I bought this rifle here on the EE, 13 months ago. As it turned out it was a project to get it to the point where it would shoot reliably and accurately. It started life as a Remington Rolling Block, #1 most likely & chambered in a rifle caliber. Then sent to Sweden where it was converted to a shotgun and likely sold a s such. When I bought it, it had a Green Mountain barrel installed and chambered in 38-55. I took it to the range and had nothing but trouble trying to get it to shoot reliably.
I brought it to my friend who is, by his words, "not a gunsmith" but to my mind, is the re-incarnation of one!! He looked it over and proclaimed..."We can fix it!" To be perfectly clear, my part in the rebuild was to bring coffee and hold the light.
First we dis-assembled the rifle and found several things wrong. Buck started by making 2 new action pins and a new "button" to secure the pins. Then the receiver, breach block and hammer were precisely honed on a Sunnen machine to accept the new pins. A new extractor was made as the old one had been bent to keep it from rattling around in it's groove. The breach block was bushed, re-drilled to a smaller diameter and a new firing pin made. The rifle was assembled and checked for headspace. Buck wasn't happy, so the barrel was removed, re-chambered, re-threaded and installed on the rifle. All the metal parts were cleaned up, polished and the whole rifle was rust blued. I then took it to the range and was very pleased with the results! Buck suggested that the rifle was deserving of a new stock. We brought the rifle to Sandy who fashioned a new set of stocks for it. Again, very happy with the results!
Fist, the rifle:
The proof that the work was worth the effort:
This target is at 100 yds. 6 shots were fired.
After a 3 min/angle elevation adjustment: 10 shots were fired for this group.
More to come! The next project will be a .40-70 Sharps Straight on a Danish Rolling Block.
I brought it to my friend who is, by his words, "not a gunsmith" but to my mind, is the re-incarnation of one!! He looked it over and proclaimed..."We can fix it!" To be perfectly clear, my part in the rebuild was to bring coffee and hold the light.
First we dis-assembled the rifle and found several things wrong. Buck started by making 2 new action pins and a new "button" to secure the pins. Then the receiver, breach block and hammer were precisely honed on a Sunnen machine to accept the new pins. A new extractor was made as the old one had been bent to keep it from rattling around in it's groove. The breach block was bushed, re-drilled to a smaller diameter and a new firing pin made. The rifle was assembled and checked for headspace. Buck wasn't happy, so the barrel was removed, re-chambered, re-threaded and installed on the rifle. All the metal parts were cleaned up, polished and the whole rifle was rust blued. I then took it to the range and was very pleased with the results! Buck suggested that the rifle was deserving of a new stock. We brought the rifle to Sandy who fashioned a new set of stocks for it. Again, very happy with the results!
Fist, the rifle:
The proof that the work was worth the effort:
This target is at 100 yds. 6 shots were fired.
After a 3 min/angle elevation adjustment: 10 shots were fired for this group.
More to come! The next project will be a .40-70 Sharps Straight on a Danish Rolling Block.
