Uberti 1871 Rolling Block .22lr Review

[cableguy]

Hello and good day!


Historians of the gun world say the rolling block is what saved Remington.

Arguably the strongest and simplest action ever created.

I was sold on just those two factors.

Let's have a look at what the heck they mean by that!

Before we start, koodos again to Clay and Prophet River for bringing this in for me.


Specs:

Caliber: .22lr
Barrel Length: 22"
Materials: C/H Frame, Blue BBL, Brass T/G
Magazine Capacity: 1
Overall Length: 36"
Barrel: Round
Number of Grooves: 6
Twist: Right
Weight: 4.5 lbs
Stock: Grade A walnut with brass butt plate
MSRP: $709 US

The rifle is well balanced in hand and very slim in profile and feel but still a nice weighty feel.

I would say the barrel is a medium sporter.

The fit and finish is very good...not excellent. Where the foregrip meets the receiver, there's a slight gap and the stock to receiver is slightly uneven where they meet. Again subtle but noticeable.

The color cast is nicely done with no signs of splotches.

The brass trigger guard and butt plate give it a classy look.

The sights are typical blade/buckhorn but very strong and sturdy....the buckhorns don't wiggle at all.

The wood is finished in a high gloss and I lucked out with some gorgeous strips in the grain.

The barrel too is finished in a deep blued polish.

For those not familiar with the rolling block, this is a single shot with a rolling block breech to cover the cartridge.

Once closed, you can proceed to fire.

The rolling block is smooth and strong with a very positive lock, especially when it reaches the last cm before closing. You can feel the leaf spring assist in closing it the rest of the way.

The hammer pull weight is no more than any typical lever gun or such...

One thing that I did notice immediately was the trigger design...it's a two piece...meaning for those who know about the "Marlin trigger flop", you know what I'm talking about.

I would say the trigger weight is about 4 - 5 lbs with a clean, crisp break.

Upon extraction, notice the small little tab at the bottom of the chamber. It's slides out as you open the breech block and makes the spent cartridge back out about half a cm. Enough for your fingertips to grab. But as I spent more time downrange, I noticed if you open the block faster, it will flick the whole cartridge right out.

There really is something special with the whole experience of a rolling block single shot that one must try in order to understand.

I had so much fun just working the action and members at the range just wouldn't leave me alone, it was hard to leave the range.

This was my first experience with any kind of rolling block and it's too bad I didn't start sooner.

 

[vagrantviking]

Looks pretty nice!

Considering Remington had the design figured out 150 years ago it's unfortunate that they have to charge so much. At least it's the most attractive variation with the flowing angle at the back of the action.
My original has an extractor that's as wide as the chamber which makes the narrow one look a little odd to my eye but sounds like it works well. The 2 part trigger sounds different than normal too. I would be interested to see some pictures of the inside if you ever take it apart.

I really love the rolling block action too and have 5 or 6 around the house in different levels of completion. Check out Tradex if you have any interest in a more affordable centerfire. If you think the .22 is fun you will love touching off a 50-70 with case of black powder behind a 500gr bullet!

 

[brybenn]

I wish the center fires were case colored. I've been thinking about a 22 mag in one but just can't justify the price.

 

[BlackPowderBurner]

WOW! This has to be one the most aesthetically pleasing .22s I have seen! Kinda makes you wanna stick a big ole brass scope on it and shoot half pint bison silhouettes

 

[BCRider]

I don't have any single shots as nice as yours. Instead I've got a few of the lower end swing down block "boy's rifles". But I sure do agree with you on the fun factor of working a simple single shot. It's superb fun to jam a bunch of reloads between the fingers of my front hand and plink away at one of those flip up resetting rimfire targets set up out at 25 yards.

 

[trevj]

I am one of the guys that will argue vehemently against the "strongest" statement!

LOTS of these actions were blown up at the beginnings of the smokeless era. They were plenty strong for what they were designed for, which was as a conversion action to update military arms to fire cartridges, but they have nothing for strength compared to the actions which used a vertical sliding breech block, such as the Sharps, the Remington Hepburn, the much later Browning and Winchester models, etc.

Remington was barely interested in Sporting arms, in the era it was pounding out literally TONS of these actions for sale around the world. There was good money being made, and the customers were not fashion driven, or fussy, as the Sporting guns market could be.

Still, not a bad looking little rifle! Looks like a shooter too!

Have fun!

Cheers
Trev

 

[mkrnel]

I am one of the guys that will argue vehemently against the "strongest" statement!

LOTS of these actions were blown up at the beginnings of the smokeless era. They were plenty strong for what they were designed for, which was as a conversion action to update military arms to fire cartridges, but they have nothing for strength compared to the actions which used a vertical sliding breech block, such as the Sharps, the Remington Hepburn, the much later Browning and Winchester models, etc.

Remington was barely interested in Sporting arms, in the era it was pounding out literally TONS of these actions for sale around the world. There was good money being made, and the customers were not fashion driven, or fussy, as the Sporting guns market could be.

Still, not a bad looking little rifle! Looks like a shooter too!

Have fun!

Cheers
Trev

Lots of the actions which used a vertical sliding breech block were blown up at the beginnings of the smokeless era too and are still when like the rolling blocks overloaded with smokeless powder and fired with high pressure loads.

Just be aware that a lot of those early old falling blocks have also been permanently damaged by loading them too hot. Even if the design is strong the steel and malleable iron used in them is not and is thin in areas that count.

Below is a normally low to mid range power calibre .32-40 one that blew up, the barrel mostly held but the action completely gave way and detached itself from the rear of the action and butt, it is shown here just sitting back together but is actually in two pieces -

Even a modern falling block action like this Browning B78 can blow up if abused with a wrong load.

 

[wbaad]

Beautiful rifle!
Would love one in .357

 

[BCRider]

Beautiful rifle!
Would love one in .357

Pedersoli makes a baby rolling block in .357 and it also comes in .45Colt. Similar price to cableguy's rimfire rifle shown here.

The only issue that puts me off on these two guns is the shorter barrel. It loses too much of the classic "long gun" look for my eyes. A "look" that Uberti kept by using the 22inch barrel on this one.

It's funny that these actions got a very good reputation in the black powder days as "stout" but in reality are rather weak. It seriously underlines the difference in the nature of the recoil energy from black powder to smokeless. So I'm not surprised to see the damage pictures shown above. Folks need to respect these old designs even when done with modern metals. Looking at the recoil force direction and the way the metal is distributed there's not a lot of "meat" that is there to withstand the direct forces. Much of the support from the receiver in a rolling and falling block receiver is indirect support or has shorter lines of support between the chamber and the openings.

 

[trevj]

Lots of the actions which used a vertical sliding breech block were blown up at the beginnings of the smokeless era too and are still when like the rolling blocks overloaded with smokeless powder and fired with high pressure loads.

Just be aware that a lot of those early old falling blocks have also been permanently damaged by loading them too hot. Even if the design is strong the steel and malleable iron used in them is not and is thin in areas that count.

Below is a normally low to mid range power calibre .32-40 one that blew up, the barrel mostly held but the action completely gave way and detached itself from the rear of the action and butt, it is shown here just sitting back together but is actually in two pieces -

Even a modern falling block action like this Browning B78 can blow up if abused with a wrong load.

Yup, you can blow up anything if you put enough effort into it, or are stupid or careless with your loading. What do you know about the specifics of those shown? Seems kind of pointless to wave them about as if they are somehow typical. Unless you can provide the details and background to tell what the story is, all they are is random destroyed gun pictures, and of little to no relevance.

Pretty much every competitive shooting season sees another blown up gun somewhere. Trick is to learn from the mistakes of others, an avoid those.

Seems the leading cause of destroyed target gun is guys not paying attention enough, esp. with duplex loads. Two shots of fast pistol powder makes it blow instead of making it burn clean and ignite well, as one measure does, eh. And on top of that, I know that at least one fellow over on the ASSRA forum has repeatedly ringed new barrels with loads that he thought were going to do so, proving that he was correct in his theories as to how and why that happened too.

Rollers got nothing on the strength of the falling block actions. Pressure levels that destroy a roller are about where a decent falling block is just getting into it's groove, so to speak. This does not take into account the random element of 100+ year old metallurgy, which is present in all guns of that era.

Further to all that, the failure mode of a rolling block, if it does go, is a lot more likely to send parts back into the face of the shooter. There was a case of a fellow stuffing random ammo into a Swede Rolling Block, which killed him, a few years back. The top portion of the breech block entered his eye and settled in his brain and sinuses. Stupid is, as stupid does, and Darwin always gets his due!

Cheers
Trev

 

[mkrnel]

Notice how the barrel held fine in the above old Winchester Falling Block .32-40 rifle, the .32-40 cartridge is a very moderate loading and if the case was loaded too high a pressure the usual thing in a very strong action firearm would be for the case and barrel to fail before the action fractured and broke in two. This just shows that a old action that some consider to be very strong is not really that strong when made from 140 year old technology and metals when compared to modern actions made from modern high strength steels.

The pressure levels that destroyed this old Winchester Falling Block would be considered mild by today's standards in new rifles but that did not stop the above .32-40 from self destructing. The pressures were not high enough to even rupture the .32-40 case still stuck in the receiver. The primer did rupture (probably because of a large un-bushed firing pin hole) and the escaping gas and pressure was what destroyed this Falling block. This .32-40 Falling Block broke in two from just a 35,000 PSI load and a ruptured primer.

Rolling Blocks from around 1900 on could easily and safely fire 50,000 PSI loads (they were chambered at the time in .303, 7.65x53mm, 7x57mm, 7.62x54Rmm, 8mm Lebel and other high pressure cartridges), the same can be said for Falling Blocks from the same time period. They were no less dangerous and many, many more were made and used (in the tens of millions compared to maybe a couple hundred thousand at best Falling Blocks) and you do not hear or read about people being killed regularly from shooting the many hundreds of thousands of Rolling Blocks still in use.

Notice there is very little evidence of a typical mass gas escape around the rear of the case and barrel/breech face. The original Falling Block design does not allow for a safe and efficient escape of gas in the reasonably likely case of a ruptured primer. I have had ruptured primers many times with Mauser rifles and apart from some pitting of the bolt face (a ring around the firing pin hole) they continue on shooting without issue.

That person that you refer who was killed when his old and poor condition Swedish Rolling Block failed was found to have fired a .500 Nitro Express FMJ cartridge in it, I dare say that if you had a Falling Block from the same vintage and chambered in .50 Swedish BP and you put a .500 Nitro Express FMJ round in it and fired it you would likely end up in the same condition.

Now the bottom, modern made Browning Falling Block action that failed is considered by many to be very strong, but when it failed the barrel and receiver ring held but the rear of the action fractured and split apart causing the bolt and other internals to leave the action. This would not likely happen in a modern bolt action rifle or even a M98 Mauser but does show that even new technology and metals do not make a falling block rifle a superior design.

 

[trevj]

Notice how the barrel held fine in the above old Winchester Falling Block .32-40 rifle, the .32-40 cartridge is a very moderate loading and if the case was loaded too high a pressure the usual thing in a very strong action firearm would be for the case and barrel to fail before the action fractured and broke in two. This just shows that a old action that some consider to be very strong is not really that strong when made from 140 year old technology and metals when compared to modern actions made from modern high strength steels.

The pressure levels that destroyed this old Winchester Falling Block would be considered mild by today's standards in new rifles but that did not stop the above .32-40 from self destructing. The pressures were not high enough to even rupture the .32-40 case still stuck in the receiver. The primer did rupture (probably because of a large un-bushed firing pin hole) and the escaping gas and pressure was what destroyed this Falling block. This .32-40 Falling Block broke in two from just a 35,000 PSI load and a ruptured primer.

Rolling Blocks from around 1900 on could easily and safely fire 50,000 PSI loads (they were chambered at the time in .303, 7.65x53mm, 7x57mm, 7.62x54Rmm, 8mm Lebel and other high pressure cartridges), the same can be said for Falling Blocks from the same time period. They were no less dangerous and many, many more were made and used (in the tens of millions compared to maybe a couple hundred thousand at best Falling Blocks) and you do not hear or read about people being killed regularly from shooting the many hundreds of thousands of Rolling Blocks still in use.

Notice there is very little evidence of a typical mass gas escape around the rear of the case and barrel/breech face. The original Falling Block design does not allow for a safe and efficient escape of gas in the reasonably likely case of a ruptured primer. I have had ruptured primers many times with Mauser rifles and apart from some pitting of the bolt face (a ring around the firing pin hole) they continue on shooting without issue.

That person that you refer who was killed when his old and poor condition Swedish Rolling Block failed was found to have fired a .500 Nitro Express FMJ cartridge in it, I dare say that if you had a Falling Block from the same vintage and chambered in .50 Swedish BP and you put a .500 Nitro Express FMJ round in it and fired it you would likely end up in the same condition.

Now the bottom, modern made Browning Falling Block action that failed is considered by many to be very strong, but when it failed the barrel and receiver ring held but the rear of the action fractured and split apart causing the bolt and other internals to leave the action. This would not likely happen in a modern bolt action rifle or even a M98 Mauser but does show that even new technology and metals do not make a falling block rifle a superior design.

OK, so what you are saying then, is that you DON'T actually know the stories behind these specific guns, just that they fit your intended narrative.

The High wall you show, looks very similar to any of several blown up in the last few years, by folks reloading breech seated cartridges on the firing line at 200 yard target meets. 32-40 is VERY popular there, and is one of the traditionally used target calibers.

Both have the look of overloads. The Winchester looks rather like the results of a very large load of pistol powder, the Browning like a double load or a obstructed barrel causing the blowup. But that is as much speculation as your using them as examples of why they are not 'strong' without posting the background info.

Yep, that was the one, with the roller. Random cartridges stuffed into an old gun. Stupid. But the failure mode was the actual point. I have seen pictures of pretty mangled up hands, but no information that says the breech blocks were prone to go in through the shooters eye when they failed on a falling block.

Come back to the table when you have some specifics on the two guns you posted.

Cheers
Trev

 

[a j cave]

Regardless of RB strengths or weakness that is a nice looking 22. I doubt if you will overload it and it will be a pleasure to use for your grandkids. Just injoy.

 

[trevj]

Regardless of RB strengths or weakness that is a nice looking 22. I doubt if you will overload it and it will be a pleasure to use for your grandkids. Just injoy.

Yeah, it is.

They done a pretty good job on it.

Cheers
Trev

 

[trevj]

Well, so much for the BS supposition that the load would be considered mild, that destroyed the High Wall. Owners story here. http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=132097 22 grains of Unique under a 170 grain bullet. Anyone with a pressure calc software want to run that?

The Browning pictures show up on a 24 Hour campfire thread and the supposition was that the owner stuck a .250 Savage round into his .22-250. Here.http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/6294359/all/Mule_Deer_bolt_actions_and_gas Gotta scroll a ways down.

Neither is stellar 'proof' of weakness, just proof that you can destroy anything with enough effort or bad luck.

Cheers
Trev

 

[mkrnel]

Well, so much for the BS supposition that the load would be considered mild, that destroyed the High Wall. Owners story here. http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=132097 22 grains of Unique under a 170 grain bullet. Anyone with a pressure calc software want to run that?

The Browning pictures show up on a 24 Hour campfire thread and the supposition was that the owner stuck a .250 Savage round into his .22-250. Here.http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...cs/6294359/all/Mule_Deer_bolt_actions_and_gas Gotta scroll a ways down.

Neither is stellar 'proof' of weakness, just proof that you can destroy anything with enough effort or bad luck.

Cheers
Trev

The below Unique load information I found on other reloading forums.

The .32-40 has a case capacity of 48 grains of water, a .308 win has 53 grains capacity. A .30-30 has 45 grs.

10.0 grains of Unique behind a 150 to 200gr cast bullet is the universal cast bullet load for everything from the 30-30 through the 30-06.

The mid size cartridges generally do better with 11-12gr loads and the 30-06 with 12-14 depending on the "middle weight" bullet.

But 10 grains or more of Unique and a light to moderate weight bullet approximates the 32-20 to 30 carbine and that will do for most game smaller than deer in size to 100 yards.

17grs of Unique behind a 160 gr cast lead bullet gives a decent and accurate load of about 1650fps out of a .30-06 to 150 yards. It kicks like a 30-30.

17grs of Unique generates just shy of 50,000 PSI in a .308 with a 200gr. hard cast bullet per Quickload.

Loadbook says to start at 10.0 Unique for 1368 fps and 23,400 cup and work up to 15.0 gr for 1816 fps and 37,700 cup with a .308 Win. 165 gr RNFP plain base lead cast bullet.

I also read of a double charged load in a No. 4 Enfield .303. The charge was supposed to be 12.0 grs. of Unique, with a 205 gr. hard cast bullet, but it turned out to be 24.0 grs. No harm to the rifle at all and the only initial indication was sharply increased recoil. The bolt was difficult to open, but the case came out. No harm whatsoever to the rifle.

22 grs of Unique behind a 170gr .32-40 bullet is probably around 55-60,000 psi. which admittedly is too high for these old BP guns but not higher than what many Rolling Blocks from around 1900 could handle or were proofed tested for before being issued and used by many armies of the day.

While not recommended, bolt action rifles chambered in .270 have fired .308 Win rounds in them by mistake without failure, and a noted firearms authority (P.O. Ackley) tried many times to blow up a 6.5mm barrelled Japanese Arisaka rifle with a new cut .30-06 chamber shooting .30-06 FMJ military ammo through the 6.5mm bore without success, a similar test was done on a Italian 6.5mm Carcano rifle and 7.62x39mm ammo without it failing.

Mauser M98 rifles in good condition have held up to 100,000 psi test loads without failure, they more often start failing at around 120,000 psi unless they have some issue like bore obstructions or excessive headspace.

This is what a typical high pressure casehead rupture looks like with the resulting powder burns -

 

[a j cave]

This post is getting way off from the rimfire 22 that the OP started. I have interest in case rupture as I had one but not in the 22 falling/rolling/martini rifles this thread started.