Rolling Block cleaning

[MBW]

For MLV and others who love the Rolling Block. My question is: does anyone think that filing a notch and rounding the edges on the top of the hammer to facilitate better clearance for the cleaning rod would be a bad idea? Perhaps even file or grind the top of the hammer down some and then notch it. Other then keeping the original look I don't see a problem. I would think it still would have enough weight to whack the firing pin sufficiantly. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. I use an undersized .30 cal coated rod at the range now and still scrape the coating occasionally. Thank you...

[Omaha Poke]

MBW, I have the same problem. I have a .45-90, and when loading some of the longer bullets in this rifle, I have to manually pull the hammer back farther than full cock to insert the loaded ctg into the chamber. If I were an engineer wanted a project, I would redesign just this portion of the RB. I read that some guys file a groove or notch in the rim of the brass so that loading is easier, but I am leary of doing that. I want to make sure that the rim and the rest of the case is intact.

I too have thought about filing or grinding a notch for cleaning, but don't want to ruin the rifle in case I ever have a need to sell it. It is a quandry isn't it. Let me know what you do and how it works. Randy.

[LJBass]

Yo Poke,
A Dewey 44" 35 caliber coated rod will clear the hammer of your Bodine. A 27 caliber would give you even more room. This is of course without a chamber guide. That's what I use in mine.
Regards, LJ

[crazeyiven]

I was a Lowes (hardware store) the other day getting some stuff for the house when I noticed some bright colored rods.

On closer exam, they are fiberglass rods, probably somewhere around 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch in diameter. They are about 48" long, have a soft plastic tip on one end and bevel on the other end.

If you do not mind their colors (bright orange or bright yellow) they work great as a cleaning rod. They are plenty stiff enough with just enough flex to get around those "awkard" protrusion (in my case the LR soule sight). And, it is long enough to poke the swab out the end of the barrel (I have a 50-90 w/ 32" barrel) and still have 9-10 inches to hold on to.

Although I have not tried it yet, I think it will also allow me to breach clean my trapdoor. I bet it would let you work around the RB breach too.

Oh...and the price...they were I believe, $3.00 each.

If anyone is interested, I'll get the exact specs, price and product code.

Thanks

[Lee Stone]

I was warned off of fibreglass cleaning rods on the premise that they can, over time, become impregnated with grit and become harmful to the bore. So I have always used stainless rods which can't do this. I cannot swear this is correct, but I can see where it is possible for the fibreglass to hold grit, which is not what I want in the bore of any of my rifles.

[MBW]

I have also some doubts about using fiberglass rods. After all they are made of glass fibers and therfore quite hard. I took some old fiberglass tent poles I had and was able to scratch stainless steel and cast iron (some cast iron is hardened and some samples didn't scratch) with very little pressure using the end of the pole. Don't want to try this experiment on my rifle bore. But the idea of a flexible rod is a good one...as long as the all important chamber and bore don't receive damage. The rod I use is a coated Dewey .27 to .35 cal. And because of the flexing I gave up on the .22 cal rod. I forgot to mention in my original post on this question that I have to take off the vernier anyway for good access to the breech an bore. I suppose that this is just one of the 'quriks' of using the RB. But I will notch the hammer (came across a photo of an old RB that had the hammer notched) and let you know how it worked out. Again, thank you all for the input...
Meyer...

[crazeyiven]

Learn something every day!

Thanks

[RichBratlee]

I think if you were to use a chamber guide and let it flex before going into the chamber it should work ok---just keep it in a small piece of tubing so it doesn't ever contact the ground or anything and it won't pick up grit---just a thought

[pete]

Is this one of the Italian guns? The reason I ask is because I have a Lonestar rb and don't have a problem. The Lonestar hammers are accurate as to what the original sporting rifles had, the Italians aren't.

[ssdave]

Most original sporter rolling blocks have the top of the hammer nose cut off for cartridge clearance. When I build a rolling block from a military action, I always reprofile the hammer to match the original sporter configuration. This will provide enough clearance to fit any .45 caliber cartridge.

If cutting down the hammer spur and cutting off the top of the hammer nose does not provide enough clearance, you can get creative and alter the hammer and trigger for more clearance. I have to do this to chamber a .50-110 in a military rolling block action.

The procedure is to cut a notch in the underside back of the hammer where it contacts the cross frame pin. This will allow the hammer to rotate back slightly more. The notch will be hidden by the frame, so it doesn't affect the looks. I put a piece of beeswax on the back of the hammer, cock it and hold it back against the pin. The beeswax will deform to show you where the hammer needs notched. Keep doing this until the hammer will clear the cartridge rim. Now, so you don't have to hold the hammer back extra to load it, the trigger will have to be reworked. You can either weld on an extension to the trigger sear end and reshape and reharden or mill out a new trigger. I think it's easier to mill out a new trigger. I have also heard of welding up the hammer sear and then recutting and rehardening, but I haven't done this myself.

By doing this procedure, you can get a rolling block to clear any .50 caliber cartridge.

Hope this helps,
dave

[MBW]

To Randy, LJ and Dave, Lee and all the others...thanks for all the discussion on this. Good ideas. Mine (Pedersoli) is a 45-70 and with any round longer then about 2.9 I have to pull back the hammer past full cock to chamber a round. Using the Lyman 677 which is a Paul Matthews taper design I can get in over 70gr of 2F and O.A.L is over 3.1...great, accurate bullet (1-20 mix) if you haven't tried it. I can consistently get 2" or slightly under 10 shot groups at 100yds if I do my part. And I'm anxious to try it at longer range soon. About the best of the commercial designs I have tried. But I digress...Dave, the idea of reshaping the hammer is great but I doubt my skill to properly re-harden the hammer or trigger. I have tried to do this before on other projects with varied success. Not knowing the composition of the steel I'm not sure what 'color' to take it to before quenching (oil or water) and I don't have a furnace...but my sister-in-law is a farrier and has one and I may try using hers for more accurate control of the temp. Also, the suggestion of using a 44" rod works! and the sight is not as much of a problem...Thank you all again. Meyer...
Just another example here of how our sport attracts some of the most generous and good natured people I have had the pleasure of associating with. But if that gets out then the anti's won't be able to call us the scourge of society anymore...

[Jimilner4570]

Go ahead and reprofile the hammer. There is plenty of weight to still fire the primer

[Shiloh Sharpie]

I had a Pedersoli and had the same problem. I have long ago sold it and now have a Husqvarna circa 1871 actioned rifle and I could oput a round of any length in it without problem. The hammer was modified a bit by John King, the gunsmith who built it. I use the DAn Phariss cleaning rod in it without a problem. I hoep this provides some help.

[Jim Stewart]

Dave Higgenbotham of Lone Star Rifles sells a cleaning rod that has an offset to the handle and a chamber guide built onto the rod. Stainless steel, swivel handle.

Mine works fine on the rolling block he made and very well on my Shiloh .45-110.

Cordially,

Jim Stewart