Arming God's Battalions: a Papal States Rolling Block
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
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The Remington Rolling Block was a very popular rifle in the 1860s and 1870s, and probably would have been a better choice than the Trapdoor Springfield for the US military. But among the nations that did adopt is were the Papal States. While Vatican City is a tiny sovereign enclave today in Rome, in the 1800s the Pope directly controlled a much larger area, roughly the size of Switzerland early in the 1800s.
Three different models of Rolling Block were adopted by the Papal States in the effort to rebuild their military after a serious defeat in 1860 - rifles, carbines, and musketoons - the latter being what we have today. All three were made by the Nagant Brothers in Liege and can be identified by the Papal crest (the crossed keys of St Peter) on the top of the barrel. Westley Richards in the UK also produced 5,000 rolling block rifles, but these had serious quality problems.
The Nagant Brothers rifles began to arrive in the fall of 1868. They saw service for only a few years, as the departure of French forces in the fall of 1870 (to take part in the Franco-Prussian War) allowed the Italian Army to seize Vatican City without much difficulty. A few survived in the hands of the Pope's personal guard, but most of these rolling blocks were taken into Italian Army service. They would serve until being replaced by Vetterli rifles, and were eventually sent to Ethiopia as military aid to Emperor Menelik II in the 1880s.
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"The army of God uses Remington" is hell of a marketing pitch.
+10 Holy damage
Honestly, as a Catholic, it would make me have a preference for whoever supplied the Vatican’s arms.
now imagine getting your hands on one of those etiopian rolling blocks. That would be based af.
So it was the right arm of god you can say.
I'm surprised that they haven't used that yet.
“The Devil wears Prada” has nothing on “The battalion of God shoots Remington”
Or even better "The Lord rocks a Remington"
"the devil might wear Prada but the army of God carry Remington"
sounds like some sort of catholic shitpost tbh.
"God's army is strapped with Remingtons"
Prada was just hedging it's bets. Where do you think all of the ammo pouches came from?
@@poikoi1530 "Stay straped or get claped" - God
12.7 Pontificio, widely accepted as the best vampire hunter ammunition.
Do they use solid silver bullets?
@Kelly Harbeson What's it gonna do against a vampire, though?
+10 holy damage against heretics
@@mikehipperson As we learned in "Love at first bite" - those are against Werwolves Dr. Rosenberg!
@@mikehipperson I thought that was for werewolves.
A Papal State's Rolling Block? Does this mean this rifle is a "Holy Roller"?
What a dreadful pun.
Well done have a thumbs up 👍
BA-Dum-Tsh
All they're missing is Dive Bomber pilots and call them "Holy Divers"
Underrated comment!
Sounds like a fallout New Vegas rifle you’d find in an abandoned church
Imagine the Pope on his balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square, rocking this bad boy 😄
I bet he’s rocking some boy
The only rifle for a holy conquest
AI can do it.
Literally dead
@@nategross7568 Thats a catamite good sir
In 1872, a crack Zouave unit was sent to the Castle Gandolfo by a papal court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security castle to the Roman underground. Today, still wanted by the Vatican they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them....maybe you can hire The P-Team
😁
Another gang that couldn't shoot straight
I piety the fool...
@@robviousobviously5757 I wish I could leave more than one thumbs up
But who had the original role of B.A. ?
Very interesting. At a collectors fair in 2019, I was offered a Papal rolling block for the pontifical sum of 2500 euros. (Which I declined, because I was eyeing a rack of Chassepots converted to 12ga)
The seller had two of 'm, apparently they came from the private collection of an Italian family who had been doing things for the Holy See for generations, and tucked a bunch of 'm away, after the capture of Rome. What was remarkable on these rifles however, was that nobody had sanded down the stocks before. The stocks all had the crests of the parishes whose alms funded those rifles.
Incredibile. Your story and strange spelling habits
That's not a bad price at all.
@@THESLlCK an abbreviation of an abbreviation. For when character limits come to youtube
*'em
The finish on Ian's example is a shame, it has all been removed in a poor attempt at restoration. The wood looks terrible, and the steel is not much better -- not a bit of the bluing is left.
He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword.
But He never said about anyone who lives by Remington's Rolling Block.
In any case, "Stay strapped or get clapped" still applies.
@@vksasdgaming9472 I think the meaning is 'if you are willing to kill, you must be willing to be killed'.
@@johnnixon4085 check Luke 22:36, The Bible pretty much says that too, believe it or not. ;)
@GunGirl1997 more like Luke the Apostle, not Jesus, but you are pretty much right on track. :)
+100% Faith
+500% Damage against Demons
+600 Physical Damage against Italians.
+601 Magical Damage against Ottomons.
Shh. The Sardinians don't like being called that.
@@samsonsoturian6013 truth be told, altough the Kingdom was called Piedmont-Sardinia, the royal family was Savoyard/Piedmontese. And even though their dialect is awful (joking, from a Roman), Piedmontese are definitely Italians (as the Sardinians are, but them mad lads deserve the autonomy)
@lucacali8423 the joke is because the king of Sardinia unified Italy.
@@samsonsoturian6013 ,your reply function didn't function normally,but at least everyone in the comment chain gets notified anyway.
"And Saint Attila raised the Rolling Block up on high, saying, "O Lord, bless this Thy Rolling Block that, with it, Thou mayest blow Thine enemies to tiny bits in Thy mercy."" ~Book of Armaments Chapter 3 verses 5-7~
As a Catholic I can confirm that this is in the bible 👍👍
@@typicalperson6389 must be one of the books the Protestants cut.
@@GhostBear3067 Yes. Screw the protestants man ;))
@@typicalperson6389 I am Protestant...
@@GhostBear3067 Sorry :(((
One Irish gentleman joined the Papal forces prior to the defeat in 1860 and became a decorated lieutenant. After that conflict, he moved to the United States where he became a Union officer during the Civil War. After the war he served with the U.S. 7th Cavalry on the frontier. He was killed at the Little Big Horn with Custer on June 25th 1876 as a company commander. His name was Myles Keough... It is said that his corpse was treated with more respect by the warriors than some others... Seems that he had a pouch (?) with the Papal medal and decided that it was a "medicine bag" and largely left his remains undisturbed... Yankee Papa
I think his horse survived the battle.
It was the squaw, and not the warrior who mutilated the bodies of Custer and his men, that against the orders by Sitting Bull, who prophesied that if the bodies were left unmutiated the Indian would once again have his land, but if they were disturbed the Indian would suffer at the hands of the great father. They should have listened to Sitting Bull, he was a wise man.
@@jbradanfeasaComanche. Go to History Guy. Keogh is there too.
A man by the name of Miles Keogh was an Irish volunteer at around this time. He left the papal army after it went away, as Ian describes, and later found himself serving in the American army under a fellow named Custer. Keogh did not survive Custer, but his horse, Comanche, did.
Couldn't help but get a big grin on my face when I saw the keys of St. Peter. What a firearm!
I love the Rolling block and I have a bit of an obsession with the Papal States (I just find it interesting that a theocratic state was able to survive for so long in Europe) so seeing a Papal rolling block is a real treat.
Consider it a manifestation
Flanders not so love Spain = Pope
There’s still theocracy in Europe, besides the Vatican still being a country, His Excellency the Bishop of Urgell is one of the co-princes of Andorra
It sort of didn't. Mussolini gave the Church the Vatican City territory for obvious reasons, if memory serves me right.
@@goncalo33 Italy took Rome, but never attacked the Vatican City, because of international pressure. No great power would be happy with Italy controlling the catholic church.
It was a standoff for a long time, with the pope refusing to give up claim on Rome. Mussolini was able to make a compromise. The Vatican City continued to be its own independent state, but gave up the claim on Rome,
I'm sitting here watching this, and as he says, "The U.S. would have if" I immediately glance at my mantle where I have an 1873 Springfield Trapdoor. I can definitely say that using a rolling block or even a falling block is much...faster. I wouldn't say easier because it's very simple, but in the heat of battle small moments add up. I always love seeing new uploads from you come across my feed.
Actually, practical experiments have shown that the speed is pretty damned identical. If you go to Bloke on the Range channel, they have a series of mad minute drills with various black powder single shots and there's surprisingly little difference. I did s run with my Swedish Rolling Block and got 10 aimed shots with a few seconds to spare in one minute. An American fellow shot his trap door Springfield and also managed 10 shots, he came closer to 11 than I did but also ran out of time. It turns out that most single shot cartridge firing rifles of the black powder era can do 8 to 12 shots on this drill, it almost doesn't matter which mechanism you're shooting. What takes most of the time is fumbling for cartridges in your ammo pouch or belt, and feeding them by hand into the chamber before closing the action and re-acquiring a sight picture.
If all else being approximately equal… in that era I’d take the rolling block over the others for the simple reason it’s so easy to clean and see through the bore. Can’t do that with the others and speed / thoroughness of cleaning in the black powder era can’t be ignored. That said, I have most of the 1860’s to 80’s single shots and I love them all. Can’t choose a fave out of my kids. 😂
@@StarSwarm. I had never considered that before, but I'm 100% with you; being able to verify the cleanliness of the barrel very easily with the rolling block is a pretty huge benefit in the black powder days.
Imagine the marketing you could do "God chooses Remington"
I've always admired the elegant simplicity of the Rolling Block design. It was also completely ergonomic, a combination incredibly rare in the history of firearms. 😮
@Kelly Harbeson it can absolutely handle full power cartridges, so why limit to rimfire? It’s faster and stronger than a lot of Single Shot rifles still in production today
It's also striking how the range markings are sensible - they don't go up to e.g. 2,000 metres. I wonder if "range marking inflation" was a smokeless thing.
@Kelly Harbeson Price of manufacture wouldnt change much for a centerfire one either, and a 99$ centerfire rifle in most modern cartridges would fly off shelves.
@@arkhaan7066 Even .50 BMG! 🫢
@@User_Un_Friendly lol maybe not that stout of a round 😂 you can definitely get 7mm Mauser, .30-06, etc though, and anything softer than that.
556 would be great, .308, 6.5 creedmore. All of them could be fun.
gun jesus reviewing the holy weapon, couldn't get better than that
Nothing like a forgotten weapons video at 5 AM
Damm right lol
Or midday here
5am here.🐶
3 am here
This things rolls with a +5 damage to all undead creatures.
Sardinians don't like being called that
Yes but does it shoot square bullets for the Turks?
Good one!
I mean the Papal Zouaves were Catholics dressing up as Muslims to fight against the Italian Nationalists
@@philippinecircularflag2023full story? Sound interesting
@@ulqinaku8471 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_Zouaves
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zouave
"Zouaves" as a 19th century military fashion aren't really described in the first article, so I added the second one. In short, they were light infantry dressed inspired by northern african troops in french service. Became a bit of a fashion in many nations, including the US.
They were a Zouave Regiment of the French Army, and the Breach of Porta Pia was when the Kingdom of Italy annexed the Papal State so that Roma could be again the Capital City of Italy. That was between the Third Independence War of 1866, taking advantage of the Franco Prussian war of 1870, and the Fourth Independence War, which started on May 24th, 1915 and ended on November 4th, 1918.
On behalf of all Catholics, thank you very much for adding to my knowledge of the Church history.
I am protestant, but I think it funny the Vatican used Remington rifle. I also will admit that the catholic church has some major style to them.
100% degradation of the Gospel message and the belief that you are literally made righteous, instead of being counted as righteous. This comes with the downside of destroying the sanctity and glory of the death of Christ, instead re-offering the decaying corpse of a false idol, whereupon they feast on his corpse.
The Bible says the Church is the body of believers worldwide (IE the "catholic" (universal in latin) church). The Bible does not say Peter was the rock, and even if it did say that it would not have anything to do with church authority or a false idea of the "seat of peter", of which there is no such concept in scripture. Makes you really wonder if catholics actually read scripture, or if they simply roll up to catholic services to hear other holy men on high preach from predetermined verses in a limited capacity.
@@AR15andGOD I would agree that I disagree with the notion that works play any part in salvation. Only through faith is one saved. Humanity has no part in that equation.
@@AR15andGOD Genuine schizo moment
The Papal Zouaves were a formiddable fighting force! There's actually a Papal Zouave museum in Oedenbosch in the Netherlands. Ian, next time you're in Europe it would be a great detour to visit this military museum, especially since they cover a lesser-known fighting force from an underrated conflict.
I like how you incorporate actual history without embellishment.
With all the Papal markings, does that make them....Holy Rollers...?
Yes. Yes it does.
Papal army. Brings a new meaning to “do unto others”…
Stalin said: "The Pope? How many divisions as he got?"
And where is now Stalin? The Pope is 3km away (unless he is globetrotting again...)
11th Commandment: "Do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes"
@@emiliodesalvo7024 also Stalin is now dead. And who knows if he made it anywhere near the pearly gates
George Layman's book "Remington Rolling Block Military Rifles of the World" covers this topic well for those looking for more information on Papal State Rolling Blocks. While the rifle was fairly simple and straight forward, the machining to produce it was of high tolerance and quite specific. Nations that obtained licenses to build the Rolling Block often found themselves having quite the leg up in terms of machining capabilities for a number of years.
So those British made Papal Rolling Blocks, I guess they could be considered "Holy Crap"?
Nice!
LOL!
Having Protestants make guns for the Papists...
Protestants making guns for the Catholics ? What was the Pope thinking 😇
Didst thou protest-ant too much? ;-)
A family friend just found a Rolling Block in a family members attic, turns out it it's an Egyptian .43 caliber. Pretty neat
It's nice seeing how so many people love and appreciate the rolling block, myself included! Currently, it's sitting at the top of my Antique list.
At my local museum there's some M1867 swe/nor rolling blocks. Swedish made even, in 12.17 mm. Could be something for Ian to take a look at if he ever get so lost that he ends up here.
EDIT: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remington_M1867
You’re in that random part of flyover/corn country that just so happens to have a very nice infantry/war museum? Very vaguely in the central us?
@@bigredwolf6 No. I'm actually in Sweden.
Kongsberg produced 52380 of them, around 1 for every 36 people living in Norway by 1883. I’ve seen a lot of them laying around or mounted on walls, often the action is seized but they haven’t been properly disabled.
@@hansheden That’s even cooler
"Ye have been vibe checked by the Holy Rolly" - Some Palpal soldier, 1868 (probably)
All the special gauges that were needed for Swedish production of Rolling Blocks was what led Carl Edward Johansson to invent the gauge blocks (or jo-blocks as they are also called) when it came time to switch to Mauser production.
I’m lucky enough to have one of these Nagant rolling blocks and they’re absolutely awesome rifles. Except mine is a bit different and is the rarest European military rolling block… actually arguably the rarest military rolling block in the world. The only known Luxembourg Gendarmerie rifle. 1 of only 139 made and the smallest military contract. Love these historic rifles!
Well now. What cartridge is it chambered in ?
@@paulmanson253 It’s chambered in 11x50R Belgian Albini.
@@SmallArmsNation Aha. Well I do wish you joy of being able to find,modify or otherwise tinker,create some brass and make that wonderful old smokepole,make some smoke.
@@paulmanson253 Thanks. No issue there. I load a lot of obsolete and even a handful of 1860’s to 1880’s cartridges that no one has ever loaded for.
That's awesome.
This probably would have been one of the first 'big' contracts that the Nagant's got when starting out as I think prior to this they were just in the engineering and fixing up firearms business
The Nagant Brothers: arming the First and Third Rome.
Underrated comment lol
We don't talk about the second one.
Yikes that map looked ugly.
Comment goes hard 🔥
Arguably, because of religion, the Second as well.
There's a really good book armies of the pope, Good read. In there apparently the papal armies were 3rd army to adopt machine gun.
That Vatican seal is absolutely incredible and a piece of church history I did not know.
I kinda wonder what a modern version would look like today. Imagine a 6.5 version with automatic extraction when you reopen the breach.
*breech
Maybe you’ll see it soon since everyone is going retro. Might be kinda cheap. Less than $800.
So like a trap door Springfield? That auto ejects a shell.
One of the advantages of the rolling block compared to a break action (similarly simple single-shot design) is that with the RB, you can keep your sights on the target while reloading... With the BA, that's not possible... A RB design with easily interchangeable and cheap barrels like the Thompson Contender / Encore would be interesting... I would gladly swap out my Encore and the barrels that I have for it for such a RB design... Just made the frame strong enough to be able to handle a .50 BMG round and it would be even better...
@@kellyharbeson18 The extractor was a weak point in early Rolling Blocks, Remington kept working on updated extractor designs and later patterns even have ejectors.
THANK YOU! Of all the videos I have seen, this is the first time I fully understood what a "rolling block" meant (6:44)!
If you like this one then I can’t recommend this video enough. Best video ever made on how the rolling block action works: ruclips.net/video/GadzX6vPl8Y/видео.html
@@StarSwarm. Thanks buddy . I took your advice and watched that video and then subscribed to the channel . Great explanation .
..another INCREDIBLE & INFORMATIVE & OUTSTANDING FANTASTIC video about firearms history🤘🤙🙃😉🤙Can't wait to see more, so please keep it up & rocking it....
Some notes: For centuries the papal states had been the borderline between Southern Italy/ Kingdom of Naples, and ( Up to about 1520) HRE influenced Northern Italy. Some to some extent strange facts about 1870: Not only german forces had a german Commander, also papal forces, a german with the name Kanzler, who was after ,fight' knighted by Pope. The Commander of italian forces was a man named Cardona, father of Luigi Cardona, Commander of italian forces in wwl. From 1928 ( when Mussolini established current Vatican City) to 1968 Vatican Forces consisted of Swiss Guard, Noblemen Guard, Papal Gendarmerie and Palatin Guard ( a milita).
So when do we get a video on the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch? Lol, seriously, this was a very interesting video, Ian. Please keep them coming!
Once again your complete knowledge of the history down to the correct pronunciation of names is Astounding.
I’m a educated
“ MeatBall “
That being said and admittedly the weapon has been restored.
May I suggest a Disassembly just to look at the interior of the wood.
It’s been my experience with 1893 cold hammered Weps from the Lowes Factory.
K-95s in 7mm stored for Decades by the Argentine and Chilean army’s all but 1 had the month and year and corresponding serial number of the weapon written in pencil written on the interior of the factory unexposed side.
On the what should have been left as a Factory Worm Worm Walnut.
Just because,,, of that era the fit and finish of the furniture was very high quality.
Just a suggestion, only one wasn’t all factory matching serial numbers.
It was, let’s say Some Assembly Required. 😂
But it’s the PRETTY one.
🤙
Jesus is back, and this time he's not crucifucking around
FOR THE GRACE FOR THE MIGHT OF OUR LORD
Captain Myles Keogh one of Custer's troop commanders at Little Big Horn got his first taste of battle leading men in the Papal Army. Along with others he was recruited by the Union Army in 1862 when they went looking for experienced officers in Europe. A bit before the time of this rifle though.
Well done Ian. I was unfamiliar with the action on RRB's until now. Thank you for enlightening me.
Another “holy grail” weapon to add to my list
This is so interesting. I always digged the rolling block design too. Had no idea about the Papal States tbh
This thing reminds me of the H&R 12 gauge Slugster or slugger or whatever lol. Friend of mine accidentally shot the hood of his brand new dodge with a scoped H&R.
Ian, I really admire the extent of your research and your explanations on the historical background of the gun - it's just as interesting as the gun itself.
Ian, Check Civ VI. Menelik II is still using his rifles for his Line Infantry, once he completes his advancement to the Modern Age and upgrades the Line Infantry to WW I grade Infantry he will turn some of those rolling blocks over to the general public at auction.
2:50 the main difference here when it comes to foreign volunteers is that the Papal State had a world wide information network. Usually, when a country takes in foreign volunteers, it is just a bunch of desperate people, many of which who have burned their bridges so badly that they want to get out of dodge. But since this is the church, they have a world wide network of dedicated individuals that can get intimately familiar with the foreign communities and search for individuals with good skills, reputation, and a willingness to serve.
It is amazing that a 30 inch Remington Rolling Block is considered as a "carbine". So what is the barrel length for the full size rifle?
At the time most rifles were 48 inches or longer. It was due to the fact that bayonets still played an important role in battle and all other things being equal, the guy with the longer reach usually wins a bayonet fight.
Well, remember, this is still black powder. (well-made 1860s black powder, but still not nearly the pressure of smokeless-powder) So what you lack in accelleration, you make up in distance traveled = longer barrel.
@@15sherpinski wtf are you talking about it's not a ducking musket.
@@15sherpinski yes, and if you are an infantryman you can also easily reach people charging your lines on horses before they open your head with their sabre like a watermelon.
With a bayonet on the muzzle your rifle becomes instantly a lance.
@Rizar Adri Nobody knows for sure as they haven't finished measuring it yet.
If the SHTF, the pope would go to the Castiele Saint Angelo, yes my spelling is horrible. I was able to visit there about 15 years ago. They have a small arms display that includes a rolling block, wheel locks, early cannon.
I would need one against the Evil.
Your wife?
1:50 Isn't San Marino a state too? I mean, it's landlocked in the Peninsula and is an independent nation
yeah it still is an indipendent small Nation,but more closely tied to Italy state wise than Vatican that labeling them an indipendent Nation is more a technicality than anything tbh
The country where italiens "optimise" their tax bills
Yes.
Yes, it is.
San Marino gave Giuseppe Garibaldi asylum for a time in 1849 during the First Italian War of Independence. Later he advocated on behalf of its continued sovereignty.
I have one of these in my collection, however, it was made in Holland in 1862. It’s been converted to 45-70, and shoots modern ammunition very well, quite accurate and the vernier site goes out to 1000 m.
I think you have something else. Firstly, 1862 predates the invention of the Rolling Block so at best you may have an earlier barrel but on a later breech. Second, the Dutch never made Rolling Blocks because they had their own Beaumont design that ran concurrent with the rolling blocks. The Dutch did have rolling block carbines as the Beaumonts were unsuitable in shortened lengths but those carbines were also made under license by Nagant in Belgium like the one in this video.
@@StarSwarm. Sorry, memory is not what it was so I dug it out of the safe. Date says: M-1867 There appears what looks like a lions head wearing a crown above it. The hammer and rolling block appear to have the same crown on them. SN: 47827 with a crown at the end. The sight has marking out to 1400 meters. There is a brass screw about the size of a dime of some kind in the middle of the butt stock on the right side. It would take a tool like a "golf shoe" spike tool to remove it. The cleaning rod tip is a bit different, having a hole through it for the cloth. Other than that, it looks exactly the same as the one in the video.
@@TexasScout All good. Sounds like you have a Danish Rolling Block in 45 Danish. A lot of them were slightly reamed on import to the US to accomodate the 45-70 slightly larger rim.
@@StarSwarm. Yes, that’s it exactly. I inherited it from my Dad.
Another great video Ian! This is so interesting to me. I knew there was a Remington rolling block and have even handled one and shot it, but I knew nothing about them. Thanks for what you do.
God bless all here.
Brings a whole different meaning to “the lords caliber.”
This is a great video Ian. Interesting following the journeys of old objects.
While the resistance offered by Papal forces in 1870 was meant to be little more than symbolic, these weapons definitely had an edge in combat against the Bersaglieri's needle-fire conversion Carcano carbines; it would not have been enough to redress the odds anyway, had the resistance been actually serious, but it's interesting.
I ownd a gun of this type for many years. The local Police in the small village in Sweden my family lived in around 1960 took it from a forrester who used it for hunting elk illigaly. The gun had no markings and looked like it was manufactured by a lokal smith. I was 12 years old and shoting at the home defense practicing with Husquarna mauser military rifles and was good at it. The Police chief wanted to be on good fot with my father so he gave the rolling block to me after welding the pipe so it could not be loaded! I was stupid enough to sell it when I move to Tanzania for some years. The hunting there is done with bow and arrow and also spears and I have participated in that a few times - but that is another story. Thank you for the always interestingt videos!
+50 Holy Damage
AKA stopping power
I don't think I've ever seen a youtube video title go harder than this one.
1:55 there is still San Marino.
"The smell of gunpowder is sweeter to me than all the perfumes of Arabia." - Pope Julius II
I love the smell of frankensence in the morning, smells like . . . . Catholicism.
Some day this Christianity schism is gonna end.
"we can't expect God to do all the work..."
When I was a farm boy on dad's farm, he bought me toy guns. Dad was into guns back then and in those days there were page after page of toy guns in the Sears Catalog. So Dad bought me a toy rolling block, I always wanted to get my hands on an original but never got a chance to buy one, now I don't much care anymore but if someone was to contact me with one for sale, I would probably buy one. A buddy of mine built a beautiful rifle based on a rolling block in 45-70. I loved shooting his when we went to the. range to test fire it after the build.
Another interesting, informative video Ian. I never knew the Nagant brothers were Belgian (but someone did tell me about them years ago)
Ian and Ron spomer are all you need for firearm and bullet expertise
It looks like wood borers really chowed down on the stock. That may be why the stock was sanded down so much.
sanding a woodworm-damaged piece of wood only ever enlarges the visibly damaged area. what you see are the holes the grown beetles make to fly away. before that, the larvae snake long winding burrows through the wood and take care to avoid penetrating the surface to protect themselves from predation. it's common for woodworms to burrow parallel to the surface of a piece of wood at less than a millimeter distance (I'm guessing they turn around when they see light penetrating the wood). basically they do much more damage under the surface than they do at the surface. thus trying to sand away woodworm damage typically transforms an image of a few round holes into a big mess of longitudinally opened channels, with several times more missing surface area. they seem to have gotten lucky with that on this gun, I only saw one spot where one of the holes was open longitudinally. but they certainly made nothing better about the holes by sanding.
that is a lot of holes btw, the stock has pretty bad structural damage. it's interesting that it has almost all the holes on one side - I suspect that the rifle was stored laying on its side, and the side with the holes was up. in nature, woodworms would tend to eat dead fallen trees and branches, and when those are laying on the ground, going up gives the best chances of a clear escape path.
@@Ass_of_Amalek Thanks for the explanation!
@@petesheppard1709 I'm a violin maker/repairer. worm damage on violins and such is, if you set aside damage from terrible "repair work", the absolute worst. and it's always worse than it looks from the outside. if there are cracks, you can just glue them back together, if corners are chipped or worn off, you can cut smooth joints and fit pieces of new wood. but with worm damage, the missing parts are inside, and in very irregular shapes. you can try to fill the tunnels with epoxy to at least restore compression strength, but that tends to make the holes even more visible as the epoxy penetrates the wood, and you probably won't get it in deep since the worm poop blocks most of the tunnels. a very common fix is to just put putty in the end of the tunnel to make it less visible, but of course that doesn't remedy the structural damage.
@@Ass_of_Amalek 👍 Who would think one could learn about woodworking on a gun channel? 😎
Thank you , Ian .
🐺
I love your videos, I'm always fascinated by the content you bring, keep bringing this type of content,the only real indipendent state in Italy is San Marino. Ciao un saluto da Genova, Liguria, Italia 👋🏻🇮🇹
I’m not even particularly interested in firearms, but I love your breakdown and historical context in each video! You really are a superb historian!
12.7mm pontifico, its 50-70 but the rounds are consecrated with holy water, for extra damage to heathens and devils
Great history lesson!!!! Rolling blocks are one of my favorite old timey actions. High/Low walls are my go toos. Sadly, I don't own either currently. Hmm, I may have to change that. Thx!!! Great video. Love this channel, keep up the good work Ian!!
These comments are golden lol.
Anything along the lines of: "We can't expect God to do all the work." just makes me giggle in this context.
This is a great video Ian well done.
1:53 San Marino: I am a joke to you?
Well done Ian. Your usual well informed video!
Such a cool story, thanks ian.
Very interesting, always wondered about the Papal defense forces and what the history was. Thanks Ian.
When saying the Vatican was the remaining state independent of Italy you forgot San Marino a small mountain city state in central Italy
And not unusual in Europe, also have the city states of Monaco in France, Andorra on the French/Spanish border, Liechtenstein on the Swiss/Austrian border and the island of Malta. Vatican was also absorbed by the Kingdom of Italy during reunification but regained its independence again in 1929 when St Peters Basillica was recognized as independent in return for the Vatican dropping all its claims on other territories. San Marino on the other hand was a monastery so remote in the mountains no-one ever bothered conquering it during the reunification.
Monastery?
I thought it’s the oldest remaining city state republic left
@@davidsachs4883 Yep it was a monastic community founded by Saint Marinus in 301 AD and a haven for dissident clerics protected by three powerful fortresses (the 'Towers') built over the following millennia. For the first two or three centuries it had no leader, the monks just ran it ad hoc then around 600 AD until 1243 you had the Arrengo which was a leaderless council of self appointed busybodies from the powerful families who spent as much time trying to one up each other as govern. By around 1200 this leaderless council had become so dysfunctional that the people themselves elected a ruler and in 1243 the Pope recognized this leader as the true ruler of the state (which just so happened to be himself). As time went on the Council changed the rules so the body could self nominate its members rather than have a popular election which concentrated power in the hands of the richest families.
As the community grew by accepting more and more refugees it bought several satellite villages from its neighbours to help support itself, the richest family from each of those satellites (The 9 castles) formed a new constitution around 1600 that only nobles could be elected to the Grand Council and as their power continued to grow in the 18th century they reserved 20 of 60 seats on the General Council for themselves. In 1906 they had a referendum on whether the old Republican government should continue or they should switch to a modern democracy and 90% of the population voted to abolish and reform the electoral process. Between 1923 and 1943 the Fascists abolished the previous council and took all 60 seats for themselves. Then in 1964 for the first time Women could vote and that pretty much brings you up to date.
Awesome analysis thank you Ian
your Italian pronunciation is on point,said by an Italian itself
"this is what god would use to shoot somebody" - Man suffering from lead poisoning.
I was always surprised that the rolling block did not live on till today as a sporting rifle. With how low the expensive is to make them, and how easy it is to make it almost any caliber, it is strange that things like the SSA went on till today but this fizzled out.
A rolling block is naturally a single shot. Bolt and lever actions are naturally repeaters.
Love me a good rolling block. Thanks for showing another one off!
1:55 "The only independent state left in Italy" -incorrect. San Marino also (and still does) exist
Ohhhh I've been waiting for this for a while
Just got to work eating breakfast and some good Ian to start the day!
“That’s how you dif-French-iate these.”
I see what you did there
Virgin Prot rolling block vs Chad Catholic Nagant rolling block
I got a Husqvarna build Remington Rolling Block - with a 8x58RD barell.
RD - I have seen both: Rimmed Danish and Remington Danish. It is about the same as a 8x57SJR.
a Soft shooter even with the light weight and metall butstock.
You can reloaded it pretty fast. I have a 2 cartridge holder on the rightside of it. 2 Bits of Molle work nice. 😀
I have seen them with about 18-20" barells in 12.7x44 blackpowder.
I will cut mine down to about 18" and have reddot on - Yes it should be a crime to do...but I want a small and good rifle 🙂
I think Ian should visit the arms museum in the Vatican, it would be cool
"He's finally returned!"
That's a very interesting gun, and an even more interesting story. Thanks Ian!
I want one! I can use it to shoot silver bullets at vampires, or something.
Werewolves 🙄
@@marcusott2973 Yeah, you're right. That's where the "or something" comes in.
@The Amazing Mystico you 'll need the stake firing adapter and blanks for Vampires.
Doesn't harm that the guns 100% got blessed by a pope.
Why would you want to murder your wife? (Sarcasm)
Correction to the Quote at 1:54 "They remained basically the only independent State in Italy" The Vatican is not the only independent State inside Italy, there's also the Nation of San Marino...