Got a new to me Roller in 12.7x44 R yesterday, she is a shooter!

[koger]

I sold some guns recently, and decided reinvest in another Rolling block, what else. I looked at gun prices and shook my head. I found a pretty clean 12.7x44R on Simpsons for about $500, so I called them and asked about the bore, guy told me it was the best one he had seen in a long while in that caliber, bright and shiny with no pitting or corrosion. Wood was good and solid , extractor worked well and so on. So I plunked down a modest amount of cash and had them send it my way. The rifle got here yesterday, and it was as advertised, a bright shiny bore, with no pitting and deep, grooves. The rifle was about in the white, with all the blue gone and a light coat of patina on it. The 38" barrel was too long, so i cut it back to 32" and crowned i lightly. Then I silver soldered a 3/8 dovetail base on about 1/2 inch back from the muzzle and put in a tall flat blade. I ended up cutting 2/3 of it off, and it was zeroed at 100yds, spot on. I then took the stock and forearm on, looked things over. I cleaned out the receiver, and oiled it up. I also polished the chamber with some 400 grit emery cloth, to remove a couple of tight spots. I took a drum sander on my Dremel tool and straightened up the groove which the barrel band rested in that held the forearm on, looked better when done. Lastly I polished down the barrel and action, and cold blued with some Oxpho Blue creme, 3 coats and it looked pretty darn good. There were some hard parts on the receiver that would not take the bluing. I put the wood back on, and it looked pretty darn good. I sent some pics to Texas By God, he will probably post them in time. I shot a 3 shot group with 450 gr slug, and it shot 3 nearly touching at 120 yds, smaller than a Skoal can, and I called it good to go, and put her up. The original barrel had no front sight left, and the stock had already been shortened, so I felt okay with cutting the barrel back, and making it a more handy shooter. May have to take this one deer hunting this year. Just thought I would share.

[Texas by God]

So, what diameter bullets does a 12.7 mm use?

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[Texas by God]

Very nice. Send it down here when you're done playing with it

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[koger]

Thomas it is a .50 caliber, I use a lee .515, 450 gr slug, sized and lubed at .512. I actually use the same load as I do when loading a 50/70. With the shorter more compact case, it is actually a little faster.

[Whole Bunches]

Mine has a groove diameter of .512”. I size my bullets .512”, as that size of die is readily available.

[GARD72977]

That is a very nice gun for what you paid. What dies are you using? I see these guns for sale but know very little about loading for them

[koger]

I use 50/70 dies, Lyman. I full length size them, and I had to shorten the seating die to get the seat, and very slight crimp I use. I am using about 13 grs of Unique, and a 450 gr Lee .50 cal bullet. Very easy to load for, and I make brass from 50 Alaskan. The only down side is that the chambers are a little tight, due to a lot of the old cases being made out of copper, which was thinner. I take a dowel rod and roll on some emery cloth usually 320 and finish with 400grit, and open up the chamber some. I have done this to both my rifles in this caliber and several for friends, with no issues. I feel that the price I paid, for a Roller, with a pristine bore, great solid action, and solid wood, in a easy to load for caliber, is a pretty dang good buy. I see guns similar to this, selling on Gunbroker from $800 and up, with questionable bores. Another way I look at it, is they are only going to increase in value $$ wise, while all the new synthetic stocked wonder guns, will at best hold close to there value, or decrease by 1/3rd. I see Savage Axis that cost $379 new, routinely sell for $200-250 after sligtht use on the used market in this area. And I am not knocking the Axis, great shooting guns, especially for the $$ spent, I have 2 of them, but look at them as utility guns. I oad for all those obscure rounds, such as this, and 8x58R, 50/70, 45/70, 45/90, 40/82 and 38/55, all are as easy to load for as a 45/70, which I consider pretty easy to load for. Getting the dies and brass is the biggest hurdle, but I have had no troube finding components. Some of the dies can be pricey, $100 +, but buy once/cry once and it really is not too big of a deal. PM me if I can ever be of help.

[Dutchman]

So, what diameter bullets does a 12.7 mm use?

Using a pin gauge at the muzzle mine measures .477" land diameter and .500" groove diameter. I shoot .510" bullets out of mine.



Using telescoping gauge to measure the groove diameter at the muzzle.
sorry for the out of focus photo...






Dutch