Anyone Into Rolling Blocks?

[otteray]

One of my late father's firearms is a Uberti .22 Hornet rolling block pistol. beautiful case hardening. I look forward to shooting it someday. He mounted a Bushnell Phantom 1.3x scope on it. He had a couple antique Remington Rolling Blocks that I foolishly decided not to take when we siblings divided up the firearms. Good memories shooting them in Apple Valley as a kid.
apple valley guns.jpg

[CartridgeCalls]

I have 4 model 822 and they shoot good

[TRAP55]

Dang. I want to shoot that!
That tiger stripe stock looks amazing.

Toast, you ain't the only one! Pics don't do the stock justice, it really lights up in the sun. He did a linseed oil wet sanding finish on it. It's messy and a lot of elbow grease, but done right it pays off.
I thought I had the one pic he took of it in the sunlight, right after the first coat. Took it to show how the some of the grain sucked up the oil like a sponge. Even with one coat sanded in, the gold between the dark stripes really lights up!
I just saw the rough cut stock set he picked out for the next build, it's going to be even prettier!

CartridgeCalls I have 4 model 822 and they shoot good

My current basket case project is a Sears Meriden Model 10, that before Sears bought it up to produce their own line, was the Hopkins & Allen 722. It's a hot mess, but I'm getting there! Looking forward to shooting it.

[classicist]

I've had a couple military rolling blocks. Some years ago, I got rid of one because I was unwilling to load .43 Spanish. I regret that decision - I currently load a couple black power bottleneck cartridges that require repurposing brass from other cartridges.

The only rolling block I still have is a Model 1867 Swedish. It's dated 1868, built on a Remington receiver with a Carl Gustafs barrel, converted to centerfire. I think the barrel is something like 36" long... overall length is around 54". It's a big gun.

I cut down either .50 Alaskan or .50-110, sized with with a .50-70 die; once shot, I typically no longer need to resize the cases unless damaged. 55gns of 2F, compressed, with filler, a lubed fiber wad, and/or a grease cookie and a .515-sized soft lead bullet usually results in a 1.5 - 2" group at 50 yards.

The deep rifling makes the bore a little difficult to clean. I tend to follow up my initial passes with the bore brush with a lot of solvent and a rubber barrel squeegee pulled from breech to muzzle. Also I take the breechblock, firing pin, and extractor out each time for cleaning. Spent brass gets immediately dropped into a bottle of vinegar and water. Like any black powder rifle, it's a big time commitment to clean; but it's fun to shroud the firing line with smoke from a 154-year old rifle. (I try to pick a bench on the downwind end of the line.)

[Cloudy]

I have two Spanish-made Rolling Blocks (rifle & carbine) in .43 Spanish (not Reformado), probably four Egyptian contract ones (rifle & carbine) in .43 Egyptian, two beautiful Swedish civilian Husqvarna rifles and 2 Swedish military rifles (all in 12.17mm caliber) and a Springfield Model 1871 in .50-70. My favorite action of all time - simply brilliant!