The 'Other' Single-Action Sixguns 1870-1890

Those in my age group who grew up on B-Western Saturday matinee movies in the 1940s, followed by a long list of TV Westerns in the 1950s, could easily be convinced there was only one single-action sixgun in the period from 1870 to 1890 — the Colt Single Action Army. However, there were more large frame single-actions aside from Colt available during this time period.

1870 — S&W Model #3 American

The S&W Model #3 American was not only the first big-bore cartridge-firing sixgun, it was also the first cartridge revolver to be adopted by the U.S. Military. We have had replica S&W Single-actions for several decades now beginning first with the Model #3 Russian and then the Model #3 Schofield. Now the Uberti-manufactured Model #3 American is a reality.

Mike Harvey of Cimarron Firearms has worked for several years to see this project come to pass. After firing one of the first to arrive in this country, I can say it has been well worth the effort and certainly the wait. The first examples arriving are chambered in .45 Colt, which means they will also handle .45 Schofield. These will be followed by revolvers firing the .44-40, .44 Special and .44 Russian. I already have my order in.

1874 — S&W Model #3 Russian

Daniel Wesson was visited by his Imperial Majesty, the Czar of Russia, as he wanted weapons for his army. In fact, he planned to equip both his cavalry and artillery with S&W, a great windfall for the company. Not only was this contract a financial boon, the Russians also provided significant improvements to the American revolver and its ammunition. In fact, the Russians were much more serious than the Americans about using these new cartridge-firing weapons and ordered 150,000 guns.

The most significant Russian change was the ammunition — in fact, it was the Russians who gave us the model for all currently produced sixgun ammunition. Instead of a heeled bullet, with a base smaller in diameter than the rest of the bullet (as used by the .44 American), the Russians insisted upon a bullet of uniform diameter.

The original American had a square butt with a rounded back strap. The Russians rounded the butt slightly and a hump was added at the top of the back strap thus providing not only a more secure grip but also prevented the revolver from rotating upwards in the hand when fired. A spur was also added to the bottom of the trigger guard and to this day, there is no agreement on its exact purpose.

The Model #3 Russian had a standard barrel length of 6-1/2″. Several years ago, when returning from the first Linebaugh Seminar and Winchester Gun Show in Cody Wyoming, I stopped in Idaho Falls for a break at a local gun store. I left the gun shop with my first single-action S&W, a Model #3 Russian dated 1874. The finish is mostly gone however the barrel is in good shape and it locked up and functioned very well, certainly enough to allow it to be safely shot with black powder loads. The mating of the top-break locking parts was a trifle loose, however, my gunsmith at Buckhorn Gun Shop did a little welding and filing and it’s now as tight as it was when it left the factory more than 140 years ago

1875 — S&W Model #3 Schofield

The U.S. Military liked the convenience and quick loading of the .44 American compared to the percussion 1860 Colt Army which had been the standard issue. However, they preferred something more powerful. This was not lost on one Col. Schofield. If the Army wanted .45s, he felt S&W should offer .45s. Not only did he look at the larger chambering but also at an improvement in the Top-Break S&W. The .44 American and the .44 Russian required two hands to operate. The locking mechanism was on the top strap and it required holding the sixgun in one hand and operating this mechanism with the other.

Col. Schofield, later Major Schofield, redesigned the latch by placing it on the frame. One now only had to press with the thumb of the shooting hand and the barrel would unlatch, then by pressing against the leg or any other stationary object it was pushed down to open. The operation was now simplified, so it was time to change the cartridge — that is when trouble began.

The frame and cylinder of the Model Number Three was too short to accept the .45 Colt so a new cartridge, the shorter .45 S&W Schofield, was used. A problem soon arose — units armed with the Schofields often received .45 Colt ammunition which would not fit the cylinders. Meanwhile, units armed with the Colt Single Action Army but issued Schofield ammunition were okay as the shorter case would fit the longer cylinder.

It did not take long for this to result in the .45 Schofield revolvers being dropped by the military with many of the barrels cut from 7″ to 5″ and sold off. The latter barrel length became popular with Wells Fargo. With the passing of the Schofield sixguns, the military still had a large stock of .45 Schofield ammunition which worked just fine in their .45 Colt sixguns. Today, the Schofield Model #3 is available chambered in .45 Colt and several other offerings as well as both barrel lengths. In the year 2000, S&W also resurrected the Schofield as the Model 2000 and this one was chambered to only accept .45 Schofield ammunition.

Colt 1871–1872 Open-top

While the “Richards” and “Richards-Mason” conversions to existing cap-and-ball revolvers bridged the gap, the 1871–72 Open-Top was Colt’s first big bore single-action cartridge-firing revolver. It was a totally new design and parts were not interchangeable with the earlier percussion models or conversions. All original Open-Tops were made in .44 Rimfire and when the 1871–72 was unsuccessfully submitted to the Army for testing and adoption of a new sidearm, Colt Factory Superintendent William Mason was sent back to the drawing board to come up with a stronger gun and a more powerful chambering. The result was the solid-frame Colt Single Action Army, but still in .44 Rimfire. The U.S. Army then asked for a larger, centerfire caliber and one final change resulted in the Single Action Army being chambered in .45 Colt.

1890 — Remington Model 1875/Model 1890

As much as I love Colt Single Actions and the percussion revolvers preceding them, I have to admit contemporary Remington models were an inherently stronger design. Where Colt used three parts — mainframe, backstrap and trigger guard — bolted together, Remington used a one-piece engineering marvel incorporating the mainframe and grip frame with no screws to loosen while shooting. Unlike the open-top design of Sam Colt’s percussion revolvers, the early Remingtons had a solid top strap, which the U.S. Military insisted Colt use on their Single Action Army.

The first Remington cartridge-firing revolvers arrived in 1874 with the first few hundreds chambered in .46 Remington. However this was soon changed to .44 Remington with approximately 16,000 being manufactured by 1878, most of which went to the Egyptian Government. Remington then began offering the Model 1875 chambered in .44-40 and .45 Colt. In 1883 approximately 1,000 nickel-plated Model 1875s were purchased by the U.S. Government to arm the Indian Police. The last of the Remington big-bore single-actions, the Model 1890, was produced in .44-40 with less than 2,000 being manufactured before production ceased in 1896. The Model 1890 is easily distinguished from the Model 1875 by the lack of the full-length web under the barrel.

For several decades now, Uberti has been producing Remington replicas which have been offered by Cimarron, EMF and Navy Arms. I have considerable experience shooting both the 1875 and 1890 Models chambered in .44-40 and .45 Colt. I have never found these to be as easy to shoot as the Colt-style sixguns due to the shape of the grip and the angle of the hammer. I simply cannot reach nor cock the hammer on any of these Remington replicas as easily as on a Colt. However, they are not lacking in accuracy.

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