The Remington-Keene is an early bolt action rifle

Rifle

A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...

 with a tube magazine. Remington manufactured prototypes of Keene's patents for consideration by the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 Ordnance Department Magazine Gun Board convened in 1878. Although the Army rejected the design in favor of the Winchester-Hotchkiss

Winchester-Hotchkiss

The Winchester Hotchkiss was a bolt-action repeating rifle patented by Benjamin B. Hotchkiss in 1876 and produced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company and Springfield Arsenal from 1878...

, Remington commenced production and offered the rifle to the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 Bureau of Ordnance

Bureau of Ordnance

The Bureau of Ordnance was the U.S. Navy's organization responsible for the procurement, storage, and deployment of all naval ordnance, between the years 1862 and 1959.-History:...

. The Navy purchased 250 rifles for comparison with their 2,500 Hotchkiss rifles and 300 M1885 Remington-Lee

M1885 Remington-Lee

The M1885 Remington-Lee is a bolt action, box magazine repeating rifle designed principally by James Paris Lee. It first appeared in 1879, manufactured by the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company. Eventually Remington took over production and produced the famous Model 1885 Remington Lee Navy Rifle...

 rifles. The Remington-Keene rifles were delivered in 1880 with US and an anchor stamped on the left side of the barrel and WWK and P (proof) stamped on the right side of the barrel by Lieutenant William W. Kimball. These rifles remained in service for less than a decade aboard USS Trenton (1876)

USS Trenton (1876)

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 and USS Michigan (1843)

USS Michigan (1843)

|USS Michigan was the United States Navy's first iron-hulled warship and served during the American Civil War. She was renamed USS Wolverine in 1905.-Early career:...

. In July 1880 the United States Department of the Interior

United States Department of the Interior

The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native...

purchased 600 Frontier Model carbines with 24 in (61 cm) barrels to arm the Indian Police on a number of reservations in the western United States. Rifles were manufactured for civilian sales chambered for .45-70, .60-40, and .43 Spanish.