E.N. Santa Barbara 1858 Remington New Army

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

Does anyone know how to determine manufacture date of a Santa Barbara 1858 Remington? I know they haven't been produced for a while. I picked up a E.N. Santa Barbara 1858 Remington in mighty decent shape with some honest wear but seems to have been well maintained. I sure would like to know how long its been around. These are made in Spain and rumor is that they are top quality. I can attest to the perfect fit of all components on this example. Came with a fully functional, although not all that pretty wooden box with powder flask, powder, caps, jag, powder measurer, lube, balls, and wrench. Upon further inspection once I had her home, I realized that she seemed to have a fair amount more experience that I originally perceived, but that the craftsmanship and fit seemed higher than I originally estimated.

 

[arcticap]

From what I've found, there's different Spanish proof houses that use different proof date codes. According to one source, for Eibar, Spain after 1994, it's the last two digits of the serial number. And there's also a chart shown for another Spanish proof date code.

http://www.hallowellco.com/proof_date_codes.htm

http://9mmlargo.com/year_codes.htm

http://9mmlargo.com/index.htm

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

The Revolver has 2 proof marks one appears to be a Spanish Mark of admission to proof. A second looks to be a Spanish final proof mark for a revolver, but I don't find any letter numeral combinations with a star above and between as I've seen referenced for Spanish date codes. Also the last 2 digits of the serial number are numerals, no letters and wouldn't have come up yet as a date code from what I've seen, so maybe it doesn't have a date code.

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

I pulled the grips and there is a very distinct "S" stamped there. No asterisk, or star, just an "S" as a date code that would seem to indicate 1948 production, which would be a big surprise to me. Thanks for any and all info and thanks arcticap for the links.

 

[mykeal]

What are the last two digits of the serial number?

You may have a gun manufactured/proofed before 1994, in which case the proof date is separate from the serial number. It's part of the proof stamp. Here's the code on one of my CVA guns:

The I*2 signifies 1989.

 

[Hellgate]

The one Santa Barbara that I handled felt a lot like a well made Euroarms gun. I say that because the Euroarms Remingtons have smaller grips & frames than any of the other makes I have hefted. Also the barrel threads are barely visable like the Euros that have been compared to the Beals model Remington. They are my favorite size Remmie. The one S. Barbara I almost bought about 5 years ago (he wanted $200) was an excellent gun. I didn't get it as I already had two each of Ubertis & Euros and had just sold two Piettas to get the Euros.

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

What are the last two digits of the serial number?

"15" it is definitely a "15" and not an "I5" the serial No. is under the barrel and there are no dashes. Examples I've seen with the date code as part of the SN I think all had dashes. The proof marks are on the side of the frame and much smaller than any of the Italian proof marks I've seen. The "R" bomb mark for final proof is also on the cylinder and the barrel. the only other marks are "MADE IN SPAIN", "E.N. SANTA BARBARA", a Santa Barbara logo with an "S" and a "B" flanking a sword, "NEW MODEL ARMY", the SN with an asterisks at each end, and an "S" under the grip on the side of the grip frame. I tried to take a picture but I'll need a tripod and proper lighting for anything to be discernible.

It always bugs me when I can't date one, not that it really matters in the end.

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

Thanks for all the info, from all I've seen there should be a 1 or 2 digit code with a star over it. The closest I found was the "S" under the grip, but no star. It sounds like it was common for the star to stamp poorly, but I don't even have a dent over the "S" so I think there is not a date code on this one. I found a couple of other examples of someone looking for a Santa Barbara 1858 replica who also ended up finding no date codes.

 

[BHP FAN]

http://store.bluebookinc.com/Info/PDF/POWDER/MBPProofmarks.pdf