Remington custom rollers

[bigted]

Got the rifle today ... my goodness ... such a nice rifle! The wood is impeccable, the metal finish is perfect and the single set trigger works flawlessly. The metal buttplate and metal forend piece are just super. The action is smooth as butter.

Couple bug-a-boo's tho ... the front sight dovetail is HUGE. My 5/8ths sights are sloppy. Do not know if there are larger sight bases. The wood to metal fit is not perfect ... however it is very acceptable to me.

I installed a Shiloh 5/8ths blade front sight with a plastic shim under it to tighten it up in the large dovetail. Then I installed an old Pedersoli low grade staff wrist mounted vernier. Then I installed a dovetail filler in the rear sight dovetail. I am contemplating installing my Leatherwood Malcolm long scope. But I need to find a front mount as the current front mount is way too small on the dovetail.

No pictures yet ... but ... I just wanted to give a pre shooting report on this fine MODERN steel Roller. I have coveted this very rifle for decades. Doubt if it ever leaves my fingers as long as I drag breath.

Oh and the tapered round barrel is dandy and makes this rifle handle like a dream. Prior to shooting this dandy, I am very happy with this well built rifle.

Chambered in 45-70 and so should be a snap to find the load/loads that will agree with it.

Very happy camper here!

[koger]

we need to see some pics asap!! Glad the Remington did not prove me wrong, in the looks dept anyway! I am sure it will be a shooter, mine loves the 350gr hp I cast with 15 grains of unique!

[shutinlead]

DGW used to offer an excellent pedersoli .40-65 roller silhouette with a heavy 30" barrel and good DSTs for $1200. that went on for well over a year, or more. no more now. i had a few, one got converted to .45-70. but the sharps is still the desired 19th century cartridge single shot rifle, and rollers get little love or the montana companies (and others) would be offering them ... even though rollers probably outnumbered sharps 8:1 or better back in the day. dave higginbotham made wonderful custom rollers, and that too is all gone.

I won't get into the details of how many of each of these single shots I have or which make I prefer the most, but I'll share a few opinions that bring smiles and frowns - like... Rollers Rule and the rest drool; Sharps, the rifle that made the west safe for Winchester; Winchester, brings enough gun to any battle; "Steven's made a boys rifle, but Remington made a man's rifle"; Henry, load on Sunday and shoot all week; but the one I like the most, "every Ballard you own, adds ten years to your life"
The 90's roller is a good looking gun, please post pictures when you get a chance and give us a range report.
Regards,
Greg

[marlinman93]

Remington made their 1997 run to the exact specs of the original Rolling Blocks, thus the large front dovetail. It will measure around .460", which is exactly what my original Rolling Blocks of the 1800's measure. Most modern sight makers sell a front globe of that dovetail size, but as I previously mentioned, if your front sight is missing then just order the parts from Numrich and assemble a new Remington globe. The only part they are out of stock on for these sights is the inserts. Jim at Distant Thunder Gun Parts makes inserts, so you can order them from him.

These are two I bought and assembled:

[bigted]

There she is. I am very happy. She is not a disapointment in the least.

Also, I will order the parts for the adjustable windgauge front sight. Numeric arms may just become my next best friend ... lol.

[koger]

Thanks for sharing the pics of that beautiful rifle, excuse me while I wipe the drool off of the keyboard!!!

[onelight]

That is a sweet looking rolling block.

[bigted]

I have added another two molds and they should be here by the end of the week.

First is Lee's 457340 grain rfn

Second is Lee's 459500-3R boolit.

Been lookin at the 500 for awhile with its semi "money" nose and the 3 nice deep lube groves. This boolit LOOKS like it wants to shoot. Read pro's and con's so for under 20 dollars thought I'd give it a shake down.

The 340 seems like it should be a fair hunter tho I have a plethora of this weight class molds already.

Just have a sickness when it comes to needing/wanting another mold to add to my collection.

[marlinman93]

Have you used those lace on recoil pads previously? I've found they can have an adverse affect on the stock finish over time, so I switched to using a PAST recoil pad on my shoulder, and not on the gun stock.
Over time these can cause the finish to dull, and even change color under the leather pad.

[wcp4570]

I've been looking at Rollers lately to see if I could find one that I could afford, so far no luck. This thread just makes me want one even more. I've been shooting a Buffalo Classic and a shorter length H&R 45-70 and have really enjoyed experimenting and shooting them. I also have a H&R Target model 38-55 and just bought another H&R with Stubbed 38-55 barrel that is fun to shoot as well. All these guns have peep sights except the short barrel 45-70.

I have a question for someone about the #1 Rolling block guns, are the early black powder actions strong enough to handle a rebarrel to 45-70? I have read that the #5 was the model that is known as a smokeless powder gun and was chambered in many calibers and up to 50-70. I don't know that much about these gun but I sure like the looks of the ones posted here. Thanks

wcp

[megasupermagnum]

I have similar questions to wcp4570. I'm looking for a cheaper version, I don't need the fancy wood. Sharps have entire websites dedicated to them. Is there anything similar for rolling blocks? I see mention of being able to buy actions and building the gun yourself. Where would a guy start to look for an action, original, or other? I do not care about smokeless, as I would only be loading blackpowder.

[bigted]

There are plenty rollers, whole and actions, for sale at bidding sites such as GunBroker.

[megasupermagnum]

Sure, I see them. Good ones seem to want 3k or more though.

[Gavetta]

I have one,the original remingtton rolling block.a beautiful rifle.upgraded the wood.after seeing the sneering articles on this site ,I countered with an opinion mine was finely finished fitting was perfect and it was and is very accurate and elegant.i would buy another.cheers

[bigted]

Oh I guess I got the impression that an action was desired. If so then #5 rifle complete and sometimes just the action can be obtained fro under 500. My interest would be a complete #5 7 mm so everything was there and the barrel and wood to be unimportatnt and thus find a very good deal on a "smokeless" action to begin a build from.

Unless a "sporting" original is desired ( and then all should be used in it would be blackpowder). They go for big bucks.

[megasupermagnum]

Oh I guess I got the impression that an action was desired. If so then #5 rifle complete and sometimes just the action can be obtained fro under 500. My interest would be a complete #5 7 mm so everything was there and the barrel and wood to be unimportatnt and thus find a very good deal on a "smokeless" action to begin a build from.

Unless a "sporting" original is desired ( and then all should be used in it would be blackpowder). They go for big bucks.

I'm not looking for a perfect original, and no matter the type, I'd be using blackpowder. Ideally something 45/70 or similar. I would be interested in an action, however I just don't see them. If I type rolling block action into gunbroker, the only one that comes up is a cruddy looking receiver (gutted, no action parts) of unknown origin.

The only rolling blocks I'm seeing for even close to $500 are 32 rimfire. Are they able to be re barreled to a large centerfire?

To be clear, I'm not interested in Uberti, and Pedersoli is going for $1500+. I keep seeing reference across the web of "plenty of Remington's for cheap", but I'm just not seeing them. The cheapest complete rifle I'm seeing on gunbroker, in the setup I'm after is a 444 marlin with a starting bid of $900.

[marlinman93]

I've built quite a few Rolling Blocks from military surplus actions. Mostly Swede actions by Husqvarna, or Carl Gustave. I prefer the Husky just because they're a cleaner looking action, and more like original Remingtons.

I've never paid over $250 for a complete rifle or action to start a build. The last two were $80 for an action, and $200 for a complete Danish. The complete Danish was too nice, so I gave it to my son in law instead of tearing it apart.
I find actions at local gun shows, and BP actions are just fine for .45-70 caliber guns, whether you shoot BP or smokeless, as long as you aren't hotrodding the smokeless loads. All mine ever see are smokeless loads, and have worked well for decades.
Stock sets can be found for military actions, but in sporting style at Gunstocks Inc. for under $100. They are nice walnut, just not fancy. So if your plan isn't a high end build, their stocks are perfect.
For barrels I use Green Mountain. I can't fit them myself as my hobby lathe doesn't have a feed system, so wont cut threads. I have Pat at C. Sharps fit and chamber them, and his work is great and reasonable.
I do the polishing, and stock fitting, and then I have Al Springer in Moore, Mt. do color case and rust bluing. His work is as good as it gets, and the best prices around too. My last gun cost me under $1,000 and that included sights.
I've shown this before, but here is that gun.





I spent a great deal of time on metal work with this gun because I wanted the pistol grip lower tang, and had to fit that, plus narrow and thin the upper tang to make it appear to be a civilian sporting rifle. As it sits there's no way to look at it and know it started life as a $80 Danish military action.

I built this one years ago from a real Remington Sporting action, so no metal work needed beyond polishing. I built the stocks from a presentation grade blank I had, and the barrel is a Green Mountain full round. I got the action in a trade, so it was pretty cheap also.

[wcp4570]

Marlinman
You posted the type of information that I was looking for. I've been making the gun show in San Antonia Tx pretty regular and have bought and sold a little there. My brother is a regular there and knows a bunch of people that attend that show. I will be looking for a #1 or #5 at the next show. I like your guns and work that you put into them a lot. I've gotten kinda hooked on single shots here lately but so far I have to go the cheaper route with H&R guns, but they shoot pretty darn good. I especially like the 45-70 and 38-55 and shoot fairly low level loads and just having a blast. Thanks

wcp

[oldred]

. I've shown this before, but here is that gun.

Well some things are worth seeing more than once!

Also I took note of your mention of Al Springer's color casing work so I did a quick search and found Allen Springer/Snowy Mountain gun restorations, same one?

I looked at the examples he has on that web site and his work is impressive, this caught my attention since I plan to have some color casing done in the very near future. I have an 1885 receiver (8620 alloy) and a Colt New Frontier receiver that is need of a re-coloring treatment. My own attempts at color casing have left the parts with an excellent hard case but the color,,,,well just let's say all three ended up polished and then hot blued which greatly improved their appearance.

Ok I don't want to hijack this thread so I can assume you are impressed with his work?

[megasupermagnum]

Thank you, that is what I was looking for. When buying an action, do you find just a bare action, or are you refereeing to a rifle with a bad barrel or stocks?