Original Remington rifle?? Restoration

[Dave B]

I picked up a basket case heavy barreled rifle many yrs ago.it was broken  above the missing lock to the long tang. The lock having been lost only a couple years ago i found a nice lock to restore it to functioal status. This is the one missing the front blade. The thing that interests me is the rifle matches the photo of an original Remington rifle.The barrel is stamped with their name but it could be made by any one from that neck of the woods. .36 cal.? Havnt measured it.







What do you think?

[Hawg]

Remington made barrels for the gunsmith trade. They did not make complete rifles except under military contract..

[Daryl]

That was my understanding as well, concerning Remington.

[T*O*F]

Remington made barrels for the gunsmith trade. They did not make complete rifles except under military contract..

Actually, they did.  After the Civil War, they made fowlers  using a center hung, box lock action to use up all the surplus military barrels they had left over.  They were 20 and 16 gauge.  Whitney did likewise.  I have several examples of both.

[Hawg]

Shotguns yes but not rifles.

[Hungry Horse]

 I’ve got a gun with many similar features. It has a long .36 caliber long, heavy, barrel, no under rib, no cheek rest, and a walnut stock. The barrel on mine is signed by J. Rogers Elkhart Indiana. But the Elkhart Indiana has been over stamped with the signature stamp. Another oddity is the single barrel key secures the barrel to the stock by passing through a slot in the barrel. My gun is iron mounted, and the iron cap box is inletted in backwards.

Hungry Horse

[Hungry Horse]

 Hey, I just noticed that your gun looks like its been drilled and taped for a sight tube, or and early scope. That pretty common on late muzzleloading target rifle from the West coast. By the way John Rogers became the resident gunsmith for the Mormon colony at San Louis Obispo California.

Hungry Horse

[Dave B]

Hungry Horse, I wondered about the holes having seen some long tanged dioptors coming off the back part of the barrel and having an adj screw in the tang to raise and lower the diaoptor. I have in my book collection a smalish book that is about Remington and it shows a " Remington rifle". I have seen in a google search two rifles that have Remington marked locks and barrels stamped Remington but neither of them look like the one in my book. I have had others just as you have said they never made them but one must be cautious a bout saying Never. My uncle had for a while a gunsmithing business and in the collection of his stuff is a Remington plackard that has  the profile of my rifle on it so....... where there is smoke there is a bueautiful sunset. I think I will be in the what if camp for at least a little longer.

[Bob Roller]

I knew William B Edwards who started Guns Magazine who owned a nice Eastern style caplock rifle that he said was a Remington factory sporting rifle and only the Remington,Ilion New York was on the barrel.I met him at an OGCA meeting in Columbus,Ohio and when I told him I was from Huntington WVa he said he had to go thru Huntington to get to his inlaws home in Wayne County.I told him I had come to the show with friends and he invited me to ride with him so we could talk about Eastern muzzle loaders.Two hours later we left the building and he asked me if I had any problem with riding in old cars and I said "No problem at all"He was driving a 1933 Cadillac V12 Imperial Sedan and he asked me if I had ever driven a car like that,My answer was I had recently sold a 1937 Cadillac series 85 V12 and had made road trips in it and 6 different Duesenbergs.He asked me if I knew how to get out of Columbus and I said yes and he gave me the key and on the 140 mile drive we discussed fine guns,classic cars and vintage air craft.A few days later I shot my Whitworth against a new M14 at 100 yards and got a higher score than he did.I saw his Remington marked muzzle loader but we had no round balls or bullets we didn't shoot it.He also told me he and his wife were enroute to California and her parents were in WVa and she did NOT like that old Cadillac because of no air conditioning.I made him aware of my lock making activities and Bill Large's shop.Like me,he didn't like all the 3rd Reich items at a so called gun show.I think this was in 1963.One more thing,Mr.Edwards asked me if I was familiar with the Whitmore target rifle given to General Grant after the Civil War and I told him I had seen it in 1957 during a visit to the Smithsonian Institute and I then owned a 40 caliber Whitmore rifle with a full length scope sight and false muzzle.I bought it for $100 from a local long rifle maker Glen Napier in Kenova WVa.
Whitmore rifles according to Ned Roberts outshot all competition and were considered as unfair in match shooting.Walter Cline who was one of the founders of the NMLRA had a cased Whitmore very similar to the Grant Rifle and it was stolen bit I don't know if it was ever recovered.
Bob Roller