Remington's First Revolvers: The Remington Beals .31 Caliber Revolvers

By Charles E. Schif
Illustrated, 110 pp., 2007. Mowbray Publishing, 54 East School St., Woonsocket, RI 02893, $55 plus shipping.

Reviewer: Dale E. Biever
Dale E. Biever received his M.Ed. in American history from Kutztown University. He is past vice president for administration and former member of the Board of Governors of the Company of Military Historians. A retired educator, he was registrar at the Civil War Library and Museum in Philadelphia.

Review:
Most of us have a limited knowledge of the Beals revolvers since little information has been available due to several factors: nonexistent factory records, weapons were batch numbered instead of consecutively numbered, factory literature is extremely hard to come by and there are no government records since none were purchased for the military.

Faced with these and other roadblocks author Schif has written a book that gives the best account of the Beals that we will probably ever see.

The book begins with a look at the Remington company's association with Fordyce Beals, which would result in the manufacture of the Remington Beals 1st, 2nd and 3rd Model Pocket Revolvers. These handguns were made from early 1857 to mid-1861 and were later replaced by the popular "Rider Revolver." Total production of all models was only about 7,800, which puts few on the market today for collection or study.

Several pages are devoted to Fordyce Beals' background and the experimental prototype which led to the three models produced by Remington. A copy of the original patent is compared with photos of the only known experimental revolver.

The chapter on the 1st Model lists characteristics such as grips, frame, barrel and sights. All of the Beals were made in .31 caliber, and the problem of tracing the guns begins here due to the fact that they were batch numbered instead of consecutively numbered.

There were five issues of the first model and these are covered in great detail with excellent close-up pictures and explicit text. Nine of these revolvers are shown in their cardboard factory boxes.

The 2nd Model Beals revolvers appeared in 1859, but only 1,000 of them were produced. A major difference was the introduction of the spur trigger. Flaws existed, with a weak outside arm and pawl, and thin hard rubber grips which were prone to breakage. There are photos of two boxed weapons and an interesting photo of a 2nd Model in a Western style holster.

Remington's final 3rd Model has additional changes, such as a loading lever, a 4-inch barrel instead of the 3-inch barrel found on the earlier models and sturdier grips. Caliber remained the same. There are some excellent 3rd Model pictures showing boxed revolvers, frame with grips off and two holsters with their respective guns.

The one holster is "military-style," but since no Beals firearms were contracted by the government it must be considered private purchase. In the beginning of the book are two images of Federal soldiers with the 1st Model, but these are probably studio props or the men's personal weapon. Approximately 1,575 3rd Models were manufactured.

One chapter deals with the Beals factory boxes and their contents, such as powder flask and loading tools. These boxes were all made of cardboard. A following chapter covers the rare factory-issued wooden cased revolvers. The author noted that only seven of these cases exist and only one contained a 3rd Model.

Nine cased models shown include several French-style recessed ones that, of course, are not factory issue. Engraved models are covered in detail with 12 pages of examples. Additional chapters look at cartridge conversions, accessories and how the Beals was presented to the public through broadsides and publication advertisements.

This is a superior work with excellent text and outstanding photography by Paul Goodwin. The book is hardback with quality paper. Author Schif is to be commended for bringing the Beals to the market and sharing his research and expertise with the collector, historian, museums and the general reader.