Working the Remington Rolling Block Rifle

Considered beautiful for its shear simplicity, the Remington Rolling Block rifle was produced in many forms from 1864 up to as late as around 1934. The highly successful design was probably best known for its minimal number of parts and its resultant reliability. The rolling-block action was manufactured as a rifle, carbine, shotgun, and even a single-shot pistol, in military as well as sporting configurations.

Accurate production records no longer exist, and the exact quantities of Rolling Block rifles Remington manufactured are not known. It’s safe to say, however, that the numbers are substantial. My sources tell me, in military rifles and carbines alone, more than a million were manufactured between 1867 and 1902. Also impressive is the list of countries that bought the rifle.

Remington literally covered the globe with Rolling Block rifles, shipping the Rolling Block to a list that includes Argentina, Chile, China, Columbia, Cuba, Denmark, Egypt, France, Honduras, Mexico, Norway, Spain, Sweden, as well as the United States, of course. Throughout its long life, Remington’s ever-faithful Rolling Block has been chambered for virtually every known blackpowder cartridge.

In its latter days, the action was even offered for the Spanish Army chambered in an early version of the smokeless 7x57mm Mauser cartridge (called the No. 5 Action) and for the French in 8mm Lebel. In the rolling-block action, a massive hammer rolls down in front of the breechblock, serving to effectively lock the breechblock closed. The design was originally patented by Leonard Geiger in 1863.

Later, Joseph Rider, well known as the genius of Remington’s Ilion, New York, factory, took Geiger’s action and improved it, developing the split-breech carbine. Geiger and Rider then worked together to perfect the design into the Remington Rolling Block in 1866. Additional improvements were incorporated in August 1867 and in November 1871. To help with identification, there are seven basic rolling-block frame sizes, numbered 1 through 7.

Key features include: Top of page: Remington’s famous Rolling Block was most plentiful in its military form, with likely more than 1,000,000 manufactured by Remington alone. The rifle shown here, an 1871 U. S. Army model in 50-70 caliber, was built by Springfield Armory. Author photos. No. 1 Action. This is the largest rolling block action, measuring 1-1/4 inches wide. It was intended for military use and for the largest, most powerful cartridges.

This action was also used on what was known as the Model No. 1 (a rifle chambered for pistol-size cartridges). No. 2 Action. This 1-1/8-inch-wide action was used for smaller, less powerful and pistol-size cartridges. It can be identified by the curved contour at the rear, where the action joins to the stock. No. 3 Action. This is not actually a rolling block, but is rather a "falling block," known as the Remington-Hepburn action. No. 4 Action. This short, lightweight action was used for rimfire cartridges.

The forward end is much narrower than the larger actions. No. 5 Action. The No. 5 action is the same size as the No. 1 action. It was the last of the large military rollingblock actions made starting in 1898

S. Army 50 caliber has a decocker to move the hammer into a "safe" position when the breechblock is closed. Notice that the firing pin in this model (U. S. Army M1871) is held in place by a screw. for use with smokeless-powder cartridges. It was equipped with a rimless cartridge-case extractor. No. 6 Action. This action was used for a boy’s takedown rifle of small dimensions in rimfire calibers. No. 7 Action. Made on the Model 1871 SS pistol-action frame, the No. 7 has a distinctive long-tang pistol-grip stock.

For further background information on the Rolling Block rifles, I suggest reading Remington Firearms: The Golden Age of Collecting, by Robert Ball (Krause Publications, 1995). Also of interest are Remington, America’s Oldest Gunmaker by Roy Marcot (Primedia, 1998) and Remington Arms & History by Bill West (Stockton Trade Press, 1970).

Takedown Instructions The exploded diagram on page 21, which I have renumbered and retouched, was originally printed in The Gun Digest Book of Exploded This leaves the action stripped. The one remaining pin in the action shown here is a limiting pin for the mainspring, a feature unique to the U. S. Army Model 1871. Firearms Drawings, 2nd edition, edited by Harold A. Murtz (DBI Books Inc., 1977).

It is used here with permission o rause Publication Iola, WI 54990; The pply to most large-frame Remington Rolling Block rifles and copies thereof, except for the Model 1869 U. S. Navy rifle. I should point out here that the accompanying photos show the U. S. Army Model 1871 Rolling Block rifle made by Springfield Armory. It has several parts that are not found on most of the conventional Remington-made Rolling Block actions. ¨

Remington Rolling Block Single-Shot Rifle 1 Receiver 2 Barrel 3 Rear Sight 4 Recoil Stud 5 Recoil Stud Screw 6 Ramrod Stop 7 Tang Screw 8 Front Guard Plate Screw 9 Rear Guard Plate Screw 10 Hammer 1. Let’s start by making sure the rifle is unloaded. Keeping your fingers away from the trigger and holding the rifle around the barrel and forearm with one hand, point the muzzle in a safe direction.

Open the action by pulling the hammer all the way to the rear, and then pulling back on the breechblock lever in order to roll the breech until it is open. Look down into the barrel and check to be certain there’s no cartridge in the barrel chamber. If there is a cartridge in the chamber, reach in and remove it by pulling the cartridge straight out of the rear of the barrel.

I make a habit of moving any 11 Breechblock 12 Firing Pin Retractor 13 Retractor Pin 14 Extractor 15 Extractor Screw 16 Firing Pin 17 Firing Pin Limit Pin 18 Breech Block Pin 19 Hammer Pin 20 Button live ammunition to a separate location before starting any work. 2. Disassembling the Rolling Block action begins with unscrewing and removing the button screw (#21) and lifting the button (#20) off the left side of the receiver.

Make sure the hammer (#10) is cocked (pulled all the way back), then push the breech-block pin (#18) out of the receiver (#1) from right to left. The breechblock (#11) and the extractor (#14) can be lifted straight up and out the top of the receiver.

Hold back the hammer with your thumb and pull the trigger (#31), 21 Button Screw 22 Guard Plate 23 Mainspring 24 Mainspring Screw 25 Lever Spring 26 Lever Spring Screw 27 Trigger Spring 28 Trigger Spring Screw 29 Locking Lever 30 Locking Lever Screw 31 Trigger 32 Trigger Pin 33 Stock Tip 34 Stock Tip Screw 35 Rear Band 36 Rear Band Screw 37 Middle Band & Screw 38 Front Band 39 Front Band Screw 40 Ramrod thus allowing the hammer to ease forward all the way.

Again moving from right to left, push out and remove the hammer pin (#19). The hammer can now be lifted up and out of the receiver. To disassemble the breechblock, drift the firing-pin retaining pin (#17) out of the breechblock using a suitable pin punch and hammer. The firing pin (#16) is now free and can be pulled out the rear of the breechblock. 3. Next, unscrew and remove the tang screw (#7). The buttstock can be pulled straight off the rear of the rifle. Using

an angle-head screwdriver, loosen the mainspring screw (#24) by several turns, then unscrew and remove the front and the rear guard-plate screws (#8 and 9). Now the guard plate (#22) can be pulled down to the rear and taken out of the receiver. The mainspring (#23) can now be removed after removing its screw (#24). Unscrew and remove the triggerspring screw (#28) and the trigger spring (#27) can be lifted out.

After unscrewing and removing the leverspring screw (#26), the lever spring (#25) can be lifted out the front of the guard plate. Use a suitable pin punch and hammer to drive out the Remington’s trigger pin (#32). The trigger (#31) itself can now be removed. The locking lever (#29) can be withdrawn from the left side of the guard plate after unscrewing and removing the locking-lever screw (#30). Note that, in some cases, the locking lever is secured with a pin instead of a screw. 4.

Finally, remove the forearm wood. On military models, the forearm is removed by first unscrewing and removing the ramrod and then removing the barrel bands. The forearm wood will then drop off the bottom of the barrel. On most sporting carbines and The guard on this Springfield Armory model is somewhat more complex than those produced by Remington. rifles, the forearm is retained by one or more machine screws. These are accessible from the underside of the forearm wood and are threaded into barrel tenons.

Reassembly of the Rolling Block rifle is quite straightforward; simply reverse the order of the above. I