Remington Rolling Block Model No. 2 Sporting Rifle

[artu44]

Weeks ago I bought nice price this rifle cal 32 s/n 87xxx. When it arrived I discovered barrel was relined in 38spl. Until now i've tried 16grs od fffg and 2,6grs of Rex yellow strictlly with 148WC lead with no problem and good accuracy but I wonder if it could be safe to shoot commerial 38spl loads. Just to have a vintage touch I glued on this Ward 20 scope.

[kootne]

In the March, 1967 issue of the American Rifleman magazine, Frank DeHaas wrote an article on gunsmithing rolling blocks. Regarding the suitable calibers for the #2, he includes the .38 Special. Of course, that probably was before +P loads. I don't know how scientific DeHaas was in his determination but he was a well respected single shot gun smith and author in his day.

[artu44]

I'll try to recover this magazine. thanks

[marlinman93]

In the March, 1967 issue of the American Rifleman magazine, Frank DeHaas wrote an article on gunsmithing rolling blocks. Regarding the suitable calibers for the #2, he includes the .38 Special. Of course, that probably was before +P loads. I don't know how scientific DeHaas was in his determination but he was a well respected single shot gun smith and author in his day.

DeHaas was well respected for his expertise in single shot rifles, and I think his experience was from almost exclusively hands on and trying various barrels and chamberings. I'd trust his estimate that the #2 can handle .38 Special smokeless loads, but I also agree that it wont include any hot .38 Special loads.
The #2 is a very well designed action, and so well made it put a high price tag on them when they were new, and resulted in smaller sales due to the price tag.

[Mk42gunner]

In his book "Single Shot Rifles and Actions," he also cautioned against using the high velocity .32-20 in the #2.

If the rifle were mine, I would happily shoot standard pressure .38 Special loads, but draw the line at modern Plus+ ammo. I probably would stick to cast lead projectiles too.

Robert

[artu44]

Of course guys I never intended to shoot +P and similar evil things. My question was if I can safely reload duplicating plain commercial loads. At present I can cast RCBS 148grs WC, Lee 158 SWC and Lee six cavities 38-150-1R and I'll handload them a notch below commercial loads. I own also a S&W K38 and an Uberti Richards conversion Colt Navy so I have to be very careful with their dedicate loads.