Thanks, Men

I want to thank this forum for helping me isolate the cause of my problems with my Remington Rolling Block. :super: I changed out the weak mainspring for a stiff coil spring, and my case separations problems disappeared.:D That hammer was rebounding just as was suggested. I am surprised I didn't encounter more serious results from firing that rifle the way I made it.:yikes:

I find this forum to be expertly monitored by professional reloaders who know their business.:bow:

Thank you,

Jim Tarleton:cool:
Knarled Old Marine
(who thought he knew it all)

Jim:

There is one opportunity to use your thinned down mainspring. If you attach a case deflector to the hammer spur, cut your load a bit & place your ammo in a loading block, you're all set for the Semi-Self Loading RRB match. Perhaps we can get the CMP to add this as a specialty match at CAmp Perry!:)

I love a good sense of humor. Have you ever seen a lever action Remington Rolling Block? DeHass talks about one in his book. I found the patent and bought it. Man, is that one complicated looking mechanism. I have often thought of giving it a try.

Jim

The Remington Hepburne was a lever actioned RRB. My RRB was a .43 Egyptian which I bought when I was in high school. I spent a year trying to get a reloading set up for it. I got a Lyman mold and ordered a box of cartridges from Connecticut Cartridge Co ($1 round in 1967 dollars) but could never find any reloading dies. Just as well as about half of the CCC cases split on the first firing. I got a Numrich .45-70 barrel & had it rebarreled. It's been happy ever since. I found a trigger guard at a gun show, heated it red hot in a fire place, put it in a vice & bent the tang to a 3" radius which made a nice pistol grip. A gun smith welded & then d&t'd a filler inside so the main spring remained where it was supposed to. I made a new butt stock from a blank, not a real good job but it looks OK from a distance.

Fitting a RRB buttstock is a real man's inletting job. I have done just one, and hesitate to do another.

I have a spare rolling block action (BP) that I have been wanting to convert to 38-55 Win. One of the modifications I want to make is a pistol grip. Maybe someday.

Jim

This started out as a 43 cal Spanish rifle from Hunters Lodge in the late 50's. I squared-up the receiver, made a new trigger and sear to get a nice pull and still keep the mainspring. Also bent the tang and had a blank of Calif walnut which I used to stock the rifle. Also made the scope blocks.

I converted the breech to 22rf but could convert it back to center fire by changing the bushing. I bought a 3/4 in 22 rf blank and cut the original barrel to ten inches then bored it out to half inch. I then turned down the last ten inches of the 22rf blank to fit the old barrel.

I sent the action to Cody WY for a case color that cost $65 (ten years ago)

Bob,

You rascal. I am getting the bug again, and those pictures look very familiar. You made a NEW trigger? Why not alter the old one?

I like that color case, which I am set up to do, but never seem to get around to doing one. I still need to make the container with reflex door for the drop. I have the oven (electric 6' x 10" x 10" - about $4500). Are the blocks for the spring and action screw SS'ed on?

Nice work. Did you make the mounts in addition to the bases? Looks like a Lyman 5A. My personal favorite is the Win A5.

You think my Huskavarna BP rolling block is good for the Hornet? I intend to color case harden it myself. And yes, I know the secrets of bringing out the colors.

Jim

Jim, Everything screws on the lower tang, it was easy to bend the tang, just make-up a jig and take your time. I made my own trigger and used a piece of 416 stainless for the sear, really nice trigger pull. I had thought about double set triggers but alot of work on the guard.
Scope is a Lyman 438 (1929 to 1947), buttplate is a steel Rem 513

Carlos Grove who was a western gunsmith made rolling block conversions to lever action. Believe it was during the 1970's. DeHaas also made a lever action conversion too. I shot a new made (Italian) Rem rolling block in the small size action in 22 Hornet years ago, alot of problems.

The case colors are not the Remington style but look nice. Five coats of tung oil on the wood

Bob,

I am impressed. I didn't realize you were doing that work yourself. You obviously have talents of which I wasn't aware. I have been shooting my 7mm RRB, now that I know why the case head came out. My problem with the RRB's has always been the trigger. I am yet to fire one with a nice trigger. The basic design is wonderful, in my humble opinion. It's just that trigger. Time to work on that problem.

Jim

I can't quite pick up my rifle by the trigger when it is cocked - but it is close. I estimate it is a 10-12 lb trigger. At least there is no creep!

The pictures show the pistol grip TG with the filler block brazed in place along with the original TG; the pistol grip area of the stock & all the wood on teh rifle. Forgive the 1903. RtL limits pics of favorite 1903s to just one.

Kirk,

Nice RRB for sure. What vernier sight is that? Windage adjustment?

Who built that 03? That checkering looks very nice.

Jim

Kirk, Take a look at your trigger spring and see how thick and stiff it is. You can test it a little by loosening the rtaining screw and file it thinner to reduce its strength. Make sure to leave the area around the screw hole thick so it does not crack in that area.

The vernier sight was made, if I recall, by a fellow named Bill Ballard who had a shop in Montana about 30 years ago. I may be wrong on the name. It is serviceable & works well. It is case hardened (or at least case color.) In comparing its operation to newer sights as describes by Mike Venturino, it come up lacking; the vernier scale apparently does not translate into MOA adjustments. It has no windage adjustment.

I can't say who made the 1903 stock. Michael Petrov looked at some pictures and ventured it may be from the 20's. The S/N is from 1922.

Jamie:

I decided a long time ago to leave the mainspring as it is & live with the trigger. I'm sure today that a repacement would be fairly easy to come by; when I made the PG, such parts were rare. I may look for a spare at Numrich & thin it but I'll leave the original as is. In the four years I was in college, I put 5,000+ rounds through it & perhaps only another 1,500-2,000 rounds since then. I'm amazed the spring is still OK; first class workmanship! That & all the pins & mating surfaces are still solid with no discernable wear. Not bad for an action that dates from 1870!

Sobering

Remington Rolling Block adventures to keep in mind.

Actually it gets worse than this photo.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...07/brb05-1.jpg

OOPS!


What's the story? Overload or too tired of an action

Have a #4 RRb, in 22LR, needs major work as the tang was D&T for tang sight, but the thinness of it cracked across it. Need to determine the metal composition to re-weld and the re-HT the action to restore it to use.

Barrel needs relining, so question here is: will a old Remington 500 series barrel have the same rifleing as the original?

Thanks.