Old Remington roller

[John Taylor]

Just got done test firing an old roller that has been relined to 45 Colt. Looks like it might be a fun gun to shoot, not much recoil. Was a bit fun boring the 35" barrel for the liner. Did not have enough ammo to see how good it groups.

[JeffinNZ]

Rollers are lovely. I have a No4 .22RF I had customised many years back. Great rifle.

[Jedman]

What diameter is your liner and how long ? Are you keeping the barrel full length.

Thanks, Jedman

[John Taylor]

What diameter is your liner and how long ? Are you keeping the barrel full length.

Thanks, Jedman
Barrel is full length, 35". I had Mike ( T.J.'s) squeeze the liner down to .590" so there was still a little wall thickness on the old barrel. I did not fill in the rim cut of the old barrel so it shows, Forgot about it till after I was done.

[justashooter]

my current favourite rifle is an oveido made 1873 roller that was re-barreled with a breach cut springfield barrel re-chambered to 32-20. a pleasure to shoot, and fit for .308 bullets to boot. looking for some 130 grain soft points to try in it.

[marlinman93]

A .45 Colt would be a fun caliber to shoot in a Rolling Block John! Should be able to shoot all day, and never hurt your shoulder! Maybe a military Roller with a barrel that long?

[John Taylor]

It is an old abused military with full length barrel and forearm. Had to make a new extractor and lighten the trigger a bunch, got it at 4.5 pounds. Put fiber optics on it.

[marlinman93]

Those military triggers can be quite heavy! I make trigger return springs from .045" piano wire, and it really lowers the trigger weight!

[justashooter]

A .45 Colt would be a fun caliber to shoot in a Rolling Block John! Should be able to shoot all day, and never hurt your shoulder! Maybe a military Roller with a barrel that long?

I am reminded of a roller I had some years ago. It was a "cadet" musket based on a surplus 1867 Navy pistol action, barreled to 50-45 (a shorter version of the 50-70), which was the cartridge the thousand or so Navy rollers that actually delivered were chambered to.

Word was that Remington made 10-12 thousand 1867 (smaller scale) actions, expecting large volume contracts that never materialized. The actions were sold 20 years later and were likely turned into cadet rifles by Bannermans or one of their contractors. It was pretty, dainty rifle, with a nearly shotgun thin 32" barrel, IIRC.

An article I read about the subject indicated that over 1.5 million rounds of 50-45 were produced by 1873, or so, and that most of it was still available as surplus into the 1920's.

[marlinman93]

I am reminded of a roller I had some years ago. It was a "cadet" musket based on a surplus 1867 Navy pistol action, barreled to 50-45 (a shorter version of the 50-70), which was the cartridge the thousand or so Navy rollers that actually delivered were chambered to.

Word was that Remington made 10-12 thousand 1867 (smaller scale) actions, expecting large volume contracts that never materialized. The actions were sold 20 years later and were likely turned into cadet rifles by Bannermans or one of their contractors. It was pretty, dainty rifle, with a nearly shotgun thin 32" barrel, IIRC.

An article I read about the subject indicated that over 1.5 million rounds of 50-45 were produced by 1873, or so, and that most of it was still available as surplus into the 1920's.

I've read about those converted pistol actions like you owned! I believe George layman covered them in his great book on Rolling Block rifles. He also mentioned the other smaller versions built on the 1 1/2 action. I've never seen either in person, and would suspect few survive in original configuration.

[John Taylor]

The navy pistols I have seen were made on the #2 action. I have an original breach block from one and it fits my #2 rifle. Some place in my junk I have a barrel for one with the anchor mark behind the sight.

[AbitNutz]

Rolling blocks never interested me in the past, then I got the opportunity to handle one at my favorite gunsmith's place. It was a cherry example and was in near perfect condition. I was shocked at how much I liked it. What a wonderful rifle action, so simple, smooth and I bet fast. It seems like the perfect way to make a single shot, no levers, trapdoors or things to fumble with. All you do is thumb back the block...no wonder it was copied and made for years...it's almost perfect.

[marlinman93]

Rolling blocks never interested me in the past, then I got the opportunity to handle one at my favorite gunsmith's place. It was a cherry example and was in near perfect condition. I was shocked at how much I liked it. What a wonderful rifle action, so simple, smooth and I bet fast. It seems like the perfect way to make a single shot, no levers, trapdoors or things to fumble with. All you do is thumb back the block...no wonder it was copied and made for years...it's almost perfect.

I've always been a fan of Rolling Blocks! Mostly the sporting rifles, as I love the octagon top receivers, and octagon or half octagon barrels. They are such a huge part of American firearms history. Not just from the early West buffalo hunts, but also from their performance alongside the Sharps rifles at the first Creedmoor matches.
Seems many poor countries were quick to jump on the Rolling Block military rifles as a choice. The bolt actions of the day were much more expensive, and some of the 3rd World countries couldn't afford bolt actions.

[northmn]

When I shot BP cartridge I had a Remington Rolling Block carbine in 7mm Mauser rebarreled to a 45-70. At that time I did not know the small little quirks of BP cartridge like proper lube and sold it off and lost interest for a bit. Now have a Italian Remington Rolling block in 45-70 and like it and should start using it again now that I am retired. I had another old action made up in 50-90 but the gun was too light weight and recoiled too much.
They were more than a buffalo rifle. On one of the first cattle drives the drovers were armed with Rolling Blocks. The natives were used to muzzle loading tactics and would let every one shoot and then charge in while they reloaded. Rolling blocks reloaded faster than muzzle loaders and gave them an unpleasant surprise. We hear about the first defeat of the Irish rifle team that came about when one of the Irish team members fired on the wrong target adn the Americans were using breech loaders whcih some thought were not competitive at that time. However claims were that the following year the Americans were using Rolling Blocks and did not have as much trouble winning. They were sold to quite a few countries as military arms. The Sharps was too complex a rifle to compete against the Rolling Blocks as to manufacturing costs.

DP