Advice for building Rolling Block

[taylorz1]

Hello

As someone who has gone this route before...if you want to build a rolling block because you want to build a rolling block ie you like working with your hands, you want to be shooting a project that you had a part in building etc etc then I wish you the best and would listen to the advice above. If you are considering this because you want a quality BPCR rifle for less money- I would say that the project may not work out the way you are hoping. Im just going to toss out some round numbers here. Some of the costs may be a little less and some may be more...maybe a lot more. I am going to assume that all finish work is going to be done by you. Having the action case hardened and the barrel struck and blued professionally will blow the budget out of the park. So will having any of the woodwork done by someone else. A quality donor action that doesnt need major parts replaced or repaired $250, A quality barrel $350 ($367 on gm right now), stock blank straight grip plain walnut $225, fitting the barrel/cutting a front sight dovetail and D/T the tang $600. So for $1425 you can have a barreled action and stock blank in the white ready for fit and finish. If you do an average job finishing the gun you will have a gun you will enjoy and can say you had a part in building...it will be worth significantly less than the accumulated parts should you want to sell it but you will have had the pleasure of working on it. Alternatively you can look around and find a used plain but very fine shiloh for under $2000 that will be far superior to anything most home gunsmiths can produce and will retain its value over time. Not trying to dissuade you from your project just voicing my experiences from seeing lots of guys walk the same road.

[mdeland]

That is all very true if you have to pay for the work and a well kept Shiloh (best 74s made) will always hold more resale value. Just depends on what you want and can afford.
In the rifle pictured all I had to pay for was the wood and GM barrel! It was a fun project for me.

[mdeland]

I forgot, I did have to buy the action as well but it was before getting the stock and barrel at a later date to begin the project. The work is mine and I had the tooling before the build began. I have about 800.00 in the whole project.
I see now I should have timed the butt screws. It can still be done.

[Perentie]

I have a thread on a Rolling Block project going on over at Cast Boolits.
May be of interest.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthr ... ck-Project

[DAVE ROELLE]

I'll second George at treebone, he has supplied a number of carved stocks for me, either his wood or yours.

George also did all the carving for Dave Higginbotham ( Lonestar Rifles) and has all the original patterns, Dave was a neightbor and friend--- I have 2 Lonestars--one a 40-65.

Be sure to have your 40-65 chambered with the Shiloh reamer, RCBS has Shiloh chamber sizing dies.

Have fun, building your own is satisfying

[Aviator]

I went down a similar path a few years ago. I learned quite a bit along the way, and ended up with a pretty decent rifle.

https://levergun-scoundrels.com/thread/ ... ject-right

[Don McDowell]

One more thing for you to consider in the "not break the bank" category. Some of the unexpected costs in your project will be replacing the extractor, the rim on the 12 mm is closer to that found on a 50-70 , if it's a straight extractor that might not be a big problem, if it was fitted with a rotary extractor you may have found a huge stumbling block that won't be cheap, and making the cut in the barrel is mostly hand work... You're also going to want a different trigger spring to get away from that heavy military trigger pull.
Best bet would be to find one of the 8 x58R rifles, those were already hardened, and the extractor fits the rim of a 40-65 just nicely. Drilling the holes in the tang on one of those is a bit of a bugger, but can be done.

[4065inMD]

I never really thought of the extractor issue. The 8 x 58R sounds like a good option. I really appreciate all of the feedback. You folks are making this much easier.

[rdnck]

Another thought. When your roller project is finished, and you are north of 1400 bucks into it, when it is all said and done, it's still...a roller. Do yourself a favor. Call Lucinda at Shiloh and order yourself a new Shiloh. Put a couple of hundred bucks down, and every little bit, send another couple hundred or so in on the gun. by the time the rifle is ready, you will likely have it paid off, and you will have a rifle that will stand tall in any gathering of rifles.

I have to tell a story here. The first time I went to Africa, I carried my Shiloh 45-110 Business Rifle. I had
Shiloh build and finish it like an original--Plain straight grained wood, checkered steel shotgun buttplate, no pewter, polished blued barrel and bone pack casehardening. A plain, no frills duplicate of an original Bridgeport Sharps. No fancy wood or gingerbread. I had fancier rifles, but I carried the Business Rifle. About the third or fourth day of the safari, we were sitting eating lunch, and one of my PHs said something to the effect that this was the first Shiloh Sharps that they had ever seen, and "We see a lot of different high grade rifles from Europe and all over the world come through here, and that Sharps is the equal of any of them. It may not be engraved or have fancy wood, but that is one elegant, fine rifle". They knew they were looking at something special.

You boys shoot straight, now. rdnck.

[mdeland]

I couldn't agree with your PH more Rdnck ! I have never seen any better fit and finish than Shiloh produces and maintains on any gun ever made no matter what they cost. They are far superior to originals in every way as well.
I personally though ,never could warm up to the look and shape of the actions. High end walnut crackers in my opinion!
Wouldn't it be a dull world if we all liked the same things?

[mdeland]

I made a new rotary extractor in the rifle pictured of A-2 tool steel and it was probably the hardest part of the build. I had to make a block fixture/jig to fit it properly to the barrel and action. It operates on an eccentric motion built into the extractor.
My action is a 1902 model originally chambered in 7x57 Mauser. The #5 designation is the same action made for the commercial market and often have the lower tang fashioned for a pistol grip which can be done on the 1902 if one wants to bend the lower tang. I wanted the Gemmer look so went with Hawken add on trigger guard.
I'm glad some one mentioned the trigger spring change as I forgot to. The roller pictured also has the piano wire trigger spring modification.
The coil spring and strut, sear lift and trigger spring mods make for as good a trigger as you will find. Original single set triggers on Rolling block rifles were never very good or reliable. A simple trigger, well tuned, is always a faster and more reliable mechanism, on any rifle. Every additional lever move in a set trigger adds time to the release and hammer drop.

[mdeland]

Spot annealing is the ticket for drilling and tapping holes in case hardened tangs or receiver bridges. Easy to do and works very well. It's done with a small acetylene torch and tip. One of the tricks of the trade learned in gunsmith school 40 years ago.

[4065inMD]

I know that I may have over a grand in this project once it is done but since I already have a Shiloh in 40-65, I really want a roller. Since I have a stock blank, sending it to Treebone sounds like a good idea. What I really want it is plain but clean. It will be to shoot, not to show. I haven't decided yet to go with a Hoke tang sight or a DZ scope. My Shiloh is wearing an MVA mid range with a Hadley eyecup. I am however, getting older by the second.

[mdeland]

Aren't we all! Owning a Roller is a piece of history as well. Millions of them were made and at least 30 countries (according to Wikipedia) used them as a military weapon. They were simple , strong , reliable and easy to operate. They saved Remington from bankruptcy and were the equal of any other on the rifle range.
They were strong enough to be and were chambered in smokeless rounds like the 30-06 and 7x57 Mauser cartridges.

[SchuetzenDave]

The Swedish 8x58R Sporter is excellent for building a .40-65 or .45-70 since the extractor does not need to be changed.
The Swedish 8x58R Sporter had new barrels and were reconditioned with new blocks and hammer and case hardened in the 1890s.
They are in fabulous condition and make great actions to build a custom rifle.

Attached is a converted Swedish RB with a RKS gain twist barrel with the pistol grip stock from CPA Rifles that fits over the straight tangs of Model 1 Military Rolling Blocks.

I hand carved the forearm in poplar and then had it duplicated in walnut.

Color case hardening is a nice look but costs around $400 to $500.

The color case hardened 1872 NYS Rolling Block I made a replica .50-70 George Custer Rolling Block with a RKS barrel gain twist finishing at 38:1 for the 477 grain bullet I had made.