Several years ago I purchased a new Remington Rolling Block in 45-70. Almost from the beginning it was less than perfect. Though not inexpensive, about $1500, the front sight fell off several times. Then there was the problems with the forearm. There is a small cut in the barrel into which a block is fitted. A screw holds the forearm to the block. When the small cut was first made they didn't get it right so they tried again. Failed a second time. Easy solution, however, they just beat the cr** out of the block until it was so deformed that it wouldn't fall out (at least not immediately).
After about 1200 cast bullet reloads the gun was a mess. The front sight and forearm were always falling off. Extraction got progressively more difficult. Several gunsmiths worked on it. You could fix the immediate problem but a new one eventually showed up.
Eventually I sent it to Lone Star (the maker of the best rolling blocks). They said that they could make it better but they could not make it good. When they got it they found that the barrel had NEVER been permanently attached to the frame. Take the extractor out and you could hand turn the barrel.
Lone Star did make it better but, well, it was still trouble prone.
FINALLY Remington agreed to look it over. They were either going to fix it or replace it. Took them six months to decide but they eventually replaced it.
Can back just the other day. New gun. Brand new gun. Of course they used the box I shipped the old one back in and used the packing material I had used. I'm sure about that. They hadn't saved all the packing material, however, so when they didn't have nearly enough they just stuck the gun in the cardboard box and shipped it. The front sight had been clearly knocked off the gun.
Maybe the first bad gun was just an oversight. I don't begin to believe that but it is the nice thing to say. On the second gun, however, there is no doubt. The Remington Custom Shop couldn't be bothered with packing it properly. No pride in their work I guess.
I would DEFINITELY recommend against buying a new Remington rifle. Pedersoli can do a better job on a rolling block for a fraction of the cost. The Lone Star rolling blocks are works of art. The Remington rolling block is a piece of cr**. Remington could make a nice gun, I suppose, but they just don't give a d***!
