Rebarrelling a Rolling Block

[school of mines]

I've been thinking about rebarrelling a rolling block I have that is chambered for .43 Spanish. The rifle has already been sporterized so no need to keep it as is and the chamber is out of round causing a slight bulge on one side of the brass. I was wondering if anyone had a gunsmith they could recommend or a website I could check out for prices and options? I'd love to hear about other member's projects and ideas of what caliber to go with. I have plenty of 45-70s and a 50-70. Maybe a 45-90 or 50-90 with a heavy octagon barrel?

I look forward to the discussion!

[Wells]

Did mine in 40-65 win half round half octagon
Wells

[school of mines]

Wells, That sounds cool! Where did you get the barrel and who installed it for you? Also, do you know what twist it is?

[John Taylor]

I do about 1 a month.

[.22-10-45]

I favor the .40's myself. A .40 2 1/2" (.40-70 straight) is very accurate & easier on shoulder than the bigger .45's.

[lapierre1]

Had a military 7mm with a trash barrel done to .45-90 by Arnold Erhardt in Helena, Mt., back in the mid '80s A meat maker deluxe. I love it.

[johnson1942]

try a 40/65, and make a 1/14 twist and shoot a long paperpatched bullet in it. possibly use reloader 7 as the powder. that would be a good long distant gun. do you shoot at the alliance range?

[John Taylor]

I favor the .40's myself. A .40 2 1/2" (.40-70 straight) is very accurate & easier on shoulder than the bigger .45's.

There are about 8 different 40-70s, sharps has the strait and bottle neck. Then there is the Winchester, Ballard, Maynard, Peabody, Remington and probably a few others. The 40-72 is so close it might as well be on the list also. I did a two barrel set for a takedown in 40-72 and 405 which use the same brass except the bullets are .005" different in diameter The 40-72 is a pleasure to shoot but the 405 will rock you.

[McLintock]

I had John King in Montana do my Rolling Block, he sporterized the action and installed a barrel off a C. Sharps Hi Wall for me, he's a well known BPCR gunsmith; it was in 38-55 though. John Taylor has also done work for me and he's excellent, so you pays your money and takes your pick. Sounds like you're wanting one of the big blasters, just remember, I think there can be overall length issues with the longer, big caliber Rollers, trying to get the shell in the chamber over the block; maybe someone else can address that.
McLintock

[school of mines]

Thanks for all of the input!!! I am leaning towards a .40 caliber now. I would like to some day shoot a BPCR silohouette with this rifle. I did some research on the .40-65 and .40-70 straight and they look promising. The 40-65 looks like it would be more economical than the 40-70 to load. I am still trying to figure out which one to go with!

[curator]

The .40-65 can be made from .45-70 brass. The .40-70 Sharps brass is a bit more difficult to acquire. I agree with the 1 in 14" twist. I had my Greener-Martini re-barreled in .40-65 with the 1 in 14 twist and it will shoot the really long bullets quite accurately. Shooting 400+ grain slugs does negate somewhat the benefit of smaller caliber. My favorite loading is the Redding 300 grain .410-300 over 55 grains of Goex FFg.