A Remington Rider New Model Belt Double Action Cartridge Conversion Revolver.
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12 ½” overall, 6 ½” octagonal .38 barrel marked ‘PATENTED SEPT. 14, 1858 E. REMINGTON & SONS, ILION, NEW YORK, U.S.A. NEW MODEL’. Numbered 5547 under the rammer. Solid one piece frame. Two piece rimfire cylinder numbered 1298. Brass trigger guard, walnut two piece grips. In its fitted Civil War era soft black leather holster.
In very good condition nearly all original blued finish.
It is estimated that no more than 3,000 Belt Models were produced and only a fraction of those were converted from .36-caliber percussion to .38-caliber rimfire.
Serial number 5547 The cylinder conversion number is 1298
Circa 1870
History of the Remington-Rider New Model Belt Double Action Cartridge Conversion Revolver
Following the civil war, Remington introduced several new percussion models including the Remington Rider. All of the new pistols were available with factory cartridge conversions. Unlike the earlier Remington cartridge designs these could easily be converted back to percussion pistols by changing cylinders, thus providing greater versatility than Colt models, which, once converted, could not be used with a percussion cylinder. Among the rarest of Remington conversions are the Belt Model Remington Rider revolvers, which were smaller than the New Model Army and Navy but larger than the .38-caliber New Police, and carried six rounds. The Remington-Rider New Model belt revolver, scaled down New Model Navy revolver, stemmed from a partnership between Remington Arms and Joseph Rider of Newark (Ohio) and lays claim as being the first ever Double-Action (DA), cartridge-based revolver in American firearms history.
One of its unique design elements as a revolver of the period was the mushroom shape which tapered from the frame towards the cylinder rear. By May 3rd 1859 Joseph Rider was issued US Patent #23,861 for a double action percussion revolver introduced to the Remington product line circa 1860. The Remington-Rider Double Action New Model Belt Revolver was introduced in 1863 and remained in production through to 1873. Rider would go on to work for Remington for a number of years, becoming the Remington factory superintendent in 1865 and remaining in that job through to 1883.To many Joseph Rider is also known as the father of the Remington rolling (breech) block.