RB gunsmith??

[Hackleback]

Looking into having rollingblock rebarreled. An looking for smiths that do good work at a reasonable price. This will be a hunting rifle, not a show piece.

BTW, what should I expect to pay for a rebarrel/rebore?

[Don McDowell]

Greg Cameron out of Sierra Vista Arizona, and Dave Casey out of Cody Wy, are 2 that I know and think well of.

Probably best be set to spend 550 minimum. Just a decent barrel is going to be 200 or more.

[hiram]

Donald Ballenger in Lakeland, FL built my Rem RB. I wanted a douglas premium barrel, 28". He did a great job.

[Harry O]

This guy makes his own rolling blocks from castings. He has a number of completed RB's in his shop and they look great. They are not cheap either. He is NOT fast however. He is 5 months into what he said would be a 1 month RB project for me. That is case hardening an original BP RB, taking a barrel blank, machining it to contour, threading it, fitting it to the receiver, and chambering it for 45-70.

http://www.uppermotradingco.com/

[Harry O]

I picked up the rebarreled Rolling Block yesterday. It took just a little over 6 months. But it was worth the wait. The case hardening was beautiful and the barrel was just like I specified. Cost was reasonable considering the work.

I wanted the barrel contour to look somewhat like a 30-40 Krag barrel. The barrel is straight at a little over 1" diameter coming out of the receiver for an inch or so longer than the 45-70 cartridge. It does an "S" curve to reduce the diameter in a short distance down to 0.860", then it goes in a straight taper to 0.710" at the muzzle. The barrel length is 27-5/8" long. It is not muzzle light, nor is it too heavy.

I am fitting a high-comb straight stock to it and will be mounting a 1" thick recoil pad. That is not traditional, but I intend to shoot it, not look at it. Unfortunately, my digital camera is on the blink. By the time I get done, I will either get it fixed or replace it and post a picture.

I can personally recommend the gunsmith posted above -- provided you are not in a rush.

[McLintock]

John King of Kila, Montana is currently putting the Badger .38 cal barrel from my C. Sharps into a No. 5 Rolling Block action, I'll put the wood on. To thread, fit and chamber, cut for extractor, crown and polish and blue, he quoted $360. I'll probably have him square top the action also, don't have a quote for that, and he'll chamber it with his 38-55 reamer. He figured to have it 4-6 months and we're in the fifth month now. He said he could chamber it for 38-72 with a new reamer he just made, but I stuck with the 38-55 due to the 1-15" twist on the barrel. Dan Theodore said that with a Paul Jones Ellipical #2 bullet, I might be able to get good accuracy with that twist and the 38-72 chambering, but I figured staying with 38-55 would be the best way to go. Lonestar, down in Texas put a barrel in 40-65 on my cousins Egyptian for $500 even, plus did some work on the trigger and milled of the front of the action, all for the $500. With Lee Shaver sights and a Lyman bullet, it shoots very well.
McLintock

[WBH]

DITTO John King. He has done total restoration with new barrels and wood on 3 of my original Remington RB's. Not cheap..........but nothing good is. Sometimes you can catch him in a slower time. But mostly be prepared to wait 6-12 months.
John is a great guy and an exceptional machinist and 'smith. He also did a late 1800's Model '73 for me. He gets my vote, especially for BPCRs.

[13Echo]

Steve Durren at Johnsons Guns in Minnesota is an excellent Rolling Block smith. He had a series of articles in the ASSRA journal a few years ago on a beautiful rifle he built from a military action. A real work of art. He was also the primary builder of one of the recent ASSRA raffle rifles. He currently has my rolling block and a beautiful piece of walnut.

Jerry Liles

[Hayfield]

King is excellant. I've seen his work and it's first rate no shortcuts. My vote would be for Dave Higginbotham down at Lone Star Rifles. He's a builder too. He just rushed a double set trigger job for me....4 months on a Remington Rem #1. Cost a ton.

[Hackleback]

Thank you for all the leads! I picked up one of the Swedish rolling blocks in 8x58R. The bore is so-so. The lands are bright and smooth, but the groves are dark and pitted. I have aquired a set of dies and got a handful of rounds loaded up and shot last weekend using some Unique plinking rounds. The 175 gr cast shot much better than the 205 gr cast. These were light loads and I may need to push a bit more for better accuracy. If I can not get it to shoot well, I was thinking of having it rebarreled or rebored.

This is the first RB I have played with. The engineering is soo simple and straight forward that it is hard not to like them.

Will keep you updated on the project.

[gregg]

This guy makes his own rolling blocks from castings. He has a number of completed RB's in his shop and they look great. They are not cheap either. He is NOT fast however. He is 5 months into what he said would be a 1 month RB project for me. That is case hardening an original BP RB, taking a barrel blank, machining it to contour, threading it, fitting it to the receiver, and chambering it for 45-70.

http://www.uppermotradingco.com/

]

Dr. a great guy. He rebarreled a Navy Arms 1858 44 cal Remington for me once.
custom cut barrel blank he then machined . . Shoots like a house afire.

[gregg]

Columbia MO
Lots of gun cranks in that part of the world.

[Hackleback]

I think that South Dakota has one or two as well. (SDSU grad)