A new old rolling block

[wild thing]

I picked up an old rolling block to day and I'm looking for a little info. It has chinese writing on the barrel and reciever. The breach block is rounded out so it can pivot open. The chamber is for a botttle neck cartridge. any one have an idea on caliber or the action number this could be? I found a page on the net about chinese rolling blocks but it is written in you guessed it Chinese. Any help out there? thanks wild thing

[wild thing]

Closer look at writing on the reciever after cleaning the gun up carefully I have come to the conclusion that it is an Egyption rifle. In side of barrel is fairly bright with good looking rifleings but the last half inch seems to be smooth. thanks for any help.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

There was a contract for rolling blocks and a substantial number of them that went out to Egypt. The caliber was 43 Egyptian and it looked a lot like the 11MM. A bunch of years ago I ran across and still have one of them with Egyptian writing and proof marks on the receiver and some of the parts. But mine has a Numerich Arms "kit" on it, (that someone put on), consisting of a big, heavy, half round-half orangatang barrel and forearm to fit, in caliber 45-70. The rifle weighs a ton, but it shoots really well even with the weird sight that Numerich put on it. The Numerich conversion was quite popular back in the day with folks that didn't want to mess around with the (then) hard to load cartridge which was Berdan primed. LLS

[Skipper]

Is this it?:

http://www.militaryrifles.com/Egypt/EgyptRem.htm

Which end is smooth, the muzzle or the chamber end?

[wild thing]

muzzle end about the last half inch or so

[Skipper]

Sounds like cleaning rod wear.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Wild Thing. You just described the Rem. Roller that I had. It was a No. 1 model in 43 Egyptian and yes it had the "chicken scratch" stampings on the reciever.Robert

[Buckshot]

..............I have never seen a .43 Egyptian RB that didn't look like a maniacal 6 year old had spent several hours on it with a belt sander. However, somewhat more realisticly, lacking rifle scabbards I suppose the Egyptian Rapid Response Force merely tied a rope to'em and dallied off on the Camel's tail and dragged them along behind. Or so they appeared to me.

[excess650]

Buffalo Arms should be able to help with brass if you're going to shoot it as a .43 Egyptian. If shooting blackpowder, you may be able to get by without dies.

The muzzle wear more than likely will affect accuracy. If it doesn't shoot accurately as is, it can be relined, or you could just try cutting the barrel back.

I had a NY State 50-70 with a not so nice bore, but it shot well despite the pits. IIRC, the rifling was strong all the way to the muzzle.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
.446 boolits will be a big help geting that Roller to shoot.
If the muzzle is all walloded out from the steel rods ypou can counter bore it back to normal bore diameter. Or just wack it off. Either way will get you shooting groups instead of patterns.

[wild thing]

Thanks for all the help and hints. I might trt to get some brass and a mould but it will have to wait awhile as I'm working on another roller riht now . I'm laid off right now so I can only put away a little at a time. again thanks for the help. wild thing

[Don McDowell]

I have a "sporterized" Egyptian roller.
You might want to do a chamber cast that extends an inch or so into the rifling so you get a good measurement on the lands and grooves. Mine runs pretty large so paper patched bullets are the best option. Altho the RCBS 390 gr bullet drops from the mould right at groove diameter when using 20-1.
Brass can be made from blowing out 348's or sizing down Starline 50-90's. 50-70's work but they come out just a tad short. The 348's are just a tad small in base diameter, but with luck you won't split a case. Rocky Mountain Cartridge also makes cases ,but while very high in quality the price is also quite grand...
The dies are the spendy part, cheapest are from CH4D, unless you just happen to luck into a used set somewhere.

Given the age and such of those old actions I sure wouldn't use anything but blackpowder in it.

[McLintock]

My uncle has a .43 Egyptian that has a mirror bore and he got it shooting with a .43 Mauser mould that I got for him from Buffalo Arms. Also had to put a decent front sight on it as the original was so tiny it was useless.
McLintock