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Northern Plains Remington No. 1 .50-70 Rifle

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:250.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 2,000.00 USD
Northern Plains Remington No. 1 .50-70 Rifle
This is an original Remington No. 1 Rolling Block chambered in .50-70 caliber sporting rifle carbine dating to circa 1870’s. This is an early example with no serial number found on the receiver. The rifle has beautiful brass square shank trade tacking and carving attributed to the Northern Plains of the third-to-fourth-quarter of the 19th Century. The No. 1 heavy single shot Rolling Block sporting rifle was made in a variety of calibers with the largest being used by buffalo hunters and frontiersmen in the West as well as Native American Warrior’s. The .50-70 caliber was the standard U.S. Military cartridge introduced in 1873 and was very popular in the big Remington Rolling Block and Sharps rifles of that time period. It was especially popular because ammunition could always be procured from frontier military forts and outposts. The Rolling Block was produced by Remington from 1866 – 1888. It was made in quantities to fill foreign and domestic military contracts but made in fairly limited numbers as sporting rifles for frontiersmen, professional hunters and sportsmen. The large caliber examples, being extremely scarce and desirable, command the most interest and highest values on the collector market today with the popular .50-70 being the most in demand. This example was made soon after the introduction of the famed .50-70 and .45-70 cartridge in the early 1870s. Almost all of these heavy sporting rifles in large and powerful cartridges found their way West. The rifle shows original square shank solid brass trade tacks showing Indian patterning having a nice mellow deep patina. Along with the tacking is carving, presumably by the Northern Plains tribe. The 18.5” round barrel is marked with a “B” and “P” inspection mark and shows a “B” marked ladder rifle sight with “1 / 2 / 3 / 4” markings. The fore stock has the barrel band also marked “B” as well as the wood being stamped with the “B” inspection mark. The receiver has the “B” mark on the left side and on the back strap is marked “Remingtons' Ilion, N.Y. U.S.A. PAT. May 30 Nov 15th 1864 April 17th 1866 Aug 27th 1867 Nov 7th 1872”. The rifle sling attached to the trigger guard is stamped “PATD FEB 11TH 1866”. The butt stock is marked on the top “8 C 4” and the wood stock shows the inspection rectangular with script armory or inspection mark on either side of the flat near the receiver and underneath marked “B”, and the oblong rectangular and script armory / inspection mark at the middle of the left side of the stock. The breach rolling block shows the “B” mark. The stock shows various carved slash marks, sometimes referred to as kill marks as well as well as stamped linear pattern. The bore looks bright with the rifling cuts still pronounced and clean, some slight spotting or pitting near the end. The original hammer clicks back twice holding in place allowing the breach loading rolling block to open, click back and rolling the shell ejector back which functions. The rolling block click closes and the hammer releases the hammer allowing the firearm to function properly with the action and springs appear to be strong and tight. An iconic rifle of the buffalo hunters and of the Old West in general, this was the same style rifle George Armstrong Custer carried to his death at the Little Bighorn battle in 1876. Actually, more rare than the Sharps sporting rifle, the Remington Rolling Block large caliber sporting rifle is an elusive rifle for the collector to obtain. The wood shows very good fitmet and nice crips inspection marks as well as the metal marks being nice and crisp. The receiver shows remnants of the original finish and some pitting on the rolling block. The barrel shows spots of finish with the top and end of the barrel being bright metal with no finish. Likely started its life as a sporting rifle and was cut down and altered over time. The rifle qualifies as an Antique Long Gun, and does NOT require FFL Transfer or NICS Background Check. Serial Number: NTN.