After the culmination of the Cardwell-Childers Reforms on 1 July 1881, the Sherwood Foresters (Derbyshire Regiment) was formed (later the Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) and the Robin Hood Rifles became its 3rd Volunteer Battalion.
In 1900, due to the Second Boer War, the Rifles experienced a substantial increase in size.