The Remington Rolling Block is one of the earliest firearms designed for metallic cartridges,
let me show you how this gun works from the inside out. The earliest Rolling Block type guns were
designed by Joseph Ryder during the American Civil War and use the split breech where the
hammer goes through the breech block to fire the cartridge. Development continued and the basic
rolling block design was in place by the late 1860s. Remington referred to the early design
as the Remington System and produced hundreds of thousands of military rifles for several
countries. These rifles are generally referred to as #1 Rolling Blocks. Some of the most frequently
encountered of these were originally exported to Egypt and Spain. Remington used the basic rolling
block design on a variety of models. They had an early contract for US Navy pistols and the
Army placed an order for pistols in the early 1870s. Remington also developed a sporting rifle
based on the military rolling block. The rolling block action was produced in four different sizes.
The number one and a half action is a slightly thinner version of the number one and was used
only for sporting rifles. The number two action is smaller and lighter yet, used originally for
the army pistol and then for sporting rifles, notice how the back of the receiver is angled.
The Model #7 rifle was developed from surplus 1871 Army pistol actions and is a true target rifle.
The #4 Rolling Block was offered as a boys rifle and was available in 22, 25, and 32 rimfire and
utilized a slightly different internal mechanism. When smokeless powder came around at the end of
the 19th Century, Remington developed the #5 rifle around the new higher pressure cartridges,
such as 30-30 Winchester, 7mm Mauser, and the 30-40 Krag. The basic rolling block design was
popular in large part because it was so simple and durable and was available from 22 rimfire to 50-70
centerfire. Let's take a look at how rolling block action works. A cutaway will let us see inside the
gun as it operates. I start with the #1 military rifle, originally exported to Egypt about 1870.
These are pretty common and almost all of them, including this one,
have seen better days. The first step is to remove the buttstock and forend, then the pin retainer,
which allows the breech block pin and breech block and hammer pin and hammer to be removed. Next,
I remove the trigger guard, disassemble it, and finally remove the extractor. To clean
off a hundred and forty years of crud I bead blast all of the parts. I want to cut away
enough of the receiver to show how the inside works but not so much that it won't function.
The receiver is coated with dykom and I scribe the areas to be cut. Then I bolt the barreled
receiver to a shop made fixture using these spacers to prevent crushing the fixture holds
the receiver securely while it's in the mill vise. It takes several passes with a 3/8 inch
carbide end mill to cut away the excess material. I'm also making a cut to show
a dummy cartridge in place. Once the receiver is complete I use the same process for the trigger
guard. With the gun back together it's easy to demonstrate just how simple the rolling block
design is. To load the rifle I pull the hammer to full-cock, notice how the sear engages the hammer.
With the hammer cocked the design of the hammer allows the breech block to rotate back. As the
block is rolled back, the safety lever is engaged and prevents the trigger from being pulled. The
safety lever is held tied against the breech block by this spring. The chamber is now open
and I can insert a dummy round. I roll the breech block forward the rifle is now loaded and cocked
and can be fired by simply pulling the trigger. If I don't wish to fire the gun I can hold a
hammer while pulling the trigger, then lower the hammer to half-cock which is the safety notch.
Notice how the hammer in this position prevents the breech block from being operated. Cocking the
hammer, it's clear to see how the sear is pushed up into the full-cock notch. When the trigger
is pulled it releases the sear from the hammer notch letting the hammer fall forward blocking
the breech lock closed. The hammer nose hits the firing pin and pushes it against the primer,
firing the round in the chamber. After firing the hammer is cocked and the breech opened.
As the breech block rotates to the rear, a cutout in the side of the block engages
the sliding extractor pulling it rearward along with the round in the chamber. Well,
it's pretty easy to see just how simple the rolling block design is.