Remington Rolling Block Questions

[Big Dog]

Am trying to do more research on the subject. The tang indicates" Union Metallic CTG. Co." along with standard Remington Arms info - is this the company that manufctured the gun and for who? On the barrel in front of the top forearm wood indicates 7 mm stamped on the barrel - assume this is a 7 mm mauser? Under the top forearm is a # V 274 - is this a S/N and can it be related to date of manufacture? The gun has been referred to a model 1897 - correct? Another reference indicated a number "5" - is this a update design reference? What years? What was the design change? History of changes?
Thanks in advance for you kind attention and support.
Capt. Jim

[tjack]

The history is too involved to go into here. Check out Roy Marcot's books or Geo. Layman's. Basically, Schuyler, Hartley and Graham (SH&G), along with Winchester took over Remington in the 1880's. SH&G also owned Union Metallic Cartridge Co. The two, Remington and UMC, were joined in 1910/1911 to form Remington-UMC. Your rifle, if it has not been altered, is chambered for the 7mm Mauser cartridge. Your rifle is what is referred to as a Model 1902. Military Rolling Blocks, except for the Mexican contract, were not serial numbered. The Mex. serial # was on the bottom of the lower tang. There are #'s on the left sides of the top and bottom tangs but these are assembly #'s. You have to take off the butt stock to see them. The reference to the "Model 5" generally refers to the sporting versions of the military smokeless powder Rolling Block rifles. A lot of the terms we use today were not used by Remington but for ID convenience for collectors. If you are interested in the history in detail, you can not go wrong in getting Roy's books (he has a few that deal with Remingtons in general) or George's new book on the Military Rolling Blocks.

[Big Dog]

Thanks for the information - my plan is to run a cast to make sure the chamber has not been altered. Thanks again for you input. Capt. Jim

[roundtop]

Most of these militarys seem to have long chambers. If you are going to shoot it you will have to back the sizing die out. What I do is pad a pair of pliers and squeeze the case out of round. This will make the head stay at the breech block and blow the shoulder forwards. I mark my box for this rifle as they will not now chamber in a regular 7mm. If you size it back to standard each time, it will eventually have a head separation. I only neck size mine. Ed

[rustyrelx]

There is a specific reason that there are "longer" chambers. Some of these are chambered for the Spanish version and some are chambered for the German/American version. If there is an "s" behind the 7mm mark then its the Spanish version, no mark signifies the German/American version.
Don