Since we seem to talk about original black powder cartridge guns in this forum, I thought I would bring this here.

I bought a cheap Egyptian Remington Rolling Block rifle this weekend.  Priced at $275 and negotiated down to $220, so I couldn't pass it up.  It is rougher than the one I already have, but the good news is that the buttstock is sound, the action appears to be very solid and the bore looks great!  An original round I have of .43 Egyptian chambers nicely.

The bad is the exterior wear.  All corners of the metal are seriously rounded off.  The original Remington info on the top tang is about 96% gone (you can JUST tell that something was once stamped there).  All of the Arabic writing is shallow to the point of looking melted, as is the front sight--just a rounded lump with no blade.  The rear sight looks like it was reattached with a great deal of messy solder at some point and the elevation slide is missing.  The foreend wood has been "sanded" down to near a sliver (exaggerating a little).  The steel butt plate is missing, along with the rear sling swivel (the base is present).

Doesn't look too bad from 50,000 feet

Deep scratches, not cracks


If you didn't KNOW this was supposed to be the Remington factory and patent information, you wouldn't know.

Did it MELT in the Egyptian sun?

(sorry, the next one is really blurry)  Here you can kind of see the messy sight solder and how "slim" the foreend has become with the excessive cleaning and care it has received.


I bought it really as a donor for the Egyptian RB I already have that is in better condition.    The problem with mine is that the butt already had some repair work done "in antiquity" around the tang.  More than 15 years ago I had it off to glue some additional cracks and while it was off the rifle, my Golden (name of Teddy) decided it would be fun to chew on.  Grrrrr.  So I am hoping this RB can be a butt donor and I can get the original rifle back to solid ground without having to resort to the new-made butt I have purchased.

This is my old RB:



So anyway...after a butt transplant, I'm not sure what to do with the new rifle.  MAYBE re-stock it and make a second shooter out of it.

Rob

I like it as is.