The M1885 Remington-Lee is a bolt action, box magazine repeating rifle

Repeating rifle

A repeating rifle is a single barreled rifle containing multiple rounds of ammunition. These rounds are loaded from a magazine by means of a manual or automatic mechanism, and the action that reloads the rifle also typically recocks the firing action...

 designed principally by James Paris Lee

James Paris Lee

James Paris Lee was a Scottish-Canadian and later American inventor and arms designer, best known for inventing the bolt action that led to the Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield series of rifles.-Early Life and Career:...

. It first appeared in 1879, manufactured by the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company

Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company

Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company was the manufacturer of Sharps Rifle. It was organized by Samuel Robbins and Richard S. Lawrence as a holding company in Hartford, Connecticut on October 9, 1851 with $100,000 in capital. John C. Palmer was president, Christian Sharps an engineer, and Richard S....

. Eventually Remington

Remington Arms

Remington Arms Company, Inc. was founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington in Ilion, New York, as E. Remington and Sons. It is the oldest company in the United States which still makes its original product, and is the oldest continuously operating manufacturer in North America. It is the only U.S....

 took over production and produced the famous Model 1885 Remington Lee Navy Rifle in caliber .45-70. Arguably the most modern rifle in the world until the introduction of the 8mm smokeless powder

Smokeless powder

Smokeless powder is the name given to a number of propellants used in firearms and artillery which produce negligible smoke when fired, unlike the older gunpowder which they replaced...

 using Lebel M1886 rifle, the Lee utilized the first successful box magazine, unlike the Lebel which still used a tube magazine.

The design was incorporated by the British into the Lee-Metford

Lee-Metford

The Lee-Metford rifle was a bolt action British army service rifle, combining James Paris Lee's rear-locking bolt system and ten-round magazine with a seven groove rifled barrel designed by William Ellis Metford...

 and Lee-Enfield

Lee-Enfield

The Lee-Enfield bolt-action, magazine-fed, repeating rifle was the main firearm used by the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century...

 rifles, thereby becoming one of the most widely used rifle designs of the 20th century. Unfortunately for Remington

Remington Arms

Remington Arms Company, Inc. was founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington in Ilion, New York, as E. Remington and Sons. It is the oldest company in the United States which still makes its original product, and is the oldest continuously operating manufacturer in North America. It is the only U.S....

 the version they produced only saw limited use by the U.S. Navy and was passed up in favor of the Krag-Jørgensen

Krag-Jørgensen

The Krag-Jørgensen is a repeating bolt action rifle designed by the Norwegians Ole Herman Johannes Krag and Erik Jørgensen in the late 19th century. It was adopted as a standard arm by Denmark, the United States of America and Norway...

 by the U.S. Army in 1892.

New Zealand purchased 500 M1885 Remington Lee's for its militia in 1887. These were chambered in Remington's .43 Spanish (11.15x58mmR) caliber. These were quickly replaced after complaints about ammunition quality.

Sources

• .45-70 Rifles by Jack Behn. C1958 by Stackpole Publishing.
• Small Arms of the World by WHB Smith and Joseph Smith.