Rolling block carbine

[Texas by God]

I looked at one today at a customer's house. Genuine Remington; short carbine, appears to be 50-70 caliber. Tha letters CSA are stamped on the action near the barrel in 1/4" characters. There is a cartouche on both sides of the wrist near the action but I couldn't make it out. Does anyone know anything about one like this?

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[Jedman]

If it is a 50-70 it is quite rare and valuable. There was Navy Cadet rifles that were made in 50 cal. Rimfire and they had a small frame only 1" wide and are seen for sale often.
The early 1869 Navy and Marine carbines are made on the larger no. 1 size frame about 1 5/16" thick and were chambered in 50-70 and I have never seen one for sale.

Jedman

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Were there any Rolling Blocks around in the Civil War? I did a fast check of the Blue Book of Gun Values, and the earliest date I saw was 1867 with production starting in 1868-- so the war had been over for 3 years. The CSA stamp could be bogus........unless it's someone's initials like Charles Stanley Adams...... ;)

[john.k]

Answer is yes and no.....the first Remingtons were known as "split breech "rifles ,and a 50rf and a 38? were made for Union order very late in the war.......However ,were they a rolling block?.....IMHO ..no.....But they used the idea of the hammer locking the breech shut as it fell....The rolling block was an amalgamation of the ideas&patents of two men ,Rider and Geiger,and it doesnt seem they got along very well,despite both working for remington.

[john.k]

As a matter of interest,two Remington rifles were submitted to the British breech loading rifle tests of 1866,one being for cartridges "having their own means of ignition," and more interesting,one being a capping breechloader......The capping breechloader seems to have been advertised for sale by Bannermans with the comments "very rare,from a private collection".....the British comittee commented "the rifles have a peculiar means of stopping of the breech at the moment of firing by an arrangement of the hammer".....which I think describes a rolling block in a few words.

[Texas by God]

I wondered if it was Connecticut State Army or some kind of National Guard/ state police. I know it needs me to adopt it....... next time I’m there I’ll ask more about it. I also saw a Carcano/Arisaka, a Mas 36 with a glued on scope base, and a .32 or thereabouts muzzle loader. Heck, they all need me; they’re rusting away in that garage.....

[Der Gebirgsjager]

A rescue mission is indeed in order! Perhaps on your next visit you can conceal the RB under your trench coat.......;)

[marlinman93]

The Rolling Block we know today was first offered in 1868, but Remington did build the Split Breech Rolling Block in .46 caliber and it came out in 1864. It was a rimfire cartridge. Shortly after Remington released the Split Breech Rolling Block in .46, the Army Ordinance Dept. approved the new .50 caliber rimfire that was later called the .56-50 Spencer, so Remington changed their Split Breech carbines to the new .50 RF to gain government contracts. The government contracted to buy the new Split Breech Roller, but the first delivered to the Army was just after the Civil War, so none saw service in the war.
All of these "Remington" Split Breech carbines were built by Savage Revolving Firearms Co. Not the same Savage Arms that started making rifles in 1895, but another company. So technically the Split Breech isn't really a Remington, except in name.

[ndnchf]

FYI - the Remington model 1867 navy carbine was made in .50-45, a shortened .50-70 case. They made 5000 of them. But in later years many were broken down and rebuilt as rifles. Surviving original carbines are scarce and pricey. Dixie used to sell the removed carbine barrels. This resulted in some fake navy carbines being made up. I have one of these. While not authentic, it's a fun shooter.