Although the Remington-Keene reportedly fared relatively well in the tests, it was not selected by the Board for further consideration.

In addition to the .45-70, Remington produced the Remington-Keene for the commercial market in several other chamberings, including .43 Spanish and .60-40. The firm eventually sold an estimated 5,000 Remington-Keene rifles and carbines but, not counting the "Indian Police" carbines sold to the Department of the Interior, the only Remington-Keenes used by the U.S. military were the 250 Navy rifles it acquired in 1880.

These rifles were issued to ships in the Navy's fleet concurrent with the Hotchkiss and Lee bolt-action magazine rifles. Compared with its contemporary, the Hotchkiss Navy rifle, there is little in the documentary record regarding the Remington-Keene Navy rifles. The main reason for this is only 1/10th as many Remington-Keenes were obtained by the Navy compared with the total of Hotchkiss Navy rifles.

There were at least two U.S. Navy warships that had Remington-Keene rifles in their arms lockers: the U.S.S. Michigan and U.S.S. Trenton. It is clear from the few reports on record that the Remington-Keene was less popular with the Navy than either the Hotchkiss or Lee rifles. A report submitted in October 1888 regarding the Remington-Keene rifles aboard the U.S.S. Michigan cited numerous faults with the rifles, including the position of the lower sling swivel, its weight and the "... poor rear sight." The lack of interchangeability between the bayonets for the Remington-Keene and the other rifles (Hotchkiss and Lee) was also a cause for complaint. Despite these criticisms, the Remington-Keene Navy rifles remained in service with the U.S. Navy for at least eight years. Reports indicate that Remington-Keene rifles were in use on the U.S.S. Trenton at least as late as 1887 and, as cited above, the rifles remained on board the U.S.S. Michigan until at least late 1888. Records show spare parts were being procured and sent to the New York Navy Yard in 1886. Navy records also reflect that 210 slings for the Remington-Keene Navy rifles were sent to the New York Navy Yard on May 24, 1887. The Remington-Keene rifles were completely withdrawn from Navy service just before the turn of the 20th Century. The subsequent disposition of these rifles is also unknown, but they were likely sold as surplus on the civilian market. Of all the U.S. military bolt-action magazine repeating rifles of the era, the Remington-Keene Navy rifle is undoubtedly among the rarest examples of the genre today. The commercial-production Remington-Keene arms are fairly rare, but they are seen with more frequency than the U.S. Navy rifle variant. Generally speaking, other than the Navy rifle, the only Remington-Keene arm that seems to be of more than a passing interest to most collectors is the "Indian Police carbine." However, since this carbine wasn't issued as a military arm, it would normally be of little interest to many U.S. martial arms collectors.

Only 250 were manufactured, and most were subjected to the rigors of service aboard Navy warships for the better part of a decade; therefore, there aren't many extant specimens of Remington-Keene U.S. Navy rifles. The rifle is noteworthy in the evolution of the U.S. military bolt-action rifle as it was the only rifle the U.S. military contracted during this period that had an under-barrel tubular magazine. It proved to be a rather unremarkable design with few outstanding features, but it also had no fatal flaws and compared favorably to most of the other contemporary bolt-action rifles fielded by the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy during the late 1870s and 1880s.
There are few U.S. military arms of this era that are as uncommon as a genuine unaltered Remington-Keene U.S. Navy rifle and it surely remains one of the least-known U.S. military arms of the late 19th century.

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