43 Spanish!Īccording to Schuyler Hartley and Graham records it appears the first known shipment of a modification of the. With such a hot demand beginning in late 1869, the Remington company and their agents were forced to apply a shrewd marketing technique convert existing stocks of new, unsold. 43 Spanish caliber rolling block rifle was still one of Remington’s most marketable products. 43 Spanish chambered Remington rolling block rifles and carbines were soon in great demand since there was a clamoring market in Latin America for both gun and cartridge. There were none to come soon for a time that is, but with Spain’s adoption of the Remington, it became obvious the. (Gun and photograph courtesy of Mike Carrick)
The locally applied serial number on the right side of the frame tells us this rifle was sold to either Costa Rica or Colombia as both countries stamped their serial numbers in this location.
Again, it is evident that Remington overproduced the Egyptian Model before and perhaps during the Franco-Prussian War in anticipation of soon to come contracts with Egypt.įigure 2: Right side of the Remington Egyptian/Spanish Transformed Rolling Block Rifle. This put Remington in several momentary fixes at different periods throughout the 1870s, as they were suddenly competing with the French in sales of this particular model. After the conflict, large numbers of Egyptian Remington rifle surplus were eventually sold off by France, primarily to Middle Eastern nations.
From July 1870 to May 1871, some 149,000 plus Remington Egyptian Model rolling block rifles were sold to France for use against their equally well armed German adversaries in the short war which ironically was lost by the French. However, a wild card was soon to enter the scene the Franco-Prussian War. As happened more than once, it is apparent that Remington had again guesstimated that subsequent contracts would be forthcoming in short order. It would be the first of an estimated three different contracts promulgated over a seven year period. When the first Egyptian contract was signed in London on June30th,1869, 60,000 rifles were ordered by the Egyptian government from E. There was however an underlying reason for the very purpose of having to modify several thousand Remington. In fact most of them were mixed in with the generic rolling block surplus of the 1950s and 60s and for decades have gone un-noticed. 43 Spanish caliber is a military rolling block which has characteristics unlike the standard Remington Spanish Model. Something I neglected to cover in the present edition of my most recent book, The All New Collectors Guide of Remington Military Rolling Block Rifles of the World is a variant that few collectors have been aware of. Why? Because there large numbers and variation seem endless.
(Gun and photograph courtesy of Mike Carrick)Īll of this notwithstanding, they have become one of the most booming areas of collecting. This represents “Hartley” and indicates these guns were converted and sold through Schuyler, Hartley and Graham of New York City. Notice the H stamped in the center of the receiver about half inch back from the forend wood.
Note the short distance from the rear of the sight to the front of the receiver as compared to the standard position in the photograph of the full length rifle and Costa Rica action shown below. There are always a features such as barrel lengths, sights, hammer and breech block styles that differ from one to another.įigure 1: left side of Remington Egyptian/Spanish Transformed Rolling Block Rifle. As most Remington and antique arms collectors are well aware of, all military rolling block rifles and carbines were never created equal.