Whitney-Laidley Rolling Block

[marlinman93]

Had to dig this one out of the safe so I could answer a question about how they reassemble for a guy. I bought this a decade ago at the Reno gun show, and was very excited to find a 1st Model Whitney-Laidley Rolling Block. They were only made one decade starting in 1871, to 1881, and are the safest Rolling Block version ever made!
Whitney purchased the 1866 patent from Laidley and Emery in 1870, and put it into production the next year. But the mechanism was complicated, and expensive to produce, so Remington outsold Whitney. The design allows the Whitney's 3 piece hammer to let the shooter put the hammer in half cock, and open the breech block to load. So unlike the Remington that goes to full cock, the Whitney doesn't need to lower the hammer after loading, and can't drop the hammer by accident when closing the block.
This one is in .45-70 and has an excellent bore. The .45-70 in these guns didn't get offered until around 1874, so mid production, or later. It has a carbine style ladder sight, and a sporting graduated tang sight also. One of my favorite Rolling Block rifles.

https://i.imgur.com/PVWFR8Yl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/9qrcGi8l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Y8NYIRMl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/iTXlxGjl.jpg

As for reassembly....it ended up taking me 5 or 6 tries to get it assembled, and actually functional! I thought after taking it apart reassembly would be no problem. I found it locked up each time, until I finally realized the dual springs stacked on the lower tang for the hammer and cam need to be the last thing to install. After that it was back to working great again.

[hc18flyer]

WOW! That is a beautiful rolling block! Sorry, if a drool a little! hc18flyer

[marlinman93]

WOW! That is a beautiful rolling block! Sorry, if a drool a little! hc18flyer

Thanks! I think the Whitney-Laidley is the finest Rolling Block ever built. Too bad they're so tough to find these days.

[Shawlerbrook]

Another beauty Vall.

[M-Tecs]

Thanks! I think the Whitney-Laidley is the finest Rolling Block ever built. Too bad they're so tough to find these days.

I am in need of another project........

Has everyone ever sold blueprints for these?

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?100289-Whitney-rolling-block

[marlinman93]

I am in need of another project........

Has everyone ever sold blueprints for these?

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?100289-Whitney-rolling-block

Not any "blueprints" I know of, but Frank DeHaas has a great drawing of the parts breakdown, and an image of the action with all parts in their correct orientation. Thank goodness he did, as it finally let me see the way the two stacked springs align inside the receiver.

[uscra112]

Brilliant! Thanks for sharing. That design alleviates my deep distrust of rolling blocks (and Winchesters) that leave you at full cock, just begging for an unintentional discharge. Shame there aren't more of them!

[marlinman93]

Brilliant! Thanks for sharing. That design alleviates my deep distrust of rolling blocks (and Winchesters) that leave you at full cock, just begging for an unintentional discharge. Shame there aren't more of them!

To complicate the lack of the Whitney-Laidley is the early years were mostly rimfire versions, until CF ammo became more popular. But I'm not sure they sold many pre 1874 as I rarely see the early RF chamberings.
Like so many good designs that never caught on due to cost increases, the prices really shot the Whitney-Laidley down. Manufacturers (even back then) were hesitant to make changes to improve their guns unless the changes were minor costs. Same thing happened to the Sharps rifle design when Freund Bros. tried desperately to get Sharps to incorporate their improvements into new Sharps rifles. It added costs the company wasn't willing to pay.

[uscra112]

Like the poor,, the bean counters ye shall have with you always.

Something most us aren't aware of is that the 1870s was the period of the "Long Depression" which ran from the Panic of 1873 to about 1885. Surely made mfgrs. even more reluctant to spend, (and bankers to lend), money for retooling. So it goes.

[marlinman93]

Like the poor,, the bean counters ye shall have with you always.

Something most us aren't aware of is that the 1870s was the period of the "Long Depression" which ran from the Panic of 1873 to about 1885. Surely made mfgrs. even more reluctant to spend, (and bankers to lend), money for retooling. So it goes.

I sure wasn't aware of this "long depression", but I have read of numerous gun makers going down during the late 1870's and 1880's. Most were companies that had higher priced firearms, so makes sense they failed when folks began to tighten their wallets.