need advise on 43 spanish rb

[nekshot]

My son is interested in one of these 43 spanish or11.1x58r rifles. We don't know any thing about them but are being drawn to the darker side of shooting. What do you look for in these guns, what is fair market prices and were do you find this stuff? I do not do the gun show thing and that might have to change if that is where they are. Are there other calibers of them suitable for bp?

[fouronesix]

The only reason I ended up with one is, I guess, they are not popular-- so stumbled on it in a local gunshop. They require obsolete brass that is somewhat expensive for the correct headstamped variety, an odd-sized bullet to shoot to their potential and of course some "skin in the game" trial and error testing-shooting-loading. The 43 Spanish RBs seem to be fairly common and many have nice bores. Here's one on GB that looks good but as with any long distance purchase, make sure of the seller rating and that there is a no questions asked return policy. They are pre-'98 so should not require an FFL transfer (up until the latest who knows gun laws get passed? :()
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=329117325

[bigted]

look on "gun broker . com" and "guns international" online. i have purchased a few off gunbroker and have met some awful nice folks thru that outlet.

as for the rifle in rollingblock and the 43 spanish...allow me to brag a bit here on mine. with a bit of foolin around with different size boolits and wrapped as well as pistol boolits and the last group i fired just minutes ago surely blew my mind completely. the 35 yard group is 1 hole about 3/4 inch from outside to outside of the ragged hole. you coulda knocked me over with a feather. my load??? 22 grains of 5744 topped off with enough cornmeal to come to within 1/4 inch from the mouth of the unsized case. the boolit was/is a .444 solid lead slick from baco of 400 grains and wrapped with 9 pound onionskin paper. sparked with a cci 200 large rifle primer and in 'bertram' cases.

i would incourage you to try to land one of these underestimated rifles ...just make sure the bore is goo n shiney without too much pitting.

as for price ...i have seen em go for from $300.00...to $1500.00 dollars. just be patient and you will find your treassure.

[nekshot]

Thanks for the input. Are there any places of wear that should be of concern and what about the swedish rb from Allans Armory?

[fouronesix]

Someone with a lot of Rem. rolling block experience would have to check in on exactly what to look for.
I have no idea about the Swedish rifles nor the Allans Armory.

As bigted posted, the bore is one of the primary things to look at. The other obvious would be the headspace, how the breech block locks up into position and its relationship (by design) to the hammer. If the breech block is up in the locked position, there should minimal if any fore-aft play in it. Also, these things have big, heavy-duty action parts and triggers and tend to have a heavy trigger pull which is normal. And of course these old RBs came in many different and odd calibers so proceed accordingly.

[Ed in North Texas]

I can praise Alan, and his business. His descriptions are highly accurate. If you have any question - write and ask him, he's happy to help. As for the Swede RBs, they are well made and usually well taken care of. I have a "sporterized" Carl Gustav mfg in 1874. It has the original wood, but the fore end is cut back from the military stock. It's a 12.7x44R (basically a .50-70 for all intents and purposes). Bore is a mirror, exterior is VG+. I bought it from Alan after another one from Gun Broker was stolen from the mail. I've bought since from him too. I have no doubt I could use mild smokeless loads, but I stick with Black Powder in this and my .50-70 Rollers too. I have no experience with the 8mm (8x56mm??) conversions of these rollers. Many of the cases for these old BP cartridges can be made from the brass shotshells made by MagTech in Brazil. And Buffalo Arms forms many of the cases from .348 Winchester brass (resizing rims, etc.). My 12.7 happens to be one where I can use cut down .50 Alaskan cases (which will last forever with BP use).

fouronesix is correct about the trigger pull. A guy was watching me fire my .50-70 and said I grimaced every time I fired. He asked if the recoil was that bad. I said no, but I have to really concentrate and work to keep the open sights (hard for old eyes) on the target and squeeze the trigger too. You do get used to the weight of the trigger pull, but it is heavy. Didn't know I was making faces. :-?

[nekshot]

Thanks for your input, we will start the search!

[mdevlin53]

Don't forget the carbines in .43 spanish. I have one and it was in the middle of bigted's range. It shoots good groups at 25 yards and is quite a bit of fun to shoot as well.

[salpal48]

I have several RB in 43 spanish, Fun to shoot and easy to load. It's great to get a nice minty one but not necessary. They all seem to shoot the same . I load with original Brass with Berdan primers. New brass is expensive .439 bullets are available @ custom casters or cast them yourself and shoot as cast . At gun shows there common with a wide price range . Don't settle for the first you see and Bargain Hard

[Buckshot]

http://www.fototime.com/23E5560C8BB6BF7/standard.jpg

..........Pretty much "Whatchagot alloy", and the charges & boolits are shown on the targets.

http://www.fototime.com/7CD7CAD02940F78/standard.jpg

The M1879 contract Rem RB would natually be the one at the bottom. It's bayonet is directly above it. Hook'em both together and I swear the thing is 8 ft long! :-) The barrel isn't perfect as it has some noticeable pitting in the 2- 3 inches before the muzzle, otherwise the entire bore shines. The original rifles when shipped from the factory had tin plated actions (corrosion protection). When they were replaced by the M1891 Mausers they were returned to store and held as substitute standard for years. The M79 Argentine RB's had the finest rear sights of ANY of the contact RB's. They have a double staff. Stand the staff up and it goes to (IIRC) 1200 yards. However, there is another 2nd staff under it you can pull up that goes to 2200 yards if I'm not mistaken. Too late to go run and check right now.

I made one attempt at loading it with BP. I'm NOT a BPC guy so merely filled the case up to the base of the neck and it held something like 88.0grs of 2Fg or such a matter. Withthe available 370grs lugs there was room under the boolit for some cornmeal and a couple wads. Rattled my teeth, lemme tell ya. There's some special deal with loading BP in BN cases, and I do NOT know the secret! It was fun but not very productive accuracy wise.

http://www.fototime.com/259673ADE90A4AA/standard.jpg

A photo showing a couple slugs I tried paper patching. The one on the left is a Mountain moulds custom 420gr slug. On the right is the RCBS 370gr FN.

...............Buckshot

[4060MAY]

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