historical records

[KL Foster]

Can anyone tell me if there are existing records for special order rolling block rifles built in the late 1870's?

[JV Puleo]

If that is something you are interested in you should certainly get Roy Marcot's new book on the commercial and sporting RBs.

[roundtop]

From what little information is available, it appears that Remington Arms may have tossed out the E Remington records a few years after taking over in 1888.

[Yellowhouse]

So the dark back room doesn't exist?

[JV Puleo]

It does... but very little in it pertains to guns made before the 1888 bankruptcy. There are important things like the inventory of the company collection and a small amount of general information relating to the quantities military rifles shipped but nothing like what you seem to be looking for. This has always been the case, and it is probably one reason why superb Remingtons seem to lag behind Colts and Winchesters in price... they are simply harder, if not impossible to research - this is if paying for a company letter is research.

The plus side is that they've received far less attention from fakers...

[Yellowhouse]

It does... but very little in it pertains to guns made before the 1888 bankruptcy. There are important things like the inventory of the company collection and a small amount of general information relating to the quantities military rifles shipped but nothing like what you seem to be looking for. This has always been the case, and it is probably one reason why superb Remingtons seem to lag behind Colts and Winchesters in price... they are simply harder, if not impossible to research - this is if paying for a company letter is research.

The plus side is that they've received far less attention from fakers...

From some of the stuff I've seen on auctions, the fakers are making headway fast.

[roundtop]

Yes the fakers are working on the rolling block sporters. There are at least 3 doing it regularly and 2 doing it occasionally. One of them is trying to sell a fake Adirondack. He took a 46 rim fire which are marked 44, chambered it to 45 sporting, welded up one of the 4's and stamped a 5 on it. Usually they just rechamber them to 44-77 and sell them. These guys buy rim fires. They sell 50-70"s. Be very cautious buying roundtop sporters. Only a very few original center fires are known under ser. no 1000.

[Dick Hosmer]

One way to stop, or at least impede, the fakers is to name them publicly. Remember that the truth is a nearly ironclad defense against libel and slander.

In the Springfield world, we have a company in Nevada, "Trapdoors Galore", who has a long history of assembling guns from disassociated parts, and then offering them as original. A case will shortly go to small claims court (unless TG settles) wherein I have provided "expert witness" testimony. The specimen (a "Custer period" carbine with an 1881/82 receiver) at issue was "in-your-face" fraudulent.

No good purpose is served by allowing these guys to remain hidden under their rocks.