Value of Remington Rolling Block

[redneck2]

Local dealer has an original .50-70 Rolling Block. It is in exceptionally nice condition. Bore is a little dirty but no pits. Wood is very nice. Looks all original. Round barrel. Flip up military type ladder rear sight.

I can get it for $550...seems cheap for a 150 year old rifle in excellent condition. Thoughts?

 

[Father Knows Best]

I'm no expert on these, but old rolling blocks are by far the most common of the 19th century cartridge guns. Remington made millions of them for militaries around the world, and they were quite popular in the civilian market, also. Excellent condition rifles in foreign military chamberings like .43 Spanish are quite cheap. I don't see many .50-90 examples, though, so I can't really comment on that particular chambering.

I wouldn't think it has a market value much above $550, though. The .50-90 is a neat old black powder era cartridge, but it isn't a favorite even among the BPCR, cowboy and silhouette crowds.

It's still probably a fair price, and maybe even a good one, for a neat old rifle that would be a lot of fun to shoot.

Btw, I have both a .43 Spanish Argentine original in excellent condition, and a .45-70 modern repro from Pedersoli.

 

[buttrap]

First thing you need to do is figure out what model and such it is. Civie sporter,military rifle,mil carbine? I payed 500 bucks for one of the NY State issue horse carbines around 20 years ago. It was in pretty good shape(still had some heat colors on the frame and a mint bore), Traded that one for a nice Winchester M1 rifle later.Now I hate to think what it would cost for the same gun.

 

[redneck2]

Can't find anything in the Blue Book that exactly matches up. I'd guess the #3 Sporting & Target. Didn't measure the barrel, but it's probably in the 28"-30" range. It has the full stock to the end of the barrel, original steel ramrod.

I thought it'd probably be a military version, but most any military gun would show more wear.

 

[Jim Watson]

I'd guess the #3

Wrong guess. Remington No 3 is a Hepburn, not a Rolling Block. Full stock and ramrod is not a sporting rifle. Blue Book is not an antique gun source, they do not go all the way back. You need a Flayderman book or a real expert. A real deal original unBubbaed .50-70 Rolling Block in "excellent" conditon is a find of considerable interest and value.

Get the actual measured barrel length and all markings, on both metal and wood, number of rifling grooves, rear sight placement (The Navy rejected 10,000 rifles because the rear sight was too close to the action.) sling swivels or not (cadet rifles don't take a sling), pictures if possible; maybe MAYBE we can figure out what it really is. Might be a NY National Guard, might be a Springfield. Remington made over a million Rolling Blocks but most of them were in funny furrin calibers. Apropo which, there is a Danish Rolling Block with a round that is hard to tell from a .50-70 (one a lot like .45-70, too.) They are good sound guns but not worth as much as an American Rolling Block in an American caliber. I am not up to date on prices but would think $550 was plenty for a Dane, cheap for a Remington or Springfield actually in .50-70.


Want to shoot it?
Buffalo Arms has everything you need except the powder. Of which, black is best; .50-70 is not the best for smokeless loading although if you just must, Accurate Arms has pressure tested data.
www.buffaloarms.com

Rolling Block is a simple sturdy action without a lot of things to look for on a safety inspection, but the big one is to be SURE the firing pin moves freely. If it got stuck or rusted with the tip protruding from the block, it would fire when the action was closed... UNLOCKED.

 

[redneck2]

Jim W...

pp 1020 of my 21st Blue Book shows the #3 Hepburn and also a #3 Sporting & Target, so that's what I was going by.

While the Blue Book seems pretty good on more modern stuff, they're a little lacking on the collectables. Then again, I guess there were a lot of variations available. Don't know how you'd estimate the price of each one unless you're hard-core into it. That's why I'm asking here.

At one time I had a 98% Spanish in .43. Bought it for something like $35 dollars (this was early 80's). I thought it was pretty cheap for a rolling block, then somebody told me how many were availiable. Ended up selling it for WAY more than I paid. I don't want to be the guy that pays too much if it's not rare.

I'll use your suggested guideline and see what I come up with. Thanks for the reply.