Remington rolling block carbine, New York State Guard Model 1871 50/70

Recent flea market find, original 50/70 carbine used by New York State Guard

[@awesomeinforensics]

Nice find!

[@billsweeneybama2251]

I got one of them I just love it 50-70 and real good condition.

[@RockIsland1913]

Not many were ordered by the state, our cavalry was not large at the time, I believe it was under 2500 total. They were in use a long time so they can sometimes be in rough condition. To find one with a good tight lockup and a clean bore with tight crown is a plus.

[@billsweeneybama2251]

Mine is great, real clean bore and she fires beautifully, rather accurate if I might add, I reload this round so I got complete control of the load.

[@RockIsland1913]

There are some small outfits that will load it for you, but unless you love spending huge amounts of money for an hours shooting then reloading your own is a necessity. Being a straight wall BP cartridge it can even be thumb loaded by thumb pressing the bullet right down on top of a case full of BP. That is Turner Kirkland's suggestion from the Dixie Gun Works catalog, I tried it with round ball shooting my 1868 Springfield and the results were surprisingly good. I don't regularly do that of course, I do have the correct reloading dies, press, drop tube, and all that. Remington made good rifles, the Rolling block single shot rifle tends to be accurate if the bore and crown aren't buggered up. I have a very nice Argentine 1879 that did well on the range, as well as several others from Spain, and Egypt, even a small .32 boys size takedown model from 1902. Love the Rolling Blocks.

[@billsweeneybama2251]

@@RockIsland1913 Thanks, I do reload for mine and enjoy firing it as often as I am able, it fires beautifully BTW.

[@billsweeneybama2251]

@@RockIsland1913 I recently disassembled mine and cleaned it it was was as pie and now it cycles smooth as silk.

[@aceelectriccompany1181]

Very nice channel. I stumbled on it and have watched several videos. If you are interested, Midwayusa channel has a few videos on this rifle, not the carbine. One of then shows how to clean age old grime and dirt off without hurting the value.Someone asked how you knew it was militia- Larry Potterfield (midwayusa) said after loading and the trap is closed, it moves the hammer to a safe position (like in your video.)-that was specific in the guard rifles.

[@RockIsland1913]

The rifle has been well lubricated to prevent active rust, there was no active rust needing attention on it when I got it. Other than removing the normal filth I have not altered the original patina. Antique military surplus rifles are only one of the antiques I collect, been at it a long time. I know of collectors who will not even clean a piece, preserving even the original filth, I don't go that far. It gets a wipe down with an oily rag once in awhile, and is stored in a dry place. I do have other Rolling blocks, rifles, but they are Egyptian and Argentine contract rifles, not NYS guard. I am still working on that one, most people find the rifle first and then spend decades looking for a carbine, I just got lucky with this one.

[@aceelectriccompany1181]

Thanks

[@mrcrawford2011]

Beautiful carbine sir nice buy

[@paulgus73]

Nice 50-70 rimfire.

[@carlschmidt7522]

The NYS rollers used to be a dime a dozen. Times have changed. Not many know what they are any more.

[@RockIsland1913]

NYS roller rifles are expensive, carbine versions like mine are very close to unobtainium at any price as I have yet to find one offered for sale to give me an idea on their current cost. I don't much care as that will be a problem for the executor of my estate as it's never leaving me. I think it was 20,000 NYS rifles with something like 2000 as carbines all told. Could be off on that as the memory is Swiss cheese these days. I have a nice Argentine roller, and one each Egyptian and Spanish rollers. The NYS and the Argentine I would fire without hesitation as they are solid, and have nice bores. The other two I would let someone I didn't like much have a go with on the range while I stood 50 feet behind them. I just found 25 rounds of Spanish ammo for the Spanish roller. The so called " Poison bullet" rounds as our boys in the Span-Am war named them. They are way to collectable to fire even if I would dare have someone fire that rifle. I make my own 50/70, and I have all the fixins for the Argentine rounds. I am just happy that I got started collecting 40 years ago when prices were more reasonable even adjusting for inflation. If I started today I would have one or two good.....pictures of historic martial arms as I am way too tight with a buck to pay todays massively inflated prices for everything.

[@RonJohn63]

2:23 Is that pin angled upward so as to strike the primer?

[@burntham113]

How can you tell it was used by the state defence force of new york?

[@billsweeneybama2251]

The caliber and it has an extended thumb piece for ease of opening the rolling block

[@michaelkeinz8151]

What is the value of the gun?

[@RockIsland1913]

At least a grand, probably more, don't care as I am not selling it.