doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Jack Haugh Remington .40-90 Sharps

I just purchased this beautiful rifle and am trying to figure out exactly what it is. It came through an Auction House and was put up for sale by the owners widow. She new nothing about it other that her past husband adored this rifle it was the gem of his collection or so Im told .
Can anyone venture a guess as to what it was originally I am guessing Remington rolling block No1 sporting rifle?? Here are the pics

[img]https://photos.app.goo.gl/W2V1coxjutX5zw6N6[/img]


Thanks
Bill

What it is, is lovely. Beautiful gun. I have never heard of Haugh as either a shooter or a gunmaker but obviously, he could make a fine rifle.

That looks like an interpretation of a Gemmer Roller with underlever and wiping rod. The rear sight is hard to place, but I'll guess it is a Parts Unknown/Red River sight. I think the action may be a #5 roller based on the lack of the piece that runs between the two pins on the action that a #1 would have (I think) on the right side. That peice is on the left however, so my memory may be off. But a good smith could modify a #1 to look like that, I'm sure. The extractor may be a good tell-tale for you. Unfortunately the book I would want to look at is in a box somewhere in my basement, probably lost for few millenia.

Very sweet gun. I hope it came with brass and maybe dies.

Edit: the gunsmith undoubtedly added the double set triggers as well. There are a few other places where you could ask about this rifle on line with a more appropriate audience.

Just swapping emails with a friend about that rifle. He reminds me that Carlos Gove (in Denver I believe) made underlevers and side lever conversions of the Remington for buffalo hunters back in the day. I once lusted after an original Gove back in the late 90s but didn't have the dollars for it at the time. It was basically as your rifle.

My friend also said that Haugh had a very good reputation for gunmaking but he is now passed, sadly.

The #5s should have a rotary extractor and if so, there would probably be a visible screw on the outside of the action, so he thinks it is probably a #1. Most #1s had round tops however, but and #5s had more meat from which to mill the octagon so smiths prefered that, and I think #5s were forged while #1s were cast.

There was a pretty famous TX smith by the name of Higgenbottom or Higginsbotham that made rollers from scratch. It's possible he made that action, but it's at least as likely that it was milled from a #5 or #1.

Yes I suppose I could find a more single shot rifle blog I just always liked the posts Ive read here few nasty grams and mostly helpful folk


I also had a box of ,40-90 Sharps so that's what started the ball rolling plus you can still buy .40-90 online at Buffalo Bore I think its called

Jack Haugh was an acknowledged master and also was renown for his bespoke double set triggers.

Currently on Gunsinternational.com one of Haugh's masterwork rifles is for sale: If you want to view it is no. 101243183 on their website.

The Shiloh forum will be helpful and 99% nice. The Facebook group for BPCR will be 100% nice - probalby the best place to look these days.

ASSRA forum will probably be okay but they can go either way.

The number of really diehard roller fans has declined a lot in the last 10 yrs. Aging out of the population, unfortunately. If you need a good smith, the guy that worked for and then took over from Crosno, in OK, is still in business. Basset, Mike Basset, I believe. He knows rollers.

An authoritative source says it is an early #1.

But really doesn't matter. It's a very sweet rifle. And again, I hope you have what it takes to load for it. Anything come with the rifle?

Carlos Gove indeed did make underlever Rolling Blocks, and also did wiping rods with thimbles as this rifle has. So my guess is that Haugh built this rifle as a clone of the Gove style Rolling Block.
It is indeed a #1, but it is not a #1 Sporting Rifle action. It is a military action, and quite likely a later smokeless military action as it has the heavier round top receiver used on later actions, and the rotary extractor that the Sporting models didn't have. All early actions used a sliding extractor, so this can't be an early action.
The previous owner has every right to have been extremely proud of the craftsmanship of this build! It's as good as any Rolling block build I've ever seen!
I've got a couple dozen Rolling Blocks in my collection, and they're a close second to my Ballards as a favorite!

Your friend has it backwards. A #5 has a rotary extractor, which doesn't have the left side retaining screw. The earlier #1 has a sliding extractor, and the small screw in the left side. But the 1896 #1 Rolling Blocks also had a rotary extractor long before the smokeless #5 came about. So they sometimes get people confused into thinking they're also smokeless. The difference in the two rotary actions is the #5 is thicker in width and more metal in the receiver threads area.

Val, what tells you this has a rotary extractor?