Help me decide. Rolling block chambering.

Well I went and got me a milsurp rolling block (#5 in 7x57) and have decided that I "need" to have me a Gove style plains rifle looking piece.
I am in interior Alaska there are no ranges or competitions that I know of and I dont re-eneact, so "legal" is not a concern...I do have a "persona" if you will. I tend to be a mountain man at heart (raised in Montana half a century ago) so I tend to take my traditional open sail boat rigged with canvas an hemp load some cast iron and some fat back pack up my cap and ball revolvers and head off to camp in the leather and canvas fashion. I am sort of a post civil war grandson of a mountain man that headed north in '90's to try to relive the stories.

Anyway I am considering a 45-70 as it is tried and true (and it matches my 1886 win) but I am also thinking on something more esoteric. I would love to sit and spend an afternoon shooting across a valley doing the "Quigley" thing ...but as I said .. no matches and no local range so that is not its main thing. I even thought about 38-55 as I was thinking I could use some of my heavy pistol molds ... but the old 38 ain't the same bore as the new 38 ....

So as a fun shooter ...maybe reach out and play at 800-1000 yards ....but mostly a once a year moose gun .....what do we like ? 45-90 is in the running , 40-82 ......even 50-110 .......what should I look into ?

.40-65

The good old 50/70, you have a 45/70 '86 so why not? They can be very accurate!

https://i.imgur.com/7Rj84YXl.jpg

Yes. I agree. A 50 something. A 50-70 or a 50-90. I built a "big fifty" on the #5 roller and it is my woods rifle for just the kind of shooting you mention. And, in your case, a Fifty is not too big for moose.

I put a medium weight 28 inch barrel on mine just to keep it carry friendly.

What is the long range potential of a 50z90 though ? Seems like you would need a truly massive long bullet to have any kind of BC at all. Still a 12 or 14 twist ? ... any issue with crashing into the hammer loading that 50-90 in a roller?

I had to trim the tip on hammer for my 50-90.

40-65, my woods gun for deer.

A 24 or 26 inch twist is on the fast side. My Badger barrel is a 26" twist.
I have a 600grn bullet for most shooting. Also, a 500grn bullet I use now and then. Bullets could be heaver but I found the 600 grn able to shoot well out to any range accurately enough for this kind of non-match rifle. 800 -1000yds for fun targets - yes. We are not really going to shoot game at distances more than about 200yards in fairness to the game. That is my opinion and experience anyway.

Yes, I did need to make a small nip in the hammer. I can post a picture. If you did not know I modified it, in other words, looking for it, you might never notice. It works out fine.

Keeping in traditional Remington chambering, maybe some thought to the 44 cartridges, either the 44-70 or 90 straight or the 44-77.

I favor 40-65 due to cheap brass and minimal recoil from a full load of FFg. Excellent accuracy to 400 yards or more and plenty of punch for medium to large game. Dies are a lot cheaper than some of the more esoteric calibers.

I'm fond of the .44-77. It will do anything you want to do. Not to mention it reeks of tradition and is as cool as it gets. But I may be a little impartial :-)

Is there a compilation of C Gove guns ? And the most common calibers i am finding pretty sparse info on them.

I have a love hate relationship with this part...until I decide it can be anything ...and as soon as I do decide ....I change my mind and something else is cooler.

Why not just stick with the 45-70? You might be able to paper patch some pistol bullets if that's what you have.
Save the "heavies" for some serious work.

Big bore....yeah that makes a lot of sense. But it is also boring. I mean this is a whole imagination romance make beleive kind of thing I got going on here, and at least a 45-90 just to make it "extra" ....big 50. Or 44-77 bottle neck sound so much cooler. Though you are probably correct ...I could "plink" and do my walking around with a 300 grain pp pistol bullet I have and probably shoot it a whole lot more

greywuuf, on a long shot, where did you get the rifle? Was looking at one in Anchorage last week in 7mm. Store also had one in 43 Spanish

While there are a lot of chamberings you can go with in your roller, there are a few things to take into consideration. 44-77 sure has the cool factor going, I have one and yea it will get things done, no doubt about that. However, brass can be an issue. No one is making any at the moment and to get some with the proper headstamp is expensive, if you can find some. Also it likes to eat up a lot of powder, not really a problem to get 79 or more grains of power in the case with a 480 grain bullet. And depending on the weight of your rifle, recoil can be a bit zippy.
If you like a .44 other options would be the 44-70. Chambers come in 2 lengths, 2.1 and I think the other is 2.2 or 2.4, just not positive. The shorter one is made from 45-70, just full length resize and your done. I have read that it will get the job done for a long ways. If bottle necks turn you on, and you like the 44. Then there is the .44-60. They can also be made from 45-70 but the case needs to be blown out a bit. Once fire formed and if you only neck size the case should last quite a while and with the parent brass easy to get its an option. Depending on your brass you may get between 55 and 60 grains of power in the case and thats enough to get most things done. Maybe not what you want for 1000 yards but should be good to 600 at least.
Most any of the larger BP rounds are a good choice. The 3 1/4" cases are not a good choice for a roller, those are best left for rifles where you have an open shot right into the chamber like a sharps or highwall.
Sam

CASTAWAY. online auction site.

40-82 crossno or 44-100

I developed an interest in an old rolling block that is in the family and was purchased no-one remembers when but it cleaned up nicely, has a good bore and I believe it's in .43 Spanish.

There is no brass, brass can be made from .348 Winchester but it's a lot of work and it's a stopgap. .44-77 would probably work but there's no brass for it either. I can order .348 Win brass from Starline but I really don't need 500 cases and even that is expensive.

I did manage to find a set of Lee dies for it, so it isn't completely hopeless...

As someone who is just getting into this BPC thing at probably the worst moment in history to go looking for obsolete components when mass produced ones are largely unobtainable I'd recommend going with something that Starline produces-.45-70/-90 or -100 or maybe one of the .50's they make...still, the minimum order is 250 cases and by far the least expensive at $0.53/each is the .45-70 and they are in stock. The other cartridges start at nearly double that and go up...

since you already have a .45-70 I'd lean that way, it will make a heck of a sporter and I think the half round/half octagon barreled sporters are really good looking.