Now here's a gun of the Old West you may have never heard of - the Remington U.S. Army Model 1871 Rolling Block Pistol. Keith and Steve found this example on their last visit to Rock Island Auction Co., aka "the candy store" for classic firearm enthusiasts and collectors. Yep, the name is correct: this single-shot pistol, chambered in .50 Centerfire (.50 CF), has the same rolling block action as Remington's famous rifle. As Steve puts it, this is a real "hoss" of a pistol that certainly could stop a large four-legged critter with one shot.

The dirt-simple rolling block action is very strong, which is why it could handle powerful cartridges that were beyond the revolvers and lever-action repeaters of the day. The Model 1871 pistol's .50 CF cartridge held about 25 grains of black powder and spat out a heavy, half-inch diameter hunk of lead.

The Model 1871 was actually issued in the 1880s. Why do that when the Colt Model 1873 Single Action Army (aka Peacemaker) was readily available? The 1871 is much less expensive to manufacture, more robust, easier to maintain, easy to train troops to use it, and certainly highly effective in situations where a hefty knock-out punch was needed. Many armies around the world at the time were using the Rolling Block Rifle, so a pistol that operated exactly the same way certainly simplified training. It was claimed, maybe optimistically, that a trained soldier could load, aim, and fire 15 to 17 rounds per minute from the Remington Model 1871.

The Rock Island Auctions Model 1871 looks pretty much "as issued," with nice coloring still on the case-hardened receiver, clean wood free of nicks, and much of the bluing intact. The roll mark on the receiver is still crisp, as is the inspector's stamp on the left-hand grip. Beautiful workmanship on what was, at the time, a simple utilitarian gun. A Remington Model 1871 is not super expensive, and due to the low pressure of the .50 Centerfire round, it's still shootable. The dies, brass, and bullets to load up ammo for it are still available.

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