Remington Argentine 1879 Rolling Block

[bigskybound]

It is not minty blue, the tang markings are clearly seen and it doesn't have a crest on the receiver. It was not ground off I've seen that on 91's. There was no crest ever stamped.

There is some speculation that the ones without the tang markings were not shipped to Argentina, but sold in States. George Layman has the difinitive book on the subject of military rollers. Also lots of guns built of surplus parts after Remington went through bankrupsy and was bought by Schuyler, Hartley and Graham and sold domestically. They did not ground off the Modelo Argentino markings during refinish - or on some unrefinished examples - it was just never there on many.

[405]

405:
Any Argentine model that looks minty blue was refinished in the 1950s when shipped back to the US. Oriiginal M79 guns usually had tinned receivers. The hot blue put over these original receivers is often very splotchy where it did not tske well. Tang markings are usually very faint under the reblue. Also most have a line of pitting along the woodline where stock meets barrel. This is also blued over. I have had about half a dozen of these, as well as two original, non-refinished M79s. So if Charlie in CO has a minty blue M79, it was refinished and lacks the collector value of the unrefinished guns.

bigskybound,
You may be spot on in the overview. But, looking closely at the details of these, it would seem nearly impossible to give a pat answer on the history of each. The ones I've looked at seem to reveal a varied and cloudy past history. Many seem to be in a restored condition not simply a refinished condition. As relatively inexpensive as these are, in as good of condition as many seem to be... whoever spent the time in these restorations/rebuilds/refurbs lost money! at least compared to other original, large caliber Rem RBs in equal condition. I still have trouble figuring the original, excellent condition Remington barrels seen on a lot of the guns. BTW, the "tinned" receiver on mine was never blued after the fact. No matter, these large caliber Rem contract military RBs may be one of the most under-rated original BPCRs out there. The low interest level may have more to do with the caliber(s) (odd by American standards) than the real value or quality of the gun.

[Charlie in Co]

I have read that at the time of the last lot of RBs the Argentine military was already under contract or receiving the new Mauser 91 rifles. It is my understanding that these last lots were cancelled and were never delivered. They were sold in the US. This may explain why some barrels look new, they were never fired much.

[bigskybound]

Yep! The whos, whats, whens, wheres, and hows (and even the whys) of the M79 refinish/restoration work is cloudy indeed. What I have found interesting in the ones I have owned is that:

1) The original finish (read worn and plumb or bright) had the pitting along the woodline of barrels and tangs.

2) My hot blue refinished ones marked MODELO ARGENTINO on the knoxform had tang markings almost illegible and same pitting blued over.

3) My hot blue refinished ones with no knoxform markings had almost pristine metal, other than worn down tang markings.

These are just my observations, but there is the inkling of a pattern, based on conversations with other roller fanciers. In any event, to turn one of my refinished M79s into a real nice shooter, I modified the front sight with the dovetail setup. In a pinch, if desired, it could be returned to original specs with a little clever metal buildup, a file and some hot blue.

[EdZ KG6UTS]

I bought one a few months ago, .43 Spanish RB with thick blue, no proof marks, all the Remington info clearly on the tang and an excellent bore. From what I read there were MANY rifles produced that were extra to the contracts so sold locally. Anyway.. took it down to the BLM land near the Anza Borrego desert and at 200 yd it printed just fine.

EdZ KG6UTS

[Marvin S]

Anyway.. took it down to the BLM land near the Anza Borrego desert and at 200 yd it printed just fine.

EdZ KG6UTS[/QUOTE]What load are useing?

[leadman]

From my experiences with older military arms shooting high was pretty much the norm. With the smaller bore rifles this works out with the lighter cast bullet loads as they shoot lower.

Can't say for sure when this started to chance but the 1891, 1893, 1895 Mausers I shot all printed high with full power jacketed ammo. Also my 1938 Beretta Carcano.

My M48a shoots pretty close to dead on at 100 yards with the lowest sight setting.

What have you guys found shooting the blackpowder guns?