I know that as much as I harp on my spartan battery concept that this sounds a bit hypocritical, but these two arms have fallen into my lap. I don't get to see my brother much and I think it's wearing on him about as much as it's wearing on me. He was up this week and texted me "I have something for you." My mind starts toward finding a bigger/better burner and pot, because I haven't melted the last batch of lead he dropped off and I'm behind. I figured it was a bucket of nasty lead bits, but it was another Rolling Block. This time, a 7x57. His excuse is that he's "out of room in his safes."
He's shot it and says it's easy to pick off a pop can at a hundred yards, but I don't know WHAT he shot in it or what the brass looked like afterward. I'd sent him a few articles on the chambers/headspacing with these and asked him to be careful with it. I told him that it's something I'd relegate to cast-only, which the only thing I'd shoot, regardless of the gun or vintage.
This one is a 1902 model and in pretty nice shape, especially compared the to the 43 Egyptian he gave me earlier. There are very few markings on it; the standard Winchester patent info on the tang, "7mm S.M." on the barrel, "431" on the side of the action tang and the trigger group tang, an upper-case "P" with a prominent and stylized serif on the left side of the foot of the "P," like the curled up toe of an elf slipper. An "X" and a "9" on the bottom of the barrel near the action. No importer's stamp. There are no stamps on the stock anywhere.
Overall, it feels tight and the trigger is actually light and crisp. I have not gotten inside it yet, as I've not had time, but I've slathered it with Ed's Red on the outside and scrubbed the bore a bit and slathered more Ed's Red. The bore does not look bad at all. It doesn't gleam, but it appears smooth, with strong rifling and dark. It has no military markings anywhere and could not possibly have spent any time in South America, as there is no pitting anywhere on it, even under the wood, the metal was dry and dusty, with no pitting and only minor surface rust. It was blued at one time, but mostly brown now. The stock is solid and there is only the lightest buggering on a few screw heads.
I think I can scare up a box of 7x57 brass here, somewhere and I might even still have dies. I'm not sure how much good the dies would do until I can measure the chamber anyway. I'm thinking about fire-forming a few cases with cream of wheat to check it at least to a degree. I do not have a 7mm mould that I can remember, but I'll dig through my dad's moulds. Short of that, my best friend has more moulds than he or I could count the last time we tried and I'll borrow one from him.
This will be a spring project, if it happens at all, but I will continue to pick at it over the winter and just keep everything wet with Ed's red. The bore will definitely need some other concoction, as I am certain there is copper fouling under the gunk. I've always been a fan of the 7x57, but haven't had one in some years now. If it were a straight-wall case, I'd find a way to take it deer-hunting, but probably won't go to the extreme of rebarreling it.
One thing about these guns is that even if I never shoot them, they are just wonderful to look at. I'll at least find a place on a wall for them and enjoy that aspect of them. I've been infatuated with the aesthetic and design of these guns since I was a little kid, and remember well the stigma attached to my attraction to them. I remember once my 'ol man seeming a bit embarrassed in a gun shop when I went on about how cool those long, old, neat-looking guns were, which were crammed muzzle-down in a barrel like a bunch of axe-handles or brooms.
Well, I tried not to just blather on about this rifle, but it didn't work. These are just the coolest old rifles; sleek and simple, very graceful in some configurations.
He's shot it and says it's easy to pick off a pop can at a hundred yards, but I don't know WHAT he shot in it or what the brass looked like afterward. I'd sent him a few articles on the chambers/headspacing with these and asked him to be careful with it. I told him that it's something I'd relegate to cast-only, which the only thing I'd shoot, regardless of the gun or vintage.
This one is a 1902 model and in pretty nice shape, especially compared the to the 43 Egyptian he gave me earlier. There are very few markings on it; the standard Winchester patent info on the tang, "7mm S.M." on the barrel, "431" on the side of the action tang and the trigger group tang, an upper-case "P" with a prominent and stylized serif on the left side of the foot of the "P," like the curled up toe of an elf slipper. An "X" and a "9" on the bottom of the barrel near the action. No importer's stamp. There are no stamps on the stock anywhere.
Overall, it feels tight and the trigger is actually light and crisp. I have not gotten inside it yet, as I've not had time, but I've slathered it with Ed's Red on the outside and scrubbed the bore a bit and slathered more Ed's Red. The bore does not look bad at all. It doesn't gleam, but it appears smooth, with strong rifling and dark. It has no military markings anywhere and could not possibly have spent any time in South America, as there is no pitting anywhere on it, even under the wood, the metal was dry and dusty, with no pitting and only minor surface rust. It was blued at one time, but mostly brown now. The stock is solid and there is only the lightest buggering on a few screw heads.
I think I can scare up a box of 7x57 brass here, somewhere and I might even still have dies. I'm not sure how much good the dies would do until I can measure the chamber anyway. I'm thinking about fire-forming a few cases with cream of wheat to check it at least to a degree. I do not have a 7mm mould that I can remember, but I'll dig through my dad's moulds. Short of that, my best friend has more moulds than he or I could count the last time we tried and I'll borrow one from him.
This will be a spring project, if it happens at all, but I will continue to pick at it over the winter and just keep everything wet with Ed's red. The bore will definitely need some other concoction, as I am certain there is copper fouling under the gunk. I've always been a fan of the 7x57, but haven't had one in some years now. If it were a straight-wall case, I'd find a way to take it deer-hunting, but probably won't go to the extreme of rebarreling it.
One thing about these guns is that even if I never shoot them, they are just wonderful to look at. I'll at least find a place on a wall for them and enjoy that aspect of them. I've been infatuated with the aesthetic and design of these guns since I was a little kid, and remember well the stigma attached to my attraction to them. I remember once my 'ol man seeming a bit embarrassed in a gun shop when I went on about how cool those long, old, neat-looking guns were, which were crammed muzzle-down in a barrel like a bunch of axe-handles or brooms.
Well, I tried not to just blather on about this rifle, but it didn't work. These are just the coolest old rifles; sleek and simple, very graceful in some configurations.
