.44/77 Fired at Last

[Don Kenna]

I’ll try to attach some very poor pictures of my Remington #1 sporting rifle in .44/77 chambering. I didn’t take them and will blame the photo quality on the seller of the rifle who provided them. Photography is not one of my strong suits, but I promise I will try to post better photos of it in the hopefully near future.

Basic information on the rifle is as follows:
Barrel length: 32 inches
Barrel configuration: Octagonal, heavy straight-taper
Barrel markings: Pre-1886 “E. Remington & Sons,” etc. (top flat); “44 S” (bottom flat, faint, evidently acid etched just forward of forend tip); “S.T.” (bottom flat, clearly stamped under forend)
Trigger: Single set
Receiver: Flat side
Rear Sight: Spring step elevator (early square front type)
Front sight: Standard Remington dovetail; brass blade on steel base
Butt plate: Standard Remington sporting semi-crescent
Forend tip: steel

I am especially pleased to have obtained this rifle, as it is a prime example of a heavily used but properly cared-for rifle in completely original “unbutchered” condition. The bore appears to be nearly perfect, as far as I can tell. The rifle’s finish is all original. The wood has not been “restored” and has the original varnish finish with just enough dents and gouges to give it character. It probably has at least 75 percent of the original rust blue on the barrel, but it has turned an even velvet brown. Although there is no discernable metal wear on the frame and trigger guard (crisp serial number and patent markings), only traces of case hardening colors remain. The nitre blue on the hammer and breech block are pretty much intact. The condition of the metal finish seems to indicate that the rifle spent a lot of time outdoors being exposed to ultraviolet light. The seller knew that he had something valuable—and charged an appropriate price. But he didn’t seem to quite understand exactly what that something was. He was completely flummoxed by the set trigger’s operation. He apparently doctored some of the photos to make it appear that much more case color remained and that the blue was still much more “blue” than the brown it really is. That amused me when I received the rifle.

As the original .44/77 rifles are notorious, the bore is an oversized .450-inch. Unlike some I’ve read about, though, this rifle’s chamber neck will accept a cartridge with a .450-bullet, which seemed like an exactly perfect fit. As “exactly perfect” chamber fit in a black powder cartridge rifle makes me a bit nervous, I asked Steve Brooks for a .449-inch mould, and that’s exactly what I got. The bullet is a 402-grain flat point with very generous lube grooves.

I’m really more of a Sharps rifle person, but I do have a great deal of respect for the Remington System rifles, especially regarding their durability. While I find them very interesting—and far more durable and reliable than some believe—I’m not that much a fan of Remington single-set triggers. While they do seem to remove most of the creep from the trigger pull, the three I have on original rifles can’t seem to be set much lighter than two pounds’ pull weight. Were I ordering a rifle from Remington back in the day, and knowing what I know now, I may have opted for a plain trigger. In any case, as nearly as I can tell from my 1877 Remington catalog reprint, this particular rifle would have cost $35.50 at that time.

I’m not really a fan of bottlenecked black powder cartridges, much preferring the straight variety, so I’m not likely to approach Shiloh Sharps about building me a .44/77 match or even a hunting rifle. Having stated that, I’m also well aware of the historical importance of the .44/77 cartridge. I do think it was quite an improvement over the .50/70, and it pre-dated the .45/70 by at least four years. Considering the rather crude sights on this old lady and my cataract-beset old eyes, I think the rifle and I did pretty well in keeping most shots within four inches at 200 yards.

Comments are welcome.

Don Kenna

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