Rolling block rebuild advise sought.

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Willy Tincup

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Gentlemen:
I recently got to handle 1 of the Swedish / Remington rolling blocks in 8 x 58 Danish and was really impressed by the smoothness and quality of the action.
Now I'm thinking of buying 1 and 'possibly' having it done up in 1 of the following:
1- use the existing barrel and recut/ rechamber to 32-40. Not sure there is enough material to do this.
2-find a good used 25 cal [something like a 250 Savage barrel] and have it rechambered to 256 Winchester. [I already have a 22 Jet and .225 Win]
3-have it done up in 38-55 but that may require a new barrel purchase and don't think it makes any sense financially.

I've been quoted 200-225$ to rechamber and fit the barrel.

Any pros and cons.......or advise.......or warnings.......or thoughts.....or ...??

Any .257 or 38-55 barrels lying around collecting dust?
Thanks for your input..............................wTc
 
We built out a #1 Remington in 45-70, and a #4 remington in 22LR both turned out great! I have no first hand knowledge of the swedish ones, but I say go for it. Its a great project. I have another .458 barrel same as the one we used on the rollingblock if you were interested in a 45-70. If it was me I would rebarrel it with a fresh tube.....I wouldnt spend more money on an old barrel...but thats me.
 
Willy Tincup, If you can get a rolling block in 8x58 with a decent bore, it would be well worth your while to leave it as is. These rifles already command a decent price and will only go up in value. The 8x58 is a powerful cartridge that is on par or better than many modern cartridges. Brass is available from GRAF and dies are available from RCBS.
If your bound and determined to convert one of these rifles, go ahead, but I think you would be better off going to a gunshow and buying one already converted for about the same price as you're going to pay for an original.
 
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Re rechambering an 8 mm to a 32-40, I think the 8mm cartridge is fatter than the 32-40 and you would have to set the barrel back in order to do that. If you rebarrel to a caliber larger than .34, you should be able to de register the gun, assuming the frame is pre 1898. Instead of 38-55, my favourite is 38-56 and use a faster twist to accomodate a 300 gr slug. As Double Gun says, 45-70 is a good choice as well

cheers mooncoon
 
I want to do something similar. I have an unchambered 7/8" dia barrel (bore dia. in 45Colt) that I want installed on a "plugged" Swedish carbine of mine. While the external barrel diameter is a close match to the original, I'd imagine that a bushing would be required to mate the threads at the breech.

Carbine.jpg
 
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I'll agree that there is charm to the .32-40 (I read too many Lucian Cary stories). But I would go the new barrel route and find someone who can provide a quality tube with Ballard rifling. I'm sure MT Chambers could supply suitable soft lead bullets and Ben likely has valuable opinions on the subject if he sees this thread.
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys. So just to confuse the issue I have ordered 3 rolling blocks; 1 in 8 x 58R, 1 in 20ga to shoot and 1 in 16ga that has a wobbly stock and hope to make it up into a 256 Win or 32-40 depending on what I find in barrels. Have accesss to an 8 x 58r that has been taken off another rifle. Have to discuss it with the smith and do some measuring to see if theres enough material to set the barrel back and rechamber to 32-40.
 
Andy, when the Danes re chambered the rolling blocks to 8x58R, they didn't make up special loads for it. They issued the same ammunition used in the Krag rifles.

The rolling block is a tough design and the Danes or Swedes for that matter wouldn't have bothered with the conversions if they were worried about weakness.

I'm not trying to bust your balls here. I'm just trying to find out where your information is coming from. I load my Swedish rolling block to the same load as the Danes used. There isn't any sign of stretching or flattened primers and the recoil is negligible. Pressures are in the 40,000 psi range according to the book.

I've heard the US roling blocks are a different ball game though but, I can't prove that one way or the other either.
 
If you know me at all, you know I don't cry wolf and am not afraid to do things considered unsafe my others (after research and forethought) - heck I shoot Cooey Carcanos and a Bannerman Mosin Nagant! I got my warning here: dutchman.rebooty.com/8x58rd.html The guy's an authority and I am listening to him. The brass will not be where your warnings are, it will be in the receiver, where if you're lucky it will just bulge the sides out and loosen the breechblock and trigger. If you stick to 40K psi that's all you'll likely see over time, but push it higher and things could go catastrophic.

bearhunter said:
Andy, when the Danes re chambered the rolling blocks to 8x58R, they didn't make up special loads for it. They issued the same ammunition used in the Krag rifles.

The rolling block is a tough design and the Danes or Swedes for that matter wouldn't have bothered with the conversions if they were worried about weakness.

I'm not trying to bust your balls here. I'm just trying to find out where your information is coming from. I load my Swedish rolling block to the same load as the Danes used. There isn't any sign of stretching or flattened primers and the recoil is negligible. Pressures are in the 40,000 psi range according to the book.

I've heard the US roling blocks are a different ball game though but, I can't prove that one way or the other either.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Andy, I appreciate it. Like I said, no offence intended. My load data comes from Norma.

Unfortunately, I was using the older data. I will now pull those bullets left and load to the lower pressure tables.

Thanks again
 
rolling block 8/58

Bear hunter have made up three Swedish rolling blocks into wildcats just because the actions are all case harden and will take cup pressures over 40000 they are great to work with and I have had know problems with signs of pressure.
 
Rook Rifle, the data I was using, came from Norma about 8 years ago.

Like you I felt that 40,000psi loads were safe. Upon checking out Andy's link above, I now have some doubts as to the strength of this action.
I've always been under the impression that 40,000psi was just fine, especially as many were built in 7x57mauser.

The Swedes and Norma are renowned for pushing the envelope with the pressures they load to. If they are having concerns, it's time for another look.

Like you, I've seen and handled rolling blocks made up in everything from 303Brit to 348 Win. I've never seen one come apart yet. I've also heard the same said about Martini Enfield rifles in 303Brit. I've literally put thousands of rounds through mine and recently magnafluxed the parts. Nothing to show any problems.

From the article Andy refers to, there isn't any warning, other than maybe a bulged barrel, just a catastrophic failure.

I will definitely look into this further and as I don't shoot the Swede rolling block on a regular basis, I won't be bothered by not shooting it for a while. It's at least rated at 95%condition, so I only shoot it as a treat. It never will see the bush again. The bear and deer taken with it went about 20 meters each before dropping and that was good enough as far as I'm concerned. The nice thing about it is its accuracy.
 
I think most good actions will take a lot but these things were built over a hundred years ago when quality control and metalurgy weren't at their finest. Attitudes regarding the value of a soldiers life were not terribly enlightened either. A catastrophic failure rate of 5% might not have bothered them at all back in that era.

The website that Andy refers too has given me some good data and I'm going to go along with the approach that the author recommends myself.
 
I'd junk the barrel and wood, get a good oct. heavy barrel from Badger bl., stock from Tree Bone carving, cal. over .34 and deregister it. Next I would order a nice set trigger from Lone Star and a Side lever, grind off the ugly thumb piece which won't be required with the side lever.... I think I'd go with an orig. Rem. chambering like a .44/100 Rem. It would look like a No.3 Long Range Creedmoor rifle, one of the most beautiful factory rifles ever made.(except for the side lever, but the ugly thumb piece on the Euro guns has to go).
Or you could leave it as it is.
 
Thats a lovely idea Ben but I'm thinking that it might be simpler to just call up Lonestar and have them send up one made like that in the first place. They sure make some fine pieces!!

What do they run now these days - $8-$10K? I've seen a couple originals but the wife seems against the idea of selling the house to raise the funds....

I've got a couple Tradeex rolling blocks that I'm going to get barrels for and I know an accomplished stock builder. Got all the dies and made some brass for the 8X58R I have but need to experiment more before deciding what I'm going to do with it in the long run.
 
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