Most weeks that I show up on Wheelgun Wednesday, I am hauling something actually old off the shelf and telling you about it. Today is a little different. The revolver on my bench got built recently; it is just wearing 1875's clothes. Uberti sent me their "Frank" out of the Outlaws and Lawmen line, which is their version of the Remington Model 1875 that Frank James handed over when he surrendered in 1882. Let's dive right into it!
Curious Relics & Uberti @ TFB and AllOutdoor:
Background Information: The Uberti "Frank"
I am 2/4 parts deep into the original Remington Model 1875 over on our sister site AllOutdoor in my Curious Relics series. Two of those are live right now and the rest go up every other Wednesday, so if the back half is not there yet when you read this, give it a couple weeks. That series is where the real deep dive history lives and I am not going to rehash all of it here.
The very short version. Remington showed up to the big bore cartridge revolver party about two years after Colt did and never really recovered from it. The 1875 kept the solid frame and the general shape of their 1858 percussion guns, including that triangular web under the barrel that everybody calls the sail. Sources vary but roughly 25,000 to 30,000 got built between 1875 and somewhere around 1889 (there is real disagreement on that end date and I dig into why in the series). Which is not much at all when you look at what Colt was moving over the same stretch...and that is basically the whole story of this revolver.
Frank James surrendered to Governor Crittenden in October of 1882 and the Remington he handed over sits in the Autry Museum in California today. Their record lists it as a .44-40 with walnut grips and a lanyard swivel on the butt. Uberti's Frank is a .45 Colt wearing simulated ivory, so right off the bat we are not looking at a bolt for bolt copy of the gun in the case.
Here is the thing about those grips though. I assumed the ivory was a Hollywood thing, because the Remington that Sam Shepard carries through The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is the version of this gun most of us picture. So I went back and watched it again. That revolver is nickel plated, which is correct, and the grips are not ivory.
All that being said, the actual answer turned out to be a lot more boring and a lot more legitimate than I expected. Remington sold ivory grips as a factory option on the Model 1875 straight out of their own catalog (along with pearl, engraving, and gold or silver plating for anybody with money to burn) and it cost you extra then the same way it costs you extra now. So the ivory is a period correct option for a Model 1875 in general. It is just not what was on Frank's
Specifications: Uberti "Frank" 1875
If you have run any single action before, none of this will surprise you. Hammer back to half cock, swing the loading gate open, and the cylinder spins free clockwise so you can feed it a chamber at a time. Load one, skip one (rolls eyes), load four more, close the gate, then bring the hammer down on the empty hole. That last part matters here. The firing pin on this one is attached to the hammer and there is no transfer bar, so five is your number and six is typically leaned towards as a bad idea unless you are standing on the line actively shooting.
Unloading is where the Remington design does its own thing. The head of the ejector rod sits on the outside of the barrel instead of underneath, so you shove it with your thumb instead of reaching under the gun to go find it. The cylinder comes out the front once you press the spring loaded catch on the frame and pull the base pin forward. Fair warning to the purists out there, that cross latch is a Uberti addition (the originals used a screw ahead of the ejector) and you guys and gals will spot it immediately.
- Model Number: 356713
- Chambering: .45 Colt
- Barrel Length: 7.5″
- Overall Length: 13.6″
- Weight: 2.8 lbs
- Action: Single Action
- Capacity: 6
- Cylinder: 6-Shot, Fluted
- Finish: Nickel-Plated Steel, Polished Nickel Barrel
- Grip: Simulated Ivory
- Rifling: 6 Grooves, 1:16 RH
- Front Sight: Blade
- Rear Sight: Frame Notch
- MSRP: $1,149
The Frank runs $1,149 and here is the part I chewed on for a while. Uberti's plain 1875 Army Outlaw in nickel is $749. Same 7.5 inch barrel, same weight, same overall length, walnut grips instead of the ivory look, and no lanyard ring. The case hardened version of that same gun is also $749, which tells you the plating is not what you are paying extra for. So that four hundred dollar gap buys simulated ivory, nitre blued screws and pins, a lanyard ring, and the name Frank on the box. I will come back to whether that is worth it.
Range Time: Uberti "Frank" 1875
On to shooting! I liked this thing enough that I went and bought a crossdraw holster specifically to haul it around at the range, which is not something I normally bother doing for an old west test gun. I never once thought about that sail as a holster guide until it got pointed out to me, but it absolutely helps the muzzle find the mouth of the holster on the way in. It also just looks cool. Sue me.
I put about 100 rounds of Herter's 250 grain lead flat nose through it. Nothing exotic, no handloads, just factory ammo. Zero malfunctions, zero hiccups, nothing that needed attention at any point in any session.
Now, the trigger, and I have to admit a failure right up front. I recently moved and my trigger gauge is still sitting at the old place, so I cannot hand you a number and it bugs me. What I can tell you is that it is light. Very light. Zero creep, zero stack, it just goes. The closest thing I can compare it to is a set trigger on a Sharps, except not that light and never in a way that felt unsafe.
When I handed it to other people at the range their first shot was almost never where they wanted it, purely because nobody expects a factory single action to break like that. I shot my group at 15 yards and put six into about two inches, and the flyers in there were me getting acquainted with that same trigger. I will own that. I am usually not great with these reproduction guns (I love them, I just do not shoot them well), so two inches had me grinning like an idiot.
If I ever get talked into cowboy action shooting, this is the gun I am bringing.
Speaking of shooting it, this revolver is front heavy. It looks slender and it looks light and it is neither, or at least it does not balance the way your eyes tell you it is going to. That sounds like a complaint and it is not. Standing there mid string that weight out front is doing you a favor. Recoil is mild, it does not roll in the hand, and the hammer spur never once bit me on the recock technique.
A couple of things I went in watching for and did not find. Some of the cowboy action crowd has reported the ejector rods on these binding partway through the stroke and eventually bending or breaking the small tenon that holds the head on. Mine ran smooth the whole length every single time. I also went looking for wear marks on the sides of the hammer since that has come up elsewhere, and there is nothing on mine. The only break in oddity was a very faint catch as the hammer came up to full cock, and it smoothed itself out and vanished early. My one honest gripe is the outside ejector head, since I lean toward the Colt arrangement. But I have handled a whole lot more Colt pattern guns than Remington pattern guns, so I am not confident that is a real preference and not just familiarity talking.
Final Thoughts: Uberti "Frank" 1875
So. Four hundred dollars. At the end of the day, the only thing that makes the Frank worth that over the plain nickel Outlaw is the historical hook, and whether that lands depends entirely on what you get out of guns. If you are already going to spend real money on an 1875 reproduction, and you want the one that lets you say this is about as close as you are going to get to what Frank James was carrying, then yes. Maybe not four hundred dollars of yes. But if the money is already walking out of your pocket, I understand it completely. For me personally, this is the one I would save up for instead of the standard gun. I want that look in my cowboy pile.
The rest of it is easy. Fit and finish are excellent and I have no complaints there at all. The nickel is bright without being loud, and those nitre blued screws and pins against all that plating are a really pretty detail you do not fully appreciate until you are close enough to be cleaning it. The simulated ivory is exactly what it says on the tin, typical reproduction ivory looking grips, not cheap and not offensive, just simulated. It shoots well, it is comfortable, and it is a good looking old gal even though she is not actually old.
Big thank you to the folks at Uberti for sending the Frank out for this and for the Curious Relics series. Till next time, what do you guys think? Let us know all of your thoughts in the Comments below! We always appreciate your feedback.
