I have been offered a fairly decent Remington 1 1/2 rolling block rifle in .32 rimfire.

The outside is a mix of original finish and patina, but not rusted. The stocks are intact and in decent shape, no gouges or splits. There is an ebony insert at the tip of the forend.

The octagonal barrel is 29.5” long, and that’s where the fairly decent part of the story begins to falter. There are very simple open sights, both front and rear. The bore is, well, there is a clear view down the barrel from breech to muzzle, but it is well worn and pitted.

Would it be possible to line this to say .32-40, or rebore it to 38-55 and convert it to centerfire? The asking price is $625, which seems reasonable for an unmolested sporting rifle. Or am I way off base?

ssdave wrote on Feb 21^st, 2026 at 1:41am:


Now this is why I asked the question to begin with! Am I correct in thinking that it would be suitable to line it to .32-20, or rebore it to a larger pistol cartridge? Perhaps.38-40 or .44-40?

I understand that the conversion of the block ups the ante.

I would definitely convert it to centerfire. 32/20, 38/40 and 44/40 are great choices, easy and cheap to load and a lot of fun to shoot.

I have a Remington 1 1/2 that was rebored to 38-55 by Ron Snover many years ago.   It shoots fine with both black and smokeless powders.  As someone mentioned previously, it was designed as a light weight rifle so the recoil with 38-55 even light smokeless powder loads is significant.  I'm not into hot loads with the smokeless powder and have had no trouble.  I think DeHass rated the #1 1/2 pretty much as strong as the #1 actions.  Mine was a centerfire originally so no need to convert the block.  Converting the block from rimfire is actually a better bet because you should end up with a much smaller firing pin; a definate advantage. 

George

A re-bore would be less money than a liner.
I did a 44 Steven in 44-40, fun to shoot. 38 special would be another good choice, easy to find ammo.