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Early 44 rimfire #2 Remington rolling block (Read 6435 times)

ndnchf Oldtimer Offline Posts: 987 Joined: Mar 6^th, 2014	Early 44 rimfire #2 Remington rolling block Apr 13^th, 2020 at 4:12pm	Print Post
	The #2 RRB I just bought arrived. It appears to be a very early one, maybe mid 1870s? It is simply marked "44". The bore has a little pitting ahead of the chamber, but beyond that area it is smooth, shiny and has nice sharp rifling. I'm a shooter, not so much a collector (well sorta ). I need to slug the bore and measure the chamber to see what I can use to make cases from. I had made a 1.094" long 44 long centerfire case from a sized and trimmed .44 mag case. It wouldn't even enter the chamber. It must be something a little smaller. Time for more research. This is the start of another adventure. Here are some pics. More to follow.
	« Last Edit: May 5^th, 2020 at 7:11am by ndnchf »

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ndnchf Oldtimer Offline Posts: 987 Joined: Mar 6^th, 2014	Re: Early 44 rimfire #2 Remington rolling block Reply #1 - Apr 13^th, 2020 at 4:13pm	Print Post
	A couple more pics.


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ndnchf Oldtimer Offline Posts: 987 Joined: Mar 6^th, 2014	Re: Early 44 rimfire #2 Remington rolling block Reply #2 - Apr 13^th, 2020 at 5:19pm	Print Post
	I did a quick and dirty chamber measurement using a telescoping gauge, mic and caliper. The chamber is approximately .445" at the head, .442" at the neck and 1.250" long. Groove size is .430"-.431".
	« Last Edit: Apr 13^th, 2020 at 5:47pm by ndnchf »

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ndnchf Oldtimer Offline Posts: 987 Joined: Mar 6^th, 2014	Re: Early 44 rimfire #2 Remington rolling block Reply #3 - Apr 13^th, 2020 at 10:05pm	Print Post
	I took a 303 British case and put it in the lathe and turned the head area down to .440", then cut it to 44 rimfire long length of 1.094". It chambers well. So that's a start.


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Joe Do... Oldtimer ASSRA Board Member ASSRA Journal Editor Offline Posts: 578 Location: 'burbs of Chicago Joined: May 19^th, 2012	Re: Early 44 rimfire #2 Remington rolling block Reply #4 - Apr 14^th, 2020 at 7:24am	Print Post
	Nice find! You see these available in .22 and .38 rimfire and occasionally the centerfire calibers but this is the first .44rf I've seen ... very cool!


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ndnchf Oldtimer Offline Posts: 987 Joined: Mar 6^th, 2014	Re: Early 44 rimfire #2 Remington rolling block Reply #5 - Apr 14^th, 2020 at 7:35am	Print Post
	Joe Do... wrote on Apr 14^th, 2020 at 7:24am: Nice find! You see these available in .22 and .38 rimfire and occasionally the centerfire calibers but this is the first .44rf I've seen ... very cool! Yes, that's why I jumped on it. I have a couple other #2s, but this is a rare one.


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marlinguy Frequent Elocutionist Offline Ballards may be weaker, but they sure are neater! Posts: 15771 Location: Oregon Joined: Feb 2^nd, 2009	Re: Early 44 rimfire #2 Remington rolling block Reply #6 - Apr 14^th, 2020 at 11:06am	Print Post
	Indeed a rare caliber for the #2, and those sling eyes are very cool too! S&S sells sling hooks if you wanted to have them to complete the gun as it once was.

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ndnchf Oldtimer Offline Posts: 987 Joined: Mar 6^th, 2014	Re: Early 44 rimfire #2 Remington rolling block Reply #7 - Apr 14^th, 2020 at 4:45pm	Print Post
	Sling hooks? Hadn't thought much about it, but I'll take a look - thanks. I've got it torn down, every last piece and screw. Giving it a good cleaning, inspection and lubrication. The hammer pivot pin was rusted solidly in the hammer. It took an overnight soaking with penetrating oil and an arbor press to get it out. But is a good now. It probably hasn't been apart in well over 100 years. Quite nasty inside, but no other surprises.


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marlinguy Frequent Elocutionist Offline Ballards may be weaker, but they sure are neater! Posts: 15771 Location: Oregon Joined: Feb 2^nd, 2009	Re: Early 44 rimfire #2 Remington rolling block Reply #8 - Apr 14^th, 2020 at 6:54pm	Print Post
	ndnchf wrote on Apr 14^th, 2020 at 4:45pm: Sling hooks? Hadn't thought much about it, but I'll take a look - thanks. Looks like S&S doesn't carry them anymore? But Dixie Gun Works still has them, and cheaper than what S&S wanted anyway. (You need to *Login* or *Register* to view media files and links) I have a full sized #1 Sporting Rifle in .22 Long that has those same eyes for sling hooks on it.

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ndnchf Oldtimer Offline Posts: 987 Joined: Mar 6^th, 2014	Re: Early 44 rimfire #2 Remington rolling block Reply #9 - Apr 14^th, 2020 at 7:56pm	Print Post
	Thanks, I've not seen those before. I finished the clean/inspect/lube work. It's all back together. I installed a centerfire breech block, it fit perfectly. Then took out and test fired it with the case I made. So far so good


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ndnchf Oldtimer Offline Posts: 987 Joined: Mar 6^th, 2014	Re: Early 44 rimfire #2 Remington rolling block Reply #10 - Apr 15^th, 2020 at 7:12pm	Print Post
	Got a dummy round made tonight. I had no 44 heel bullets on hand. So using the lathe, I cut a heel on a 200gr. 44-40 bullet. Then played around with the case length until it would just chamber. I've got brass and proper heel bullets coming from BACO. Hopefully I'll have it shooting soon.

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MrTipUp Frequent Elocutionist Offline Quality is to a product what character is to a man Posts: 1301 Location: Indiana Joined: Feb 19^th, 2020	Re: Early 44 rimfire #2 Remington rolling block Reply #11 - Apr 15^th, 2020 at 9:35pm	Print Post
	Well done! Now, I hope you have much fun! Bill Lawrence


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oneatatime Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 3758 Location: Rocky Mountains Joined: Oct 30^th, 2011	Re: Early 44 rimfire #2 Remington rolling block Reply #12 - Apr 15^th, 2020 at 11:33pm	Print Post
	Nice pics, by the way.


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ndnchf Oldtimer Offline Posts: 987 Joined: Mar 6^th, 2014	Re: Early 44 rimfire #2 Remington rolling block Reply #13 - Apr 18^th, 2020 at 7:45pm	Print Post
	Made good progress today - I made the first cartridge. The centerfire version of this 44 rimfire is essentially .44 S&W American. For this cartridge I used 303 Savage made into 44 Ballard/Wesson XL from BACO. The bullet is a 218gr .44 S&W American from BACO as well. The brass was cut down to .965", then the mouth was expanded to .410" to accept the .411" bullet heel. The brass was quite thick this far down. So I made a .410" mandrel to hold the case in the lathe, then turned the OD at the mouth down to. 440". After test fitting in the chamber, 22gr of Swiss 1-1/2 was drop tubed into the case. Then the bullet was seated, compressing the powder about .050". According to a couple sources, .44 S&W American can be easily made from .41 magnum brass. I have some coming and will give it a try. My only concern is the undersize rim it has. It's a pretty mild .44 cartridge. But the #2 rolling block is a pretty small rifle. I'm looking forward to taking it to the range.


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ndnchf Oldtimer Offline Posts: 987 Joined: Mar 6^th, 2014	Re: Early 44 rimfire #2 Remington rolling block Reply #14 - Apr 19^th, 2020 at 4:50pm	Print Post
	It's been a busy day making cases and loading. But I now have 20 loaded rounds ready to go. Hope to get some range time this week.


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