'58 Remingtons

[ZVP]

I wonder why Remington did all the ironwork on the '58 and then decided to make the little trigger guard out of Brass? I mean the whole revolver is steel!
Maybe they felt that to please the public and to compete with Colt, they had to show a little brass?
I think the revolver would look cool with a steel triggerguard! I guess I could Brass Black it...
ZVP

 

[JNewell]

Maybe cost, just as shotgun trigger guard/trigger plate assemblies are sometimes made of plastic today, and rifle trigger guards are sometimes made of aluminum?

 

[Indian Outlaw]

I love the brass trigger guard. It adds some nice contrast.

 

[BHP FAN]

I'm considering sending mine to Hoof Hearted for plateing, or replaceing them with stainless...

 

[Mizar]

In the 19th century brass was the common material for trigger guards, barrel bands, butt plates and etc. Look at some machinery pieces from that era - you will find many brass parts in them. It just looks right, period correct if you want... And I'm not sure that brass trigger guards are cheaper to produce than steel ones.

Boris

 

[BHP FAN]

definitely easier to machine....and easier on the machines used to do the job.

 

[ZVP]

Yea I guess that production cost was the biggest factor but now that it was brought up, during the Victorian period, ornimantation such as multiple colors and materials shown craftsmanship of sorts.
Maybe it was all a combination ot it all?
ZVP

 

[Old Fuff]

Also like Colt, Remington silver plated the trigger guards, as Colt did backstraps and trigger guards. If you want to make your Remington reproduction look like an original, have someone lightly bead-blast the guard and then satin chrome it.

 

[Berkley]

Remington did not silver plate the trigger guards on regular production New Army revolvers. This auction photo of a fine original New Army (no, it ain't mine) shows the standard unplated brass.

 

[Old Fuff]

Remington did not silver plate the trigger guards on regular production New Army revolvers.

They did and they didn't, especially during the Civil War. The Guns of Remington; Historic Firearms Spanning Two Centuries, by Howard M. Madaus & Photographs by Paul Goodwin show numerous examples with and without plated trigger guards.

My point was (and is) that someone who owns a current reproduction and doesn't like the problems associated with keeping brass guards polished, or the appearence of tarnished ones can satin chrome (in place of silver) plate the part and be historically correct. The same is true of Colt's.