Guidance Requested Sourcing BBLs in Canada

B

B_noser

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Eastern Canada
I am trying to put together a BPCR build and am having difficulty sourcing a bbl.
The build would be put together using either a Martini action or a no. 5 rolling block and would be in 45-70. I have both, but would need a breech block assy for the rolling block - something else I have been looking for without success.
My preference in bbl would be an unchambered blank or pre profiled suitable for 28 to 30" finished length and 1:18 or 1:20 twist. I would prefer pre profiled, but a lot depends on price and availability. I haven't made a decision regarding octagon or round and weight, taper, etc. I am not looking to build a super accurate long range target rifle. It's difficult to find a range much over 100 meters in this neck of the woods.

I'm having difficulty sourcing any suitable bbls in Canada and am open to going with a either Canadian made bbl or a source who can import a bbl from the U.S.

Any guidance would be much appreciated.
 
I always found the big Martinis a little to a lot lacking in the looks dept when made into a custom. YMMV, obviously, but if you are going to put time and a not insubstantial amount of never to be seen again money in to it, it might just as well be as good a rifle as you can make it.
Now, there are certain few of the era specific Sporting and Target Rifles of the ilk, that it all fits together, and "Shaka Zulu" with a line of English soldiers armed with Lever action Winchesters, would never quite look right, but trying to dress one up like a BPCR or a more modern looking sporter, is sorta like dressing Granny up like a stripper for a night out...I think... Just doesn't look...right! :)

Unless you get really lucky, you are probably better off sticking the incomplete roller action aside and buying a decent, complete one, if you wish to build around that. Again, for the amount you will have in it for time and money, starting to accumulate parts to be able to build a rifle that depends on 'maybe' finding a major piece of the action...well, nope. Keep the partial action and have it as an excuse to go to a few more gun shows, but starting from a matching, already fitted properly, set of parts, seems a better bet to me.

Cheers
Trev
 
Sound advice trev,
Personally, I rather like the looks of the Martini action - and I lean more toward the old and obsolete than the new and modern. You are 100% correct with regard to the roller. I have the necessary tooling and believe I could make the missing parts if I had the dimensions, but haven' had any luck coming up with those either. That project would take a good deal of research and I would likely have to send the breech block out to be heat treated. All in all, a project that will likely never happen.
Do you or any of the other readers know if the breech block and associated parts in the Swedish model 1867/89 roller are the same configuration and dimensions as the no 5 Remington? I'm thinking along the line of copying them rather than using them.
 
You DO have the dimensions, you must measure the action you have to find the critical ones, and the rest are all optional, once the part fits securely and locks up safely.

Most of the work would likely be best done on a rotary table on a mill, rather than on a lathe. Once you sit down and study a few pictures of these breech blocks, you will see what I mean.

Cheers
Trev
 
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