Which caliber should I get a Remington sporter rebored?

rwnblack

rwnblack

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I purchased a #1 Remingrton rolling block sporter in 38 rimfire and the bore isn’t great. I am planning on sending it to Ron Smith for reboring and I will chamber it at home. I have ordered MVA rough and ready rear sight (1 screw original design) and a combination beech front sight for it as the tang isn’t drilled and I don’t plan on modifying the action. What calibre do you think I should get it rebored? My options are 40 cal (40-60 maynard), 45 cal (45-70 or 90) or 50 cal (50-70).

I have started creating a website to post pictures of my various black powder projects. Check it out at http://www.gundoctor.ca

Thanks

Rex
 
I could reline it to 38-55 with a TJ liner imported through nine35. It has a fairly heavy 30” octagon barrel so would make a nice 38-55.
 
I'm a fan of the .40 cal as I have 3 of them. A 40-60 Maynard on a Danish roller, a Uberti highwall in 40-65 Win and a 40-70 Sharps Straight built on a Uberti 1885 action. all are 1-16" twist and all shoot the 400 Gr Snover very well. The 40-60 case can be easily made from .303 BR brass and would be my choice based on brass availability.
 
rwnblack said:
I could reline it to 38-55 with a TJ liner imported through nine35. It has a fairly heavy 30” octagon barrel so would make a nice 38-55.
Click to expand...

I wonder which could be accomplished sooner? The reline or the rebore?

I have a Remington 1 1/2 (No. 1 size with octagon top on receiver) in .32RF that is in quite respectable condition, except for the bore, which is poor and has two bulges. The barrel is shorter than yours, which would reduce the cost of the liner somewhat. I have been pondering the best way to go with it.
Firing pin conversion would be the same as your project.
 
Mine has the octagon top as well so I guess it is a 1 1/2 as well. I like the 40 cal rifles as well. I have all the stuff to load for a 40 and it is a caliber that was common in the rolling blocks. The bore and chamber on mine is 0.375 so I will have to check with Ron to see if that is enough of a jump to create a new bore. There is some putting but I don’t think it is very deep. If I order a liner it probably takes about 2 months to get it. Not sure how long it would take Ron but it is probably a similar time frame.
 
Only .40 I have is a Meacham Trapdoor Springfield conversion. Meacham bought up the assets of the Sharps Company, fitted octagon Sharps barrels to surplus 1873s and sporterized the stocks. It is .40 Sharps Straight; have some redrawn .30-40 cases. Need to make a rear sight, then it should be good to go this spring.
 
I would go for a 40 cal and one of the bottleneck cases. I would also suggest basing the cartridge on a 45-70 case because they are relatively cheap and readily available. Looks like you have a metal lathe and can make your own chambering reamer plus loading dies and gives you a lot of freedom instead of chambering for a case with a base diameter over .500

cheers mooncoon
 
Here is the Meacham Springfield .40-70SS sporter:

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What are you planning to shoot in this gun when its finished just BP or are you planning smokeless, if smokeless I would definitely lean towards a new re-barrel as lining with a thin wall liner into a 1860's era steel quality barrel might not cut the mustard.
Another consideration when lining a center fire, especially if you want to use smokeless in it is that it isnt just a .22 rim fire type job for a hand drill and a goop of locktite or epoxy. machining tolerances at the chamber are must be very tight friction fit ( as in seating the liner into the donor barrel with a hardwood block hit with a FBH so seat it) . Two things can happen to a loose fitting liner if a sustancial pressure cartridge is used in it can happen. First is that at the first shot the liner swells to fit the generous drill clearance and stays swelled...now every shot must be hammered out with a squib rod because the cases also swell to fit the liner...second thing is that in a loose fitting bore-liner instance, with every shot of substantial pressure, the backwards thrust of the case cant move the breech block but it can move the liner, increasing head space clearance with every subsequent shot, eventually the chamber moves so far from the breach block that the firing pin wont touch the primer ( by this time the liner is noticeably protruding from the muzzle end.
 
I have devised a plan. I have a very nice green mountain octagon barrel with #3 winchester taper in 40 cal on a High wall right now. I can cut the threads off and fit it to the remington. The barrel will end up about 29 5/8” long so a bit short of 30” but I can live with that. I have to fill a couple of dovetails on the underside of the barrel but that is no problem. I have everything for 40-65 so I am thinking that is what it will become.

Thank you for all your advice.
 
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