Rook rifle

[shaggist]

I'm in the process of putting together an American version of a rook rifle. I acquired a single barrel, .410 shotgun in very good mechanical condition at the gun show in Charlotte last week. It is a break barrel, exposed hammer gun, marked Keystone Arms Co., Philadelphia, Pa on the left side of the receiver. It was made for them by W.H. Davenport Arms Co. somewhere between 1892 and 1932, as near as I have been able to find. It weighs 4.5 lbs and will be less when I cut the barrel from 26" to 22".

The stock is being refinished with Tung Oil. The receiver has been polished and cold blued, and the firing pin nose reconfigured for a center fire rifle cartridge. All that is left is to have the barrel relined to .32 H&R Magnum, which will allow the .32 S&W Long to be used if desired. Then it will be blued and be ready to go, EXCEPT FOR THE SIGHTS.

I am seeking ideas on what kind of sights to use to make it really nifty. There is no room on the tang(about 1" behind the opening lever) to put a old time tang sight. The top of the receiver between the hammer and the breech face is about 1/2", so a receiver mounted peep sight is a possibility, depending on the width of the portion that fits over the receiver. A barrel mounted peep sight could be one choice, as I prefer a peep to an full or semi-buckhorn or V blade. There are no dovetails machined in the barrel at present, so I'm thinking of using a screw-on front ramp with a gold dot blade
on top.

Please give me your suggestions as to what sights you have on your gun or what sights you think would set this gun apart. Pictures will be really helpful. Thanks.

[richhodg66]

I have a Rossi Youth muzzle loader that is built on their break open action. Turns out, the reciever contour and hole spacing matched perfectly the old TC Scout Carbines and since at that time, Kansas didn't allow scopes in the muzzle loader season, that was what I put on for my son. The sight looks nice and mounts easily, Something like that would be good.

Who is doing the barrel work for you? Ed Harris did a thread on another forum a few years ago where he had a couple of rifles made up exactly this way, seems he had barrels in .32 Long and .32 ACP. I'd love to do this someday, and see small .410 single barrels all the time that would be good candidates.

[EOD3]

How about a globe and peep sight set? The sights on an H&R Buffalo classic are usable and pretty good-looking... 8-)

[Mk42gunner]

Williams makes a rear peep sight for the H&R rifles. It isn't readily adjustable, but that can be an advantage on a hunting gun. For a front sight, I would go with a sweat on ramp ( they look so much nicer than the screw on versions) with a sourdough blade.

Robert

[John Taylor]

This is the sight I installed on some of Mr. Harri's rifles. http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=26056/Product/MARLIN_INTEGRAL_POST_AND_BASE_SET
Some of his rifles were built on H&R shotgun actions and he has a Beretta folding shotgun with I think five barrels, the largest is a 45 ACP.http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l132/johnptaylor/Barretaextrabarrelsclose.jpg

[BABore]

XS makes even a smaller version of the sight that John posted above. Here's one I installed on a VZ24.

[shaggist]

Great suggestions sofar. Keep Them Coming! I like the rear peeps I have seen, but now we need an equally cool front ramp and sight. Show me what you have or would do for it.

[John Taylor]

Not sure if they make one small enough for the 410 barrel but I have used these, http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=9656/Product/_MASTERPIECE__BANDED_FRONT_RAMP