About the 22rf block that you can get, go for it. It's square
shape suggests it came from a low wall musket. Nothing wrong with that. You will need a 22 extractor, but you will have a rifle well worth the effort!

I would sit down with a paper and pencil and try to lay out your different options price-wise. A new barrel is going to cost you probably in the neighborhood of $6-800 unless you have a really reasonably priced gunsmith. A reline has been mentioned at $450. Make sure you know the difference in your breech-blocks before you buy one. A Centerfire breech block will be square in the front where the rimfire breech-block will have a bevel to cam the case into the chamber. Sears are not a big problem as MVA makes one reasonably priced and I'm sure others do too. I'm sure the DZ arms breech blocks are nice but at that price it's going to really cause the price of your rifle to mount. Check with C Sharps Arms as they make low walls as well and will probably sell you a breech block but I don't know at what price. Make sure once you decide what caliber you want, stick to it as you can't change midstream because of the differences in the breech blocks. What is the exterior like? Are you going to try to restore it or leave it as is? If you're going to leave it as is, I'd look for a used low wall breach block as your parts will then match.  Be patient and one will show up that you should be able to pick up at a reasonable price. Walls are addictive and the easiest single-shot rifle out there for a person to learn to work on.

My question because I just don't know is, can the hole in the Breach Block be welded?  David

MVA sells parts and pieces for M1885s. Give them a call for a breechblock and extractor.

I've got a slightly different approach that may get you where your trying to go in a more budget friendly way.
If it were mine:
I would start by sending the barreled action to someone like Hardcastle or Shaver to verify it's a candidate for rework.  Assuming it's ok, one of them can take care of the centerfire block issue and also recut or replace the sear.
Next, I would have the gunsmith ship it to JES and have it rebored and chambered to 38 special ($250).  This also solves the extractor issues.
Readily available, inexpensive components and fun to shoot.
Just my 2 cents worth

What would be an average price that a gunsmith would charge for repairing a breech block?

uscra112 wrote on May 8^th, 2022 at 12:00am:


Unless you are set on .32 S&W, I would have the barrel re-bored to .38 special. I have had JES re-bore four barrels, and I have been quite pleased with the work, cost is about $250 and turn around time is around 2 weeks. Of course someone else would have repair your breech block.

uscra112 wrote on May 8^th, 2022 at 2:43pm:

He might but I don’t think he gives it out to anyone. No one answers the phone either and it goes to voicemail, but he has always called me back the same day, usually in the early evening.

First of all, let me say "Thank you!" to all of you who took the time to answer my question!!  ..a lot of good responses and recommendations.

I have a lathe, and if I had a small mill and a shop to put them in, I'd try it myself.  Finding a real 'smith who is local, and does more than assemble AR15's, and as 830singleshot pointed out, offers a "reasonable turn around time" can sometimes be an issue.  As someone else pointed out, this probably requires a specialist in 1885's, or at least, single shots.

Someone else already asked, can the holes be welded, then dressed down to the bolt face, and apparently, that's an option, however I think I would be concerned about the temper?

I'm going to sit down and figure out what I want to do, caliber-wise, and then start making calls to the recommended 'smiths.   

In the meantime, in case I try to go the .22lr route, I'm going to snag that Low Wall Musket breech block.   

I'd like to stay with 32 S&W Long, but I'm open to both .22lr, and 38 Special.

I read through this long set interesting posts. There were a couple of suggestions on where to get a replacement breach block.  I would recommend either MVA or C Sharps.  I believe you can get a breach block from either for about $105 plus shipping.  With MVA I’m not sure they make a low wall block.   

If you go the C Sharps route be aware that they only do coil spring actions.  That in itself will not be a problem using a coil spring breach block.  However, the C Sharps block uses a screw instead of a split pin to for the hammer axle.  I believe the C Sharps hammer screw is ~0.030” greater in diameter than the standard hammer split pin.  To use your hammer you’d have to drill it out to approximately 0.215”.   It addition, if you go the C Sharps route you’ll need to decide whether you’re going to do a center fire or rimfire before you order.  C Sharps rimfire blocks have the firing pin hole drilled slightly higher in the block.  This allows them to use a center fire firing pin and it strikes the rim at the 12 o’clock position rather than 6 o’clock.

If your not going to have your block repaired I’d recommend one of the two above sources for a replacement block.  It will likely be less expensive and you will get new vs used block that might still have issues.  A new block may require some minor fitting.  If that’s the case pay attention to the corners of the vertical breach block legs.  Sometimes they require the lightest chamfer in this area if the block is dragging when closing the action.

Good luck

John Taylor would be an excellent choice, should you choose that route. 
He did a reline job for me. Good communication, timely response, excellent results.

Get a copy of Mr. Singleshot’s Gunsmithing Idea-Book by Frank deHaas.  He has several methods of bushing breechblocks and doing other repairs/modifications on the Winchester single shot.

The modular characteristics of modern guns means that most gunsmiths are parts-replacers any more.  A wood-and-steel gunsmith, if he is any good, will generally have more work than he can do, like Mr. Shaver obviously does.  I believe his heart is really in long-range muzzle-loaders, and with his sight and accessories business, and that magazine he publishes, I can imagine he’s pretty buried.

I’ve bushed several breechblocks on my 6” Atlas lathe, and I’m nobody’s Master Gunsmith, I assure you.  A four-jaw, a drill chuck, centers, perhaps a homemade angled backing plate and a center-drilled rod for alignment of the firing pin hole, a tap and a boring tool can result in a bushing that removes all the breechblock pitting that might be there.  If there is no pitting and the headspace is good, a simple threaded plug will work.

I don’t know how someone these days can be in the “anteeks binness” without being able to do stuff for themselves.  Being forced to go to other people, wait for months and, at worst case, get a poor job back, would be a great way to ruin somebody’s enthusiasm for this hobby.