MY 1871 Rolling block pistol and huge Ammo! pics
- Thread starter dingus
- Start date
gunasauras
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Western Manitoba
SWEET PIECE. Can't wait to hear of your results either.....that's a whole lot o hand cannon...
These are great pistols. I have one in the original .50 US pistol caliber. With 300 grainers from the original mould this pistol will consistently hit chickens at 200 meters. It shoots as well as the T/C Contenders I've had which is pretty good.
Many of these pistols were rechambered long ago when .50/70 surplus ammo was plentiful and the .50 US pistol ammo was scarce. It was a simple rechamber because the .50 US pistol is just a shorter version of the .50/70 Gov. In the 20s and 30s there were a lot of these pistols rebarreled also to the then modern .38/.357 and many other rounds for target shooting and hunting. It's interesting to think, one of these could be rebarreled to a modern cartridge not on the excluded list for antiques and you could have an antique in a modern round. Of course you would want to keep in mind they are 135 year old pistols and pressure has to be watched carefully. They are a strong pistol though and I load mine with Unique with the 300 grain orginal bullet on top. I use shot buffer for filler and put a hard card wad under the cast bullet base. I have also tried loading .44 bullets in .50 plastic muzzle loader sabots and loading them in the .50 rounds. Accuracy was alright but not as good as with the original bullet. The sabots I think are .500" in diameter and the original bullets drop at .512" then are sized to .510". The bores run from .508" to .510" as I understand it.
The accuracy of these old pistols when properly fed is just amazing. This and some other original Remington pistols I have and shoot makes me believe Remington was on top of what they were doing in those days with pistols. They tend to be larger and heavier than the others of their era, but strong and accurate. These rolling block pistols were popular in the days of the bison hunts but were slow to reload and shoot for other uses. In hunting the single shot was not such a disadvantage and it made up for it in power. Excellent for big game hunting.
Dingus, let us know how it's shooting and how those 300 grainers I sent you are working out.
I would like to find one of these pistols with a bad bore to rebarrel and test in a modern round with better sights. I understand the small rifle action can also be converted to a pistol. Though in Canada that would likely be a legal nightmare to get it going.
This would also make a great short range hunting carbine in rolling block rifle. I'm sure the .50/70 would work just fine in 20" of barrel.
Good luck and let us know how the old pistol is working.
Rob
Many of these pistols were rechambered long ago when .50/70 surplus ammo was plentiful and the .50 US pistol ammo was scarce. It was a simple rechamber because the .50 US pistol is just a shorter version of the .50/70 Gov. In the 20s and 30s there were a lot of these pistols rebarreled also to the then modern .38/.357 and many other rounds for target shooting and hunting. It's interesting to think, one of these could be rebarreled to a modern cartridge not on the excluded list for antiques and you could have an antique in a modern round. Of course you would want to keep in mind they are 135 year old pistols and pressure has to be watched carefully. They are a strong pistol though and I load mine with Unique with the 300 grain orginal bullet on top. I use shot buffer for filler and put a hard card wad under the cast bullet base. I have also tried loading .44 bullets in .50 plastic muzzle loader sabots and loading them in the .50 rounds. Accuracy was alright but not as good as with the original bullet. The sabots I think are .500" in diameter and the original bullets drop at .512" then are sized to .510". The bores run from .508" to .510" as I understand it.
The accuracy of these old pistols when properly fed is just amazing. This and some other original Remington pistols I have and shoot makes me believe Remington was on top of what they were doing in those days with pistols. They tend to be larger and heavier than the others of their era, but strong and accurate. These rolling block pistols were popular in the days of the bison hunts but were slow to reload and shoot for other uses. In hunting the single shot was not such a disadvantage and it made up for it in power. Excellent for big game hunting.
Dingus, let us know how it's shooting and how those 300 grainers I sent you are working out.
I would like to find one of these pistols with a bad bore to rebarrel and test in a modern round with better sights. I understand the small rifle action can also be converted to a pistol. Though in Canada that would likely be a legal nightmare to get it going.
This would also make a great short range hunting carbine in rolling block rifle. I'm sure the .50/70 would work just fine in 20" of barrel.
Good luck and let us know how the old pistol is working.
Rob
the number 2 frame might be ok for rebarreling but the number 4, which is the smallest of the rolling blocks, is suitable only for .22 rimfire. I would suggest a read of Frank deHaas before modifying any of the guns.
cheers mooncoon
cheers mooncoon
Well that was a blast 
man the thing kicks pretty good to.
Accuracy needs some work as it was like 8 inch groups at 25 yds.
One rd went high and hit a solid steel ibeam at our range at 45 meters it flattened the 300 gr bullet like a loonie! there was Wheatlets stuck in the back side of the bullet.LOL
Lotsa fun but we gota tweek the loads or bullet or something as it should shoot better than that.
The Wheatlets cleaned the bore better than 10hrs with a Brass brush
Were gona slug the bore. see if its Bigger than .515
I Love this gun tho
man the thing kicks pretty good to.Accuracy needs some work as it was like 8 inch groups at 25 yds.
One rd went high and hit a solid steel ibeam at our range at 45 meters it flattened the 300 gr bullet like a loonie! there was Wheatlets stuck in the back side of the bullet.LOL
Lotsa fun but we gota tweek the loads or bullet or something as it should shoot better than that.
The Wheatlets cleaned the bore better than 10hrs with a Brass brush
Were gona slug the bore. see if its Bigger than .515
I Love this gun tho
Casull said:
I happen to have one of those with good rifleing
Perhaps if Dingus could spare a couple 50-70 cases? I would attempt a deer with it this year! .348s will work but the rims not big enough for the extractor to catch
Love that Rem rolling pistol thou
Track the wolf has 50 70 cases for 89 cents each they ship up here i just bought a pile of diffrent starline brass off them.
buy 5 or 500 they dont seem to care.
No customs issues so they must have all the permits to.
I bought starline solids head 45 scofeild cases 16 cts each instead of 40 cts each here at gun shows Thats a big diffrence.
I bought 100 X 45 long colt starline solid head brass for $17 us but our Dollars so high right now is the time to load up on cases.
89 cents for brand new solid head starline 50 70 brass the guys around here want $2 each for old worn out ones.
buy 5 or 500 they dont seem to care.
No customs issues so they must have all the permits to.
I bought starline solids head 45 scofeild cases 16 cts each instead of 40 cts each here at gun shows
Thats a big diffrence.I bought 100 X 45 long colt starline solid head brass for $17 us but our Dollars so high right now is the time to load up on cases.
89 cents for brand new solid head starline 50 70 brass the guys around here want $2 each for old worn out ones.
dingus said:Track the wolf has 50 70 cases for 89 cents each they ship up here i just bought a pile of diffrent starline brass off them.
buy 5 or 500 they dont seem to care.
No customs issues so they must have all the permits to.
I bought starline solids head 45 scofeild cases 16 cts each instead of 40 cts each here at gun shows
I bought 100 X 45 long colt starline solid head brass for $17 us but our Dollars so high right now is the time to load up on cases.
89 cents for brand new solid head starline 50 70 brass the guys around here want $2 each for old worn out ones.
WOW..I have been watchin shows for couple years & never found anything but a single old loaded round for $10.
1 question thou?? What is.."Track the wolf " ?
Do they have a website or is this an individual?
Thanks
Dingus, 8" groups at 25 yards ... did you slug your bore? If so, how does the groove diameter compare with the bullet diameter? If the rifling is worn, a gas check might make a big improvement.
That thing must kick like a bloomin' mule!! I love it!
That thing must kick like a bloomin' mule!! I love it!
I am just starting with this gun and Loading it.
Casull has told me i shoulda put the Wads behind the bullet. Im gona try that.
His bullets are the corect bullets for this gun, Tho my rifleing is a bit more worn than his Rem Rolling Block Orignal 50 caliber gun.
I Love shooting it and the Kick is not that bad at all tho you know your shootin a canon LOL
It was like about a hot 45 long colt in a six shooter but diffrent. No crazy outa control recoil at all. 6inch muzzel lift is all. That was with only slightly more than half a case full of pyrodex tho.
Im gona spend more time reloading it soon. I got some over sized rd ball im gona try with full pyrodex loads as rd balls dont cause as much presure or recoil so ive been told.
Casull has told me i shoulda put the Wads behind the bullet. Im gona try that.
His bullets are the corect bullets for this gun, Tho my rifleing is a bit more worn than his Rem Rolling Block Orignal 50 caliber gun.
I Love shooting it and the Kick is not that bad at all tho you know your shootin a canon LOL
It was like about a hot 45 long colt in a six shooter but diffrent. No crazy outa control recoil at all. 6inch muzzel lift is all. That was with only slightly more than half a case full of pyrodex tho.
Im gona spend more time reloading it soon. I got some over sized rd ball im gona try with full pyrodex loads as rd balls dont cause as much presure or recoil so ive been told.
Last edited:
