Excellent US Model 1871 Rolling Block Army Rifle by Springfield Armory

NSN, .50-70 Gov’t., 36" barrel with a fine, bright bore that has a few spots of mild freckling within the grooves.  This is a fantastically well-preserved rifle that has 98-99% of the original color case-hardened finish on the frame, with the barrel, bands, and other components still in their original armory bright finish with an overall bright, pewter gray patina.  The walnut forend and buttstock have minor handling marks scattered about the original oil finish, and has a crisp "ESA" cartouche on the left side of the wrist.  Aside from a small chip at the heel of the butt just ahead of the buttplate, the wood is in excellent condition.  Springfield Armory built 10,001 of these rifles under license from Remington Arms Co.  While judged superior to the competing Trapdoor, the lack of royalty payments skewed the government’s choice towards Springfield Armory’s proprietary design.  That said, the Rolling Block was eventually adopted by several states’ militias, including the New York National Guard, whose own rifles also utilized the "Locking Action" (meaning the action snaps to half-cock when the breechblock is opened fully to load) first seen on these US Springfield-made rifles.  This example is in excellent overall condition, with an extremely high degree of original finish remaining.  It would make a stellar addition to any collection of early American cartridge military rifles.  Antique