ndnchf
12-27-2021, 08:09 AM
This is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. Many of you know that little, if any factory records remain from the 19th century Remington era. This has caused endless frustration among rolling block collectors and shooters. My area of interest is the #2 sporting rifles circa 1972 – 1913. I have a small collection of them.
I have studied Roy Marcot’s excellent book on Remington Sporting rifles, pouring over the #2 rifle chapter. He has done phenomenal work and it is a great start. However, there is more work that can be done. I am focusing on and limiting my research to #2 sporting rifle standard features only, not options or custom features. The later are almost endless - I’m not going there. However, discerning collectors know that standard features on #2 rifles constantly changed and evolved over the 40+ years of production. I am cataloging these features and mapping them to rifle serial numbers. In this way, I will be able to identify serial number ranges that common features were used. Furthermore, by studying advertisements, company ownership/name changes, and in some cases - cartridge introduction dates, I hope to be able to narrow down approximate periods of production for serial number ranges. Here are a few example standard features: There are at least 9 different Remington address markings, two different front, and two different rear sight dovetail sizes and two different extractors. This is just a few of the features that vary, there are quite a few more.
Besides, scrutinizing the features of my own rifles, I’ve been scouring the internet for #2 rifle photos that include the serial number. This includes auction sites, ads, forums and facebook. This search has been surprising fruitful. But I know it only reflects a very small sampling of #2 rifles that exist. Therefore, I’m reaching out to the community for addition help. If you have one or more #2 rifles, and would like to contribute to this research project, please send me a private message with your email address. I will send you a well-illustrated questionnaire in MS Word format that you can fill out with details about your rifle and return. Or email me directly at splitdorf(at symbol)cox.net.
After gathering and sorting this data, it will be freely shared to help the rolling block community better understand these rifles. I will be posting this on several different forums and groups to get the widest dissemination.
Thanks,
Steve Blancard
I have studied Roy Marcot’s excellent book on Remington Sporting rifles, pouring over the #2 rifle chapter. He has done phenomenal work and it is a great start. However, there is more work that can be done. I am focusing on and limiting my research to #2 sporting rifle standard features only, not options or custom features. The later are almost endless - I’m not going there. However, discerning collectors know that standard features on #2 rifles constantly changed and evolved over the 40+ years of production. I am cataloging these features and mapping them to rifle serial numbers. In this way, I will be able to identify serial number ranges that common features were used. Furthermore, by studying advertisements, company ownership/name changes, and in some cases - cartridge introduction dates, I hope to be able to narrow down approximate periods of production for serial number ranges. Here are a few example standard features: There are at least 9 different Remington address markings, two different front, and two different rear sight dovetail sizes and two different extractors. This is just a few of the features that vary, there are quite a few more.
Besides, scrutinizing the features of my own rifles, I’ve been scouring the internet for #2 rifle photos that include the serial number. This includes auction sites, ads, forums and facebook. This search has been surprising fruitful. But I know it only reflects a very small sampling of #2 rifles that exist. Therefore, I’m reaching out to the community for addition help. If you have one or more #2 rifles, and would like to contribute to this research project, please send me a private message with your email address. I will send you a well-illustrated questionnaire in MS Word format that you can fill out with details about your rifle and return. Or email me directly at splitdorf(at symbol)cox.net.
After gathering and sorting this data, it will be freely shared to help the rolling block community better understand these rifles. I will be posting this on several different forums and groups to get the widest dissemination.
Thanks,
Steve Blancard