So... I picked up my Remington Rolling Block for my "roller resto" project...

the Rifle is a late 1800's black powder action, marked for Egypt, but likely sent to France instead, as it's in way better condition than any other I've been able to find pics of, marked with the "E.P. Cresent moon"

the gun was likely converted to a bench rest gun, in the 60's, & is currently chambered in 225 winchester, & the barrel is just about shot out... it looks like some parts may have been replaced to help the black powder action hold up to the higher pressure 225 Winchester round, the hammer has an added spur that was welded on, & stipled at the top, & the breech block has a shield ( I haven't followed up since noticing ), but think I remember the breech block wearing a shield on the New York state contracted smokeless actions ??? the trigger has be obviously reworked, as it's light & crisp, with no over travel...before disassembly, the action seems to need nothing done to it...

I'll be rebarreling & rechambering the gun to 32-40, using a .323 Shilen 8 mm Match barrel, with an unmachined contour, so I can contour the barrel to fit the custom beaver tail fore end... I plan on using as much of the new barrel length as possible, probably adding 5"- 6"additional length over the existing barrel... the beaver tail fore end, & high roll over cheek stock, are incredible looking pieces of wood, & will get refinished while the gun is apart... the current barrel has some cheesy aluminum 3/8" bases & good quality rimfire rings... I'll be putting a better quality external adjust scope back on, likely a Unertl... I want this for a fun gun to shoot, & have my own range, & plan to shoot it regularly off the bench at 100, 200, & 300 yards, so I"m after optics that look "traditional". yet offer me the ability to adjust back & forth for all the ranges...

my goal is to restore the gun to suite the wood, as a bench "shooter" styled after the 40's - 50's guns, & refinish the metal in a more modern corrosion resistant finish ( my hands sweat abnormally ), refinish the minor dings out of the wood ( removing the sling studs, etc )

it begins coming apart today... here are the before pics...

close up of the action... note the shield on the breech block & the added hammer spur, with stippled thumb area

WOW !!!

in 15 minutes, my buddy had the gun totally stripped down & completely apart including the barrel removed, even though it was "lock tighted" on... we're sure the breech block is from a smokeless action... also the trigger gaurd serial doesn't match the action's serial  

the 2 main pins are looser than he / we would like, so he's making new ones from ( X ) grade tool steel, the flat spring in the reciever was pretty pitted from previous rust, so we may decide to change that one out also, otherwise everything looked good on the inside... just waiting for the new barrel to arrive

any suggestions for stock refinishing ??? I want a good hard "mile deep" finish on the furniture when I refinish it...

my buddy also suggested drilling a large hole in the hammer body just below the reciever line, to lighten the hammer & quicken the lock time... the only draw back I could see would be lighter primer strikes, but if we replace the spring as previosly mentioned, win / win ???

Thanks for the suggestions... yes, I haven't even started stripping / sanding the old finish yet... & yes, even the wood will take a lot of work... & as you noted, it's not going to look original... it'll always be a shooter grade rifle... that said, I think I can improve the wood's fit quite a bit... there is also some metal finishing I want to accomplish... I.E. the added hammer spur while looks OK on the top, was not smoothed over the weld on the underside, also I think I want to shape it just a little bit ( removing a bit more weight can't hurt, as long as the spring is fresh ), the stock retaining bolt, when tightened down, protrudes through the lower tang almost an 1/8" if I don't replace that screw, I'll need to trim it flush with the tang for a smooth fit... little things like that should help the rifle both in performance & in the looks department

As I mentioned, my hands sweat abnormally, so I'm looking for a more corrosion resistant metal finish, than standard blueing, so I'm holding off on removing the current finish on the wood, untill I get the barrel fit, to see if I could stand either that french grey finish E.A. Brown offers, ( or elecroless nickle ), by looking at he barreln fitted, still in the white, or weather I want to keep the metal dark ( which I think I'd prefer )... If I chose to keep the metal finish dark, right now, my only options are flat black parkerizing, black chrome, or the deep blue Diamond Kote... I may send a test ( hand ) gun in for refinishing in a couple of these finishes... to see what they look like in person, & the quality of the work done in the shop ( as example, I have a couple cheap, ugly guns I've kept around for bubba gunsmithing, ( like a 6" barreled Rohm Gmba 9 shot 22 revolver with target sights, that shoots way to good to get rid of at its current market value )

didn't get the mid-pic..

thanks and ..tt.g..

more mid project pics... that rough machined adjustable butt plate...

still not sure between deep blue & French Grey for the metal finish... but really leaning towards deep blue, even though the barrel in the white right now seems to make the wood's charictor "pop"

I got my loading dies, & have starting picking through some eye deers on reciepes... I haven't got a cast bullet yet, but the 180 grain Nosler on the left, is my choice to use as a jacketed bullet... the one on the right, is a 170 grain Speer semi spitzer I'm going to use for barrel break in, since it's a bullet I already had in stock...