shop and gunsmith under the new name Ameria Nuova Jager

The activity continues though as a gun store and gunsmithing shop located in the town of Basaluzzo, Alessandria province. The name of the enterprise has since changed its name to Armeria Nuova Jager.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armi_Jager

Click to expand...

Armi Jager was known to have made a Remington Model 1863 Zouave .58 Musket.

Here's their location info. that I found at the very bottom of a webpage:

NUOVA JAGER srl - via vecchia Novi 21, 15060 Basaluzzo (AL) - Tel. +39 0143 489 969 - Fax: +39 0143 489 707 - P.IVA: 01884160068

http://www.nuovajager.it/rivenditori2.asp?regione=lombardia

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Lastly, Wikipedia contains a footnote leading to their former cached website page that states:

Sirs, following yours so many e-mail from EU and USA, we want confirm that Mr. A. Piscetta retired and sold is company on last July. We want also thank you all for your friendship and support in so many years. This homepage will be offline on october 26, 2009 because Geocities is closing. The Webmaster & tech. team.

Ultimo aggiornamento [I finished updating]: 24/07/2009

http://www.webcitation.org/5knIxXUjT

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Hmnmmm...

For your sake I hope it's not a non-firing display gun... That would be disappointing.

To my knowledge, nearly all the display guns are cast out of "white metal" which is a zince alloy, very weak, it would not hold up to even a greatly reduced charge of BP me thinks.

A quick test, and probably not fool proof, since I don't know the exact formula used by display gun makers for their "white metal", would be, me thinks, to see if a magnet has a strong attraction to the barrel... No strong pull, well, then I would say the barrel was zinc, not steel.

Sincerely,

ElvinWarrior... aka... David, "EW"

Here is a pic of one of the "dsplay" guns cast in "white metal"

I think that it's possible that it did come from Mr. Piscetta's shop.
Armi Jager did make some 1873 Dakota single action revolvers which shows previous involvement with building replica revolvers, in addition to the Zouave muzzle loader.
The revolvers were distributed by EMF and imported by Navy Arms.
The Dakota revolvers (.22 & .357) were base level models that Armi San Marco started producing for EMF after Armi Jager went out of production.

It's only speculation but why else would someone stamp it with the partial name of a historical Italian gunmaker?
A new owner did purchase the company from Mr. Piscetta after he retired, at least in part because of the maker's name recognition and long company history.

Better images would really REALLY help in every way...

Mystery 1858 Remington

I realize that this is a very late response to this thread, but I just found this thread while doing some research on my weapon. So for what its worth....I to have an identical pistol that I purchased new in 1973 or 74 from Shotgun News. The weapon came as a kit and cost around $50-$60. I know it wasn't much, because as a high school student I didn't have much money. The kit came with all the parts and ready to assemble, but the frame was a very rough casting and required much sanding to make smooth and the walnut grips needed shaping and sanding to fit the frame handle. Also some of the internal parts that rotate the cylinder required filing to make work. Additionally, all parts were bare steel and required bluing upon all sanding and fitting of the parts. I did most of the work in my high school metal shop during the 1974-75 school year (with my teacher's knowledge and support....obviously not possible today). The weapon is does work, as I've fired it many times over the years. I cast my own balls and have fired around 100-150 rounds with no signs of metal weakening. I did break the ramming rod about 30 years ago and had to replace it. I can't remember where I got the part.

Cool story, I recently bought a Walker kit to finish in college but it cost me nearly $300, my have times changed.

Just catching upon this now, I think it's entirely possible it was an Italian kit gun.
I've seen several kits that bore no proof marks.
It would also explain the white metal.

Do they still sell gun kits like these?

Ive seen the single shot kentucky looking ones but i havent seen any like the colt or the remington.

Dixie has revolver kits listed not sure what that entails, if it's from scratch or just finish polish etc
Gene

Yes, Dixie has a pretty decent selection of C&B kits.

Yeah i did a google search and it killed me.

A finished gun ready to fire out of the box is like $235. a kit is $215.

When i look at the kit my dad built i see factory second parts. I see a frame that didnt meet piettas quality control and was kicked out (pits all over it). The barrel doesnt look that bad but ill bet if i really pick at it ill see flaws in it also. All of the action parts are bottom of the barrel as well.

The bolt looks like some one machined it with a dremel its so poorly finished.