Putting the chop to Argentine .43 Spanish

[Clarence]

Todd,

I'm looking forward to seeing your results with the shortened .43. I've had the thought that, with the Lyman bullet shortened enough to have a 1/4-5/16" meplat, it would be about as good a choice for BPCR hunting as any-velocities over 1400 fps with GOEX FFg, enough bullet weight to penetrate on game to the size of elk. Let us know!

Clarence

[Todd Birch]

I took my .43 Spanish RB to the range this am with my last 8 loaded rounds. It now has a 'bobbed' barrel at 30", new silver blade front sight compatible with the issue rear and a 1 1/2# trigger pull.
I shot the rifle without forestock from the bench which was an interesting experience. I forgot my 'sissy pad' and this thing steps to the rear rather smartly.
At 50 yards, two rounds were 1/8" apart at 11 o'clock, just outside the black. A tap on the front sight gave me 2 overlapping rounds at 10 0'clock, 1" closer to dead centre. I was using a 'fine sight' with the top of the blade low in the rear notch.
Another tap put a round at 12 o'clock, 2" high of dead centre.

Now to 100 yards with my remaining 3 rounds.....two rounds 1" apart at 6 o'clock. Using the 'full sight' put the last round on the money at 6 0'clock on the edge of the black.

When the rifle had the original 35 1/2" barrel length, it was necessary to wipe between shots to avoid barrel leading in the last few inches before the muzzle.
This time I did not wipe, but blew a few puffs between shots with a blow tube as per any other cartridge rifle. No leading occurred.

Now I had to decide what to do about the forestock - chop it or chuck it.

I took the rifle to a pal who shares my passion for such rifles along with my copy of "The Military Remington Rolling Block Rifle" by George Layman. On page 120, we found a photo of an Uruguyan contract model artillery Musketoon, a two bander with a 28" barrel. These were produced by the Belgian firm of Auguste Francotte of Liege. Although not licenced, it is believed that it was done with the approval of Remington who could not keep up with the demand on their own rolling block production. Francotte also made a few thousand for El Salvador.

What we did with mine was cut the forend tip back 2 3/8", re-installing the forend cap and setting back the front barrel band one band width. This left 1 3/8" of barrel projecting forward of the muzzle cap.
The end result looks much like the rifles pictured on page 47 of the book.
The ram rod was shortened to match and is in a machine shop awaiting threading of the end so it can screw into the plate in the front of the receiver. We were unable to match it with my friend's tap and die set.

The result looks very correct and military to the untrained eye. The give away is the silver blade front sight.
Another clue are the three barrel bands as opposed to the two normally on a Musketoon. The spacing of the bands looks correct and allows the use of a sling from the middle band instead of from the front band as on a Musketoon, the most impractical place I can imagine for a sling swivel.

So, the military flavour and character of the rifle has been preserved, and only the keen eye of a Remington collector will spot the alterations.

Anyone interested in doing something similar to an Argentine or Egyptian .43 rolling block, let me know and I'll scan you a picture of the work done on mine.

Todd

[Todd Birch]

There is an adage that warns us to change only one thing at a time in shooting, but I broke that rule today.

Knowing that the dynamics of the rifle would be altered by the recent modifications (chopped barrel, new front sight, shortened stock, etc.), I bit the bullet and changed the load as well, upping the powder charge from 70 to 75 grains of cartridge Goex and shortening the seating depth from one grease groove out to flush with the base of the front driving band.
I also took along and wore a 'sissy pad', but not my thick one. Recoil was noticeably increased. First mistake.

I burned up six of my 20 rounds tapping the front sight to centre the group and learning how much front sight was necessary at 50 and 100 yards.
I continued my practice of using a blow tube and not wiping between shots as I had done the day before - 2nd mistake! Before long, I was playing 'chase me' wondering what the hell was going on.
Instead of scrubbing the barrel and starting from scratch with a clean bore, I just started wiping between shots. Sho' nuff, accuracy improved as the crud was lessened between shots.

Now I was down to my last six rounds and decided to fire three each at 50 and 100 yards.
Using a 'fine sight' at both distances, I put 2 rounds 3/8" apart and pulled the last shot 1 1/2" out of the group. I was holding at 6 0'clock on the black and the rounds hit at 12 o'clock of the 6" black centre.
At 100 yards, I was gratified by 2 rounds 1" apart dead centre of the bull and again, I pulled one shot, 2" high out of the group.

I love it when a plan comes together! Time to order some more .43 Spanish brass from Buffalo Arms.

Todd