NZ Remington Lee 1885

[samarkand]

I am posting on behalf of my father who collects antique rifles and we are hoping someone out there may know something about why and how the NZ version of the 1885 Remington Lee Rifle came to be re-bored from a 45-70 to a .43 Spanish.

Information

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[jmoore]

Remington chambered more 1885s in .43 Spanish than 45-70, IIRC. The .43s were primarily for export. Don't recall offhand about a NZ contract. Would have to reference GeneM's book, which isn't at hand for some hours yet.

Pretty sure that you can determine if the rifle was made in that caliber by measuring the magazine. The .43 Spanish mag is considerably longer than the 45-70-500 magazine.

Sorry, haven't been online for a while. First day back on site!

ETA: see below

[jmoore]

There was indeed a small lot of .43 Spanish 1885 Remingtons sent to New Zealand. 500 in all- serial range from ~41,500 to 44,000. Should have "NZ" marking on the receiver ring (up front) if it was part of the military buy. (Probably a test batch, but that's just a SWAG. The USN used small numbers as issue for various ships, so maybe the NZ military actually did issue some. Would be interesting to find out!)