Could this be Col. Bodine's Remington Creedmoor rifle ?

[JoJoDo]

A few years ago I bought a rifle from a friend and collector. This Remington Rolling Block is not like any others I have seen. My friend owned it for 15 years until he made a comment that led to a deal. I bought the rifle for the rifle and not the story, but there are quite a few things that lead me to believe that this "could be" Col John Bodine's rifle used at the 1875 match at Dollymount, Ireland.

A few standard details. This rifle is not serial numbered. The barrel is 34" long with an excellent bore and is .44 caliber. The rifle has a long range tang sight. The rifle originally had a bead front sight but the previous owner replaced it with a windgauge front sight. It has a checkered horn shotgun-style buttplate, horn forend tip and a block of horn inlet into the top of the comb for a rear sight base. The barrel is browned, not blued. The top of the receiver has a raised oval with several patent dates. "L.L. Hepburn" is stamped several times under the forearm.

My friend made a loose connection when looking in Harper's Weekly covering the Creedmoor Match of 1874 when the U.S. team, including Hepburn and Bodine, won against the Irish. The woodcut illustrations taken from photographs showed the team and its rifles. Bodine held a standard Remington Creedmoor. In the next year, the Irish invited the Americans to a rematch in Ireland. Bodine was on the team again, but Hepburn was not. The pictures following the match were in Harper's Weekly (July 10,1875) of the American Team after having won against the Irish. The woodcut drawing shows Bodine using a rolling block rifle with a carved stock (pistol grip area) and black tipped forearm. The rifle in the drawing does not have a windgauge sight either.

- Bodine's Remington rifle show in Harper's woodcut matches this rifle in the details of the barrel, stock carving and black forend tip. the other Remington shooters on the team are clearly shown with standard Remington Creedmoor rifles.
- We know that Hepburn supervised the making of the Remington rifles for the US team.
- Hepburn's stamp is under the forearm in several places. There is no serial- or assembly number
- Bodine believed that full round barrels were more accurate and made this point in a letter to Sharps Rifle Co on May 15th, 1877 (printed in Frank Sellers book)

Yes ... I know all of the above is very loose but that 1875 team picture showing two obvious conventional Remington Creedmoor rifles and the third clearly different rifle in Col John Bodine's hands.

... open to thought, opinions and even polite criticism ...

[JoJoDo]

Here are additional photos showing the oval with patent dates on the top of the receiver ...

[JoJoDo]

Here are scans of the Harper's Weekly block cut showing the US Team and a close up of Col. John Bodine ...

[JimMill]

It sure looks like it. Amazing rifle.

Jim

[JimMill]

JoJoDo,

Do you have a copy of Roy Marcots book "Remington Rolling Block Rifles, Carbines & Shotguns, Sporting & Target Rifles"?

The rifle on page 173 looks like yours.

Jim

[roundtop]

This looks like the rifle that showed up at one of the the original Great Western gun shows before it moved to the L A county fair grounds. Jay Lewis bought it. Jay got his money out first or I would have owned it. It had both heel & tang vernier long range rear sights as well as the original front. Many years later it was at a California show for sale with no sights. There was no serial number. I do not know who bought it. Since the patent numbers are on the top barrel flat I believe it is a factory job. On page 261 is one of my rifles with the patents not on the side so in special cases patent dates were put elsewhere. Ed

[jon_norstog]

Well, JoJo,

It could very well be THE rifle. Or it could be some other, equally fine, factory special custom target rifle. For me, the round barrel profile is the clincher. YMMV. I hope you will take it out and shoot it. Taking care, of course, not to mess it up. Post some targets if you do.

jn