De-militarized .43 Spanish RB

PJ Hardtack · March 14, 2012, 03:47:35 PM

Years ago, I bought an Argentine .43 Spanish RB in excellent condition. It proved to be an excellent shooter with 375 and 470 gr bullets - a real 'kicker' with the latter! The cartridge is the ballistic twin of the 44-77 Sharps, making you wonder why Remington bothered to make two such similar rounds.

But, it tended to lead up a bit near the muzzle of the 36" barrel. I had 6" cut off and recrowned the barrel. I also cut back the military stock to 'musketoon' length, refitting the steel nose cap. Again, it shot well, the leading problem solved, but I found it to be butt ugly and lost interest in it.

I've tried to sell it a few times with no takers. Then I ran across a picture of a 'de-militarized' RB .....

I cut the long fore stock to 3-3/4" ahead of the rear barrel band and reshaped it to resemble the end of the stock on Springfield Trapdoor carbines and Spencers. That's about 1/2 longer than on those guns, but due to the longer barrel, I though it more esthetically pleasing. It would have been historically correct to have given it a 'schnabble' on a splinter fore stock, but I've never cared for that look.
I plugged the ram rod hole with a sanded down dowel and filled the slot with a piece of wood from the scrapped fore stock. Mixing some of the sawdust with white glue gave me a 'poor man's' AccraGlas to fill in small voids. After final shaping and sanding, I stained it with mahogany leather dye and waxed it. Looks like it was arsenal done.

I think I have a keeper now .....

Otter · March 14, 2012, 04:26:09 PM

I can visualize it, PJ, but this thread is useless without pictures . . .

WaddWatsonEllis · March 14, 2012, 05:08:47 PM

PJ,

As a dedicated rolling block aficionado, I would welcome pics too!

TTFN,

PJ Hardtack · March 15, 2012, 06:19:41 PM

Had the .43 RB out to play today, despite ridiculously gusty conditions. So much so that shooting beyond 50 yds was a waste of ammo and even off hand at 50 was a challenge.

From a sitting position at 50, the .43 put 4 rds into 1-1/4", the first 'fouler' 1-1/2" low. Load was the Lyman 375 gr and 70 grs FFg.
I cleaned the bore before switching loads; a 470 gr bullet over 75 grs FFg and put four rds into 1-3/4" x 1-3/4", the 'fouler' again printing out of the group.

I did shoot at 100 from the sitting position with the heavier bullet and it did carry well into the wind, printing 5 rds into 4". All groups were 7-1/2" to 8" above point of aim, suggesting that this rifle will carry well to 200 yds and beyond.

PJ Hardtack · March 26, 2012, 05:09:56 PM

More on the .43 Spanish RB ....

Absolutely beautiful day, no wind. Off to the range I go .... had the place to myself. Heaven!

I proved I had a shooter in my .43 with BP at 50 (off hand) and 100 sitting. Today, it was 5744. I shot from the bench - 3 rds into 4" with the 470 gr bullet/28/5744. Even with a 'fine' sight, it printed 10" high. The 375 gr with the same powder charge shot better, but even higher.

Hmmm, starting to look like a higher front sight is in order. But - we have a 10" x 10" gong at 150 that I've seen many a scoped rifle shooter miss from the bench.
It was bang on with the 470 gr with a 'fine' sight/centre hold! The 375 gr required a 6 o'clock hold; again with a fine sight. This rifle can shoot!

Being a believer in: "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", I think the rifle deserves to be left as it is. I'll just use it when I need to reach out a little. Next time out will be at 200 yds. I'm expecting good things .....

john boy · March 27, 2012, 08:07:15 PM

Some pictures of mine: When Argentina switched over to 7mm, they sent their 43 Spanish back to Remington who refurbished the rifles for further sales. This rifle is to me, the 2nd owner from the factory. The EN identifies it was used by the Argentine Infantry not their National Police

It too is a shooter

PJ Hardtack · March 28, 2012, 10:17:26 AM

Yep - same same mine. The Argie is said to have the best rear sight on a RB, bar none.

Imagine it with 6" lopped of the barrel and the forestock shortened to 4" ahead of the rear barrel band and you've got what my rifle looks like. It's a 'chop job', but doesn't looked 'Bubba'd'. You've probably seen pics of historic RBs so converted. It's got the same proportions as my wife's .357 mag Uberti 26" RB rifle.

I may yet have the dovetailed silver blade front sight replaced with a higher site, but I'll wait to see how it hits on steel at 200-300 yards.
I'd be interested to know your loads and if you're experiencing the leading and bore fouling I did with the original long barrel. With my next batch, I'm going to use a lubed wad to further reduce fouling.

Otter · March 28, 2012, 03:19:59 PM

I did buy an Argentine .43 Spanish that was in great shape . . . traded it for the action and machining work required to build my RB . . . see below.

This started out as a .43 Egyptian but now the action sports a No1 x 34" heavy oct Badger barrel chambered in 45-70 and "standard" wood from Treebone. A good Buddy did the machined metal work needed and I fit the wood, butt-plate and fore-end embellishment. It isn't real purty, but it is MINE and it shoots better than I can.

Here are some pictures of my RB for comparison.

Left side of the action . . .

Right side of the action . . . Rear barrel sight is from Shiloh . . . Rear tang sight is an old Pedersoli and has been replaced with a LR tang sight from Parts Unknown.

Bottom of the action . . .

Bottom at the fore-end . . .

This was a project that was fun to do for me, but I am very glad it is done and has been since 1997 . . .

PJ Hardtack · March 28, 2012, 06:24:32 PM

Otter

You 'otter' be right proud of that rolling block! Looks mighty fine.

I had a 45-70 RB, one of the Numrich conversions. Even with the full octagon barrel, it used to whomp the hell out of me 'cause of the original crescent butt plate! Had a weak extractor as well. I never warmed up to it and sold it off. Had a 1x22" twist, as I recall.

I just finished casting up 100 each of 375 gr and 470 gr bullets for my .43 Espagnol. Loaded up the last batch with 65 grs FFg atop 5 grs SR4759; a wax wad between powder and bullet. I'm hoping that the duplexing will reduce powder fouling as it does in my 50-70s.

JimBob · March 28, 2012, 06:56:20 PM

PJ-

What lead mix are you casting your bullets?

Otter · March 29, 2012, 12:39:11 AM

PJ - Thanks for the kind words. Mine is actually fairly easy on the shoulder as I installed a shotgun style buttplate on it (getting that to fit is a whole chapter in itself). It also has the rotating ejector instead of the inline "push out" style. I generally shoot the 500 gr Lyman Govt bullet (cast 30:1) over 70 gr Goex Gtg grade power with an .035 card wad under the bullet, the barrel is 1:18 twist. Weighing in at a touch under 14# helps with the recoil, though. Since I got this done, I've probably shot (conservative estimate) over 20,000 rounds through it at ranges from 100 to 1000 yds. I've had a lot of fun with the old girl . . .

PJ Hardtack · March 29, 2012, 10:16:38 AM

JimBob

I'm not very consistent with my alloy mix. I worked out a ratio of 4 soft lead 'pucks' (small muffin tin size) to 10 wheel weight 'pucks'. That's for a fresh pot. I call it my '4-10' mix and you can mark it with a thumbnail.

I also pick up all the fired lead bullets I see on the range and remelt them. I probably don't have the same mix twice in a row, but for the level of shooting I'm doing, I'm happy. What matters to me is the quality of the bullets as cast.

Two BPCR pals I shot with years back used to order a whack of lead ingots, one half 1-20, t'other 1-30. I could outshoot both of them but quickly found out that I don't have the discipline to weigh every indexed bullet, index every match prepped case, etc., etc. That took all the fun out of it for me.
I hunted with my rifles, they didn't. We were on different playing fields.

They were both 'self-taught' shooters, never having had formal marksmanship training. Once when I was spotting for one of them, I gave him hit references such as "nine o'clock, 10" left of centre." He didn't know what I was talking about! I was really surprised. My mistake for presuming otherwise.

Otter · March 29, 2012, 05:42:53 PM

Quote from: PJ Hardtack on March 29, 2012, 10:16:38 AM. . . I don't have the discipline to weigh every indexed bullet, index every match prepped case, etc., etc. That took all the fun out of it for me.

That's exactly where I found myself a bit over 10 years ago - When one of the guys started weighing his primers, I stepped way back, and shook my head. I was just having to much fun to make shooting BPCRs a "job". I never was, never could be and, frankly, didn't have any desire to be a "top level" competitive shooter.

PJ Hardtack · March 29, 2012, 06:50:24 PM

Well, as my case weighing, indexing buddy told me - "We all aspire to differing levels of excellence".

He got what he was after and did quite well at Raton, New Mexico; for him, a once in a life time trip with his family.

As much as I enjoy casting, sizing/lubing, drop tubing, case cleaning, resizing, priming, etc., I enjoy shooting one hell of a lot more!