US M1870 Remington Rolling Block Pistol-A Collectors Journey

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While the American Civil War was raging, the U.S. Navy was already casting about for a metallic cartridge replacement for their cap-and-ball revolvers. When they functioned, they functioned well, but cap-and-ball handguns, exposed to a saltwater environment, had their drawbacks. Charges got damp and wouldn’t fire. Reloading was slow. Percussion caps were hard to handle in the cold and susceptible to corrosion; the nipple channels themselves could corrode and become clogged if not kept scrupulously clean.
Remington was in the process of refining what would be their most successful design: the rolling-block, breech-loading action, patented by Lenard Geiger in 1863 and refined by Joseph Rider, a mechanic at Remington.
The rolling-block action, consisting primarily of two parts, was simple: a rotating breechblock and a hammer locking the breechblock in place at the moment of firing. It was fast to operate (it was said a competent rifleman could get off 17 aimed shots a minute; a pistol just over 2 seconds). It was strong and readily made the transition from black powder to modern smokeless cartridges. And it was safe: as long as the block was open the trigger was blocked and could not be pulled.
The first handgun to use the rolling-block breech-loading mechanism was the Navy pistol of 1865. It was chambered for a .50-caliber rim-fire cartridge carrying a 300-gr. bullet powered by 30 grains of black powder. It featured an 8.5″ barrel, sheathed spur trigger and walnut grips; while the receiver, breechblock, hammer, trigger and sheath were color case hardened. After fully cocking the hammer, a tab alongside is pulled back, rolling the breechblock open and extracting the spent cartridge. A fresh cartridge is inserted and the breechblock closed, allowing the gun to be fired.
The Navy purchased 6,500 in 1865/6. Then in 1870, about 6350 of these initial production models were converted by Remington to .50 center-fire, refitted with traditional trigger guards and the barrel shortened to 7″.
5,000 Army models were subsequently produced with the grip frame redesigned, the trigger and guard moved forward, a distinctive bump offered better control (see photo). The front sight was changed to a long blade and mainspring power was transmitted to the hammer via a stirrup. It was still chambered for the .50 center-fire pistol cartridge. Definitely an improvement – apart from the reduction in barrel length.