ZigZagZeke
Member
I have a Remington rolling block single shot rifle that was bought by my GGrandfather new in about 1878. The finish was entirely gone, just a few remnants of the case color around the pins on the receiver. The rest was a uniform brown, with no rust or pits. The barrel had visible rifling, but was totally unshootable. The forearm was missing, replaced by a hand carved piece of oak. The buttstock was scorched in a fire and the worst parts dressed up with a file.
After looking a this thing sitting in various gun cases for about 55 years, I decided to restore it. As it was, it had no monetary value other than for parts. But it did have some sentimental value. I figured the metal could be refinished easily. The stocks could be replaced if I could find reproductions. But what would I do about the barrel?
Well, to make a long story shorter, I found some repro stocks and bought them. I figured whoever I got to do the barrel work could easily do the metal refinishing. But how could that barrel be fixed? The first step was to find out exactly what cartridge it was supposed to shoot. The barrel was stamped with just a "38" on the underside. My dad said he used to shoot ".38 pistol cartirdges" in it. I started looking at old .38 cartridge specs and came to the conclusion that it had to have been a .38 Long rimfire originally (Did I mention the shade-tree rimfire to centerfire conversion that had been done on it?) I found that the .38 Long rimfire was only a thousandth or two different on any case or bullet dimension from a .38 Special. Interesting. But if I got the barrel rebored I'd have to go bigger, maybe .45 Colt? Nah, that just didn't seem right. Maybe some black powder rifle cartridge like a.45-70? Not after I looked at ammo prices. So it occurred to me why not keep it fairly original, but make it stronger and use the similar .38 Special cartridge. For that matter, why not chamber it for .357 Magnum? Now we're beginning to get somewhere! But how do you accomplish that with an old black powder rifle and keep the same receiver and barrel? Liners! I found TJ's in New Jersey. They shipped out a 30" piece of .357 Mag liner in 4140 steel to my gunsmith for about $120. Speaking of gunsmiths, not just anybody does barrel relining. It took me a while to find an expert who would and could do the work.
So at this point the rifle is still at the gunsmith. It's been lined and rechambered for .357 Mag. The breech block has been cleaned up, removing the old firing pin hole and bushing the centerfire one for a modern firing pin, and all the screws and little dings in the metal are being cleaned up. When it's ready for case color and bluing it'll be shipped back to me for the new wood to be fitted, then it's back to the gunsmith for the final metal finishing.
I'm thinking this going to be a VERY sweet rifle for plinking and maybe even deer hunting. The gunsmith assures me the action would be safe with much higher power cartridges, and with the liner the barrel will be fine with .357 Mag too. He's already test fired it (I'm jealous). All of this work and parts is going to run me about $1500 by the time it's done. So what do you guys think? Am I on the right track here, or will it be just a nice looking curiosity to hang on the wall?
After looking a this thing sitting in various gun cases for about 55 years, I decided to restore it. As it was, it had no monetary value other than for parts. But it did have some sentimental value. I figured the metal could be refinished easily. The stocks could be replaced if I could find reproductions. But what would I do about the barrel?
Well, to make a long story shorter, I found some repro stocks and bought them. I figured whoever I got to do the barrel work could easily do the metal refinishing. But how could that barrel be fixed? The first step was to find out exactly what cartridge it was supposed to shoot. The barrel was stamped with just a "38" on the underside. My dad said he used to shoot ".38 pistol cartirdges" in it. I started looking at old .38 cartridge specs and came to the conclusion that it had to have been a .38 Long rimfire originally (Did I mention the shade-tree rimfire to centerfire conversion that had been done on it?) I found that the .38 Long rimfire was only a thousandth or two different on any case or bullet dimension from a .38 Special. Interesting. But if I got the barrel rebored I'd have to go bigger, maybe .45 Colt? Nah, that just didn't seem right. Maybe some black powder rifle cartridge like a.45-70? Not after I looked at ammo prices. So it occurred to me why not keep it fairly original, but make it stronger and use the similar .38 Special cartridge. For that matter, why not chamber it for .357 Magnum? Now we're beginning to get somewhere! But how do you accomplish that with an old black powder rifle and keep the same receiver and barrel? Liners! I found TJ's in New Jersey. They shipped out a 30" piece of .357 Mag liner in 4140 steel to my gunsmith for about $120. Speaking of gunsmiths, not just anybody does barrel relining. It took me a while to find an expert who would and could do the work.
So at this point the rifle is still at the gunsmith. It's been lined and rechambered for .357 Mag. The breech block has been cleaned up, removing the old firing pin hole and bushing the centerfire one for a modern firing pin, and all the screws and little dings in the metal are being cleaned up. When it's ready for case color and bluing it'll be shipped back to me for the new wood to be fitted, then it's back to the gunsmith for the final metal finishing.
I'm thinking this going to be a VERY sweet rifle for plinking and maybe even deer hunting. The gunsmith assures me the action would be safe with much higher power cartridges, and with the liner the barrel will be fine with .357 Mag too. He's already test fired it (I'm jealous). All of this work and parts is going to run me about $1500 by the time it's done. So what do you guys think? Am I on the right track here, or will it be just a nice looking curiosity to hang on the wall?
Good one!!!
