Rolling Block Shotgun

[ruzickaa]

Folks, I was given this shotgun and I want to learn more about it so I can maybe make some cartridges and shoot it.

Looks to be a number 5 with a Firing Pin Retractor,

Firing pin is quite short and doesn't look like the hammer would touch it.

Research shows that it is a 16 ga paper cartridge of 20 ga brass.

Upper and lower tang reads 1214.

Some questions:

Best reference to operate a rolling block shotgun?

Date of manufacture?

Do I have the correct firing pin?

Is my assumption of a model 5 correct?

Any and all operations guidance would be appreciated.

[dieNusse1]

I'm not sure what you mean by "16 ga paper cartridge of 20 ga brass". Any 16 ga case should work whether paper or plastic. 100% brass cases are also available. I use brass cases with my 12 ga SxS guns when loading black powder.

I don't know if the gun is suitable for smokeless powder. If not, BP can be loaded. The rule of thumb for loading BP is EQUAL VOLUMS of shot and powder

[Researcher]

Research shows that it is a 16 ga paper cartridge of 20 ga brass.

Backwards. The earliest guns were chambered for a 16B brass shell with Draper primer and came with one. Later they were chambered for the 16B brass shell and would also take a 20-gauge paper shell. By the 1880s they were just listed as being 20-gauge.

See Mike Alsop's article on the rolling-block shotguns in the 4th Quarter 2020 The Remington Collector's Journal and his follow-up article in the 4th Quarter 2021 The Remington Collector's Journal