Barn-Find Remington

I well remember the first Remington Rolling Blocks I acquired. I had just completed two years of active duty in the army and wanted to increase my fledgling military rifle collection that was limited to a K98k, a Japanese 6.5mm carbine and a captured SKS. In the spring of 1970 at Deep River Armory, Inc. in Houston, Texas, I pulled a trio of ancient, three-band Rolling Blocks from a tall, wooden barrel. The actions were rusted shut and the wood was present but ugly. The price was $12.50 each, and I figured I could probably make one rifle from the three. With the help of a few parts from Dixie Gun Works and lots of elbow grease, all three of the .43 Spanish rifles were returned to shooting condition. It was at this point I began to understand why most Rolling Blocks, including very rough ones, are salvageable.

- Croft Barker

In the years since finding the Remingtons in the barrel, all of the Rolling Blocks I’ve owned or worked on for others have been in somewhat better condition. This is good, as fewer parts are available now and at much higher cost than they were in 1970. A couple of months ago, a true “barnfind” showed up. The seller had been cleaning up around his ranch where he found various pieces of old guns, and figured I might be interested in them. The only thing I saw that I could use was a Modelo 1879 Argentine Rolling Block that was missing several parts. The forearm, buttstock, rear sight, hammer spring, hammer spring screw, button, button screw, recoil stud and recoil stud screw were all no-shows. While the Argentine military marks had been milled off, I recognized this relic by the short octagonal barrel section in front of the receiver.

The bore was dirty but in pretty good condition, and the price was reasonable. Even though I wasn’t looking for another project, I bought it anyway, as the action alone is easy to sell, or I could use it as component for making up a new toy. As with any old gun, complete disassembly, cleaning and inspection is required before deciding to rebuild or consign it to the parts bin. In regards to stripping the action, Remington Rolling Blocks – unlike First Model Whitney Rolling Blocks – are simple with no dark corners. Though cruddy, all parts were salvageable and immediately submerged in automatic transmission fluid for two months while I worked on other things. After soaking, the parts were cleaned on a wire wheel and then I began working on the bore.