doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com OT Catalog Descriptions

This is my 1873 "Creedmoor" prototype on the RSA display. It's the rear rifle. Front is my Gove underlever Rolling Block with false muzzle Farrow barrel:

I thought the "Creedmoor " was a named model, unlike thw Winchester Singleshot. Certainly, yours would seem to be a prototype of what would become the Creedmoor later on. It woyld be interesting to know when the term Creedmoor was first used in conjunction with Creed's farm. Do you know if they used that term in the subsequent rematch at Wimbledon?

FWIW, RIA certainly implies that with production starting the first year of the match. Of course, RIA is a bit liberal with their descriptions
https://www.rockislandauction.com/d...rolling-block-long-range-creedmoor-rifle

I am unaware of a barrel length restriction on Creedmoor rifles. The 10# weight limit and 3# trigger limits were there of course.

There was also a midrange roller as I recall.

The Gove is a beautiful rifle. As were the side lever versions.

As with any development of new firearms it has to happen before the guns are offered in catalogs, so naturally any pre catalog "Creedmoor" rifles would be developed the year before they were cataloged. With the Americans winning the Creedmoor match Remington did indeed capitalize on their long range model by calling it the Remington Long Range "Creedmoor" Breech-Loading Rifle in advertisements afterwards. But the ads I've seen in old pictures from the Army-Navy Journal aren't dated, so not sure when. I'd suspect not long after we won the match though. But they always put Creedmoor in quotation marks as if to tie it to the match, but not make it officially the rifle's name. Roy Marcot told me he thought it was sometime in 1874, and I'd guess with the match being fall that year, the 1874 catalog probably held over for 1875 also.
Every Creedmoor Rolling Block, and Sharps Long Range have 34" barrels maximum, but some sold do have shorter barrels, but none longer. All info I've seen states 34" was maximum length, so could be shorter, just not longer.
My Creedmoor prototype has been examined by some of the best Rolling Block authorities and all called it a Creedmoor rifle, or a Credmoor prototype. It's the earliest known by a huge difference over most others that fall in the 3000 or higher serial range. There was one shooter on the US team who had his Creedmoor fitted with a full round barrel as he said he felt round barrels were inherently more accurate than the half octagon barrels. I don't recall which shooter, but believe I read this in Roy Marcot's book on Rolling Block Sporting Rifles.
There were Mid-Range and Short-Range target rifles besides the Long-Range Rollers.