Remington Rolling Block #1 chambering?

[Capt. Methane]

There is a screw on the top, left side of the action. The tip of it retains the sliding bar extractor. Remove the block, then remove that screw. The extractor will then slide out.

Outstanding, thank you!

Mr Wasserburger, you obviously understand those two rifles very, very well...
I've got some Federal match primers but I'm saving them for the 6.5 CM which really likes them...but I have some Winchester and CCI LRP's around.

I really haven't made up my mind on a source for brass-one possibility would to be order some ammo of whatever it turns out to be from Buffalo Arms-at the price of some of the brass I might as well get loaded ammo for it, that's what I was thinking anyway...

Of course now I've found out that when I get home I'm going to get to do some jury duty but I will get back when I know something!

[Capt. Methane]

oops-double post...hotel internet!

[jonp]

I run the 45-110 in long range competition. In 2 different Shiloh Sharps, a very tall powder column, 1st Scope National Championships was in 2006, last midrange was in 2018.

I use only 2 makes of primers, Winchester white box, and Federal 210M. Absolutely no need for a magnum primer, unless hard fouling at the mouth of your case is your goal. My first 110 was rebarreled in 2005, after just shy 20,000 rounds. My bull barrel rifle is now pushing 6000 rounds, all paper patched btw.

In 2008 I set a record group with a PP bullet in Pedersoli’s 5@200 challenge match. Actually I have won it twice with the same 110. The rebarreled LRE. Group size was 1.336 inches.

All my groups and titles have been won with LR Winchester primers.

Kenny Wasserburger

Kenny, what is it about the Win primer that you think gives you the results you have had in that gun

[Capt. Methane]

Well, I'm home, have gotten a good cerrosafe casting on the second try and there's one thing I'm sure of...

It's not 11mm Gras! The chamber casting won't go back into the chamber as it is and the shoulder on the Gras is two hundredths too big.

I've formed my opinion (also based on some of the traits of this rifle given the various markings as well as the chamber casting) but that could be based on my interpretation of the dimensions found in Cartridges of the World so what I'd like to do is post the measurements I came up with and see what everyone else thinks...without influencing anyone else's input.

From a one hour old Rotometals cerrosafe casting-

Neck - 0.466-0.471 depending on where measured

Shoulder - 0.515 (the shoulder is very slight and shallow of angle-to get that measurement I essentially used both the micrometer and calipers as go/no-go gauges).

Base - 0.537

Rim (measurement taken from breech) - less than 0.654

Rim Thickness (again measured from breech) - 0.090 or less

Case length - Less than 2.50

[Capt. Methane]

Ah, no one took a swing at the mystery curveball though I don't blame anyone-the hoard of 11ish mm/43-45 caliber cartridges that the RB was chambered in over it's 50 plus year production run (absolutely epic for the time actually!) I shouldn't be surprised...I'm just glad the local library was able to get Cartridges of the World for me and while it is an outstanding resource there is one dimension that is missing-the length from the base of the cartridge to the shoulder-that would really help in my situation!

I've managed to answer several questions over the last few days through disassembly of the rifle. One is why the trigger pull is so heavy-the hammer spring is like something out of a truck suspension and the trigger return spring is only slightly less massive! Other than that, I can see why these rifles survived so long in an era that transitioned from muzzle loaders to machine guns. They are reliable, simple, very durable, outstandingly flexible and known for being accurate!

What else could be asked of any rifle (except perhaps a more "modern" rate of fire)?

I have come to believe that I have (more or less) an Argentine M1866/75 Rolling Block cavalry musket with matching numbers, chambered in 11.15mm/.43 Spanish Remington based on the dimensions of the chamber casting and comparison from markings and the photos in the linked article...though the large bore troubles me some I can not reconcile any other measurements to anything else. A previous project-and a trip through a museum in Brussels-left an image in my mind so as soon as the wood was off the action I recognized some of the proofs and it didn't take much internet time to verify the recollection.

http://www.militaryrifles.com/Argent...5Argentine.htm

Well, I can't seem to upload the photos I took...

The barrel has Liege proof marks, the action has a linear extractor and the channeled out breech block, the upper tang has the early style two line Remington data, the lower tang has the extra screw into the wood. There is no bayonet lug (which has puzzled me being a military rifle of that period). There is a marking ahead of the extractor screw that looks just like the one in the linked article. The fore stock has the screw type barrel bands rather than the spring retained ones but there is no telling what may have brought that about though there are a pair of matching " \\ " marks on the bottom of the barrel and the inside of the fore stock that I found interesting but are undocumented-perhaps some kind of armory marking?

Still haven't found any markings regarding bore or caliber, at least not legible...

I will wait to see if anyone has anything to add regarding the measurements of the casting or markings I've found.

I'm also interested to see if there are any dummy rounds out there that I could try just for grins before I go doing something silly like ordering ammo or dies...

Thanks!

[bigted]

My military roller has a chamber slightly larger than yours in the neck. My bore though is .439.

My fired cases will accept .452 diameter boolits. So I ordered a .452 mold at 400ish grain and cast them of almost pure lead ... read nice n soft.

This old roller is in good shape except for the terrible trigger pull. Having worked the trigger I was pleasantly surprised at the accuracy of this old girl.

80 grains 2F sparked by a CCI LR primer. .030 vegi wad and slightly compressed to accept the thumb seated home cast greaser boolit. Run into the LEE seat die just enough to put a slight tightening on the neck just so the boolit would not fall out.

43 Spanish. Poor mans 44-77. Love this old stinker. Makes me smile every time I yank the trigger. She aint a light weight but very managable indeed. Been kicked more by my 45-70's by far.

Aint sayin yourn is the 43 Spanish ... however it might be. My brass is Bertrim. It is around and for a couple bucks you could but 1 or 2 and fireform em with .451 light 45 ACP boolits if the case chambers.

The fireformed case should give the story.

[Capt. Methane]

My military roller has a chamber slightly larger than yours in the neck. My bore though is .439.

My fired cases will accept .452 diameter boolits. So I ordered a .452 mold at 400ish grain and cast them of almost pure lead ... read nice n soft.

This old roller is in good shape except for the terrible trigger pull. Having worked the trigger I was pleasantly surprised at the accuracy of this old girl.

80 grains 2F sparked by a CCI LR primer. .030 vegi wad and slightly compressed to accept the thumb seated home cast greaser boolit. Run into the LEE seat die just enough to put a slight tightening on the neck just so the boolit would not fall out.

43 Spanish. Poor mans 44-77. Love this old stinker. Makes me smile every time I yank the trigger. She aint a light weight but very managable indeed. Been kicked more by my 45-70's by far.

Aint sayin yourn is the 43 Spanish ... however it might be. My brass is Bertrim. It is around and for a couple bucks you could but 1 or 2 and fireform em with .451 light 45 ACP boolits if the case chambers.

The fireformed case should give the story.

That is a good idea-it occurred to me that perhaps I should ask if anyone has a dummy round I could borrow for a bit to see if it chambers?

Depending on what you read and where, the 44-77 may well be an outgrowth of the .43 Spanish and .43 Russian cartridges but who knows for sure? I did find that Womack offers a reduced strength trigger return spring that would be a huge improvement and I imagine that getting all of the gunge out of the bottom of that rifle and putting it back together with some Lubriplate will help quite a bit. I haven't ordered the trigger spring yet since I don't know for sure what I have but it seems like I'm making some progress...

except that I can't even find any brass out there right now-none in stock that I've found and I don't really want to buy someone's "collector" ammo.

[Kenny Wasserburger]

As I understand the longer burn of the two primers mentioned might be the reason. A study years ago on the Brisance, mentioning the WLR and Federal 210, gave me a clue.

[Capt. Methane]

Well, Buffalo Arms finally came through-first . 43 Spanish brass became available and then loaded ammo so now I have 40 cases and 20 loaded BP rounds and that has confirmed my suspicions-the formed .43 Spanish cartridges are a perfect fit!

The cases are formed from Starline .50-100 brass and look good. I still have reservations about a .439 bullet filling the grooves which seem closer to .450 but that will be something answered by a target.