Remington Rolling Block M1868 (Egyptian Contract)

About the Remington Rolling Block M1868 (Egyptian Contract)

The Egyptian-contract Remington Rolling Block was a single-shot, rolling-block breech-loading infantry rifle ordered in 1868 by the Khedivate of Egypt and chambered for the proprietary .43 Egyptian (11.43x49mmR) cartridge. Known as the M1868 for the contract year and M1869 for first delivery, roughly 60,000 were delivered through 1876, with output split between Remington in the United States and licensed Liège syndicate makers. It armed Egyptian forces against the British at Tel-el-Kebir and during the Mahdist War in the Sudan.

Egypt commissioned its own proprietary .43 Egyptian cartridge largely as a matter of national prestige, so these rifles fired ammunition that fit almost nothing else in the world's arsenals.

Remington Rolling Block M1868 (Egyptian Contract) specifications

A distinct national-contract chambering of the Remington Rolling Block, differentiated from the generic Rolling Block by the proprietary .43 Egyptian cartridge. Up to ~13,000 of the contract rifles were diverted to France during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871.