REMINGTON new model army from I believe 1863, not a smith & wesson as it would not allow me to choose the non existent REMINGTON that was not a choice on this site!! I had a modern one of these and, it did not sound as good as this mechanism when being cocked this is crisp, obviously this has had some use but is in full working order, I have never fired this even though I have black powder what is the point, but if you want to use it as I know a lot of people like to shoot the old stuff, I would recommend you have it proofed for black powder as this was made in the states and the U.K. still does not accept firearms from America for sale here unless they have gone through our proof houses! this site would not let me choose non f.a.c. it was not an option