Hi Patrick, and thanks so much for your benevolent assessment of the Rook rifle presentation. I never tire of shouldering one of these lethal little feathers.....Doc
Last year I got a hold of a hammerless H&H Rookrifle. Its gonna be be one of my retirement projects to make up ammo for it to hunt with. These Rook & Rabbit rifles are peaches. Thanks for sharing Doc. Lovely garden you have...indeed right for a stroll with a rookrifle.
Good morning Sir, and thanks for your comments. As a resent retiree I would like to congratulate you on this new phase in your life, when you get to deep dive into projects that were on hold for years. Your H & H sounds great, they do possess superior style and balance. Best regards......Doc
Good morning Chris, Very pleasant to shoot and easy to load for. I wish I knew the full history on that point, like who made it and when and where. !! ?? !!
I really like this elegant and accurate rifle, never seen before. Thank you for your video about it and congratulations for the arrow head, that’s nice !
Hi Eric, Yes, these guns are small but very well made. We have found points from several different cultures on this property, the thrill never gets old.
I have one of these rifles I bought at auction about 15 years ago. Same caliber as yours. We call it the 38 Long Colt. 1.03 case by .380 bore is stamped on the underside of the barrel just ahead of the fore-end. Colt had a factory in London and a great many of his percussion revolvers were converted to fire rim-fire and later center-fire cartridges. These 32 , 38, and 44 caliber rounds found their way into many rifles and carbines. Mine happens to be center-fire. Eras Gone Bullet Molds makes the correct bullets for these rounds. Thanks for the video
Hi John, Are they not great little rifles ? Thanks for sharing your component specifications, Eras Gone, through Lee, makes quality molds that really fill the niches in the early bullet series. Wish we had them years ago.....Doc
@@dr.durellshepard398 Yes sir, I just recently found an Eras Gone 36 Colt mold on E-Bay with the former and pattern for making paper cartridges for 1851 revolvers. That same bullet will work as cast in the Tranter. When I saw it on the auction table and it had a center-fire firing pin, I knew that I could make it shoot. I didn't think it would take 15 years.
Due to the interest in percussuon revolver conversions there are factories making 38 Long Colt ammo. Most of today's conversions use modern .358 bores so the bullets they use are .358. They often have a hollow base that will expand to give reasonable accuracy in .375 bores. The cases are the correct length though. 1.03". I bought a box at the last gun-show. They had an old box with .380 bullets but it was collectable and it was too way too much money just to shoot up for fun and cases. I hope to get to the range and give these hollow based bullets a try. If they don't shoot great then at least I will be makng cases for reloading.
@@johnndavis7647 I ended up cutting down .38 Special cases which did work out well for my gun. "Old West" offered the .375" Heel bullets which also performed sufficiently well. I consider myself lucky to get shooting with only minimal aggravation, unlike some rim-fires I never got to work.
@@dr.durellshepard398 Somebody makes cases for some rim-fires that use 22 blanks to set off the main charge. Dixie used to sell them for the 44 rim-fire Ballard carbine round that was used in the Cival War. I am negotiating over a Ball & Williams Ballard now. It's Rim-fire of course. The carbine is not collectable. Only the action and a few small parts are useable. But I hope to buy it and find a Marlin-Ballard hammer and make something useful out of it. The fun never ends.
Hi John, Yes, they are small but exceedingly well made. Many of the U.S. made small rifles were cheaply made, so it's refreshing to put your hands on a real Rook rifle. Regards....Doc
These Rook/Rabbit rifles are wonderful things, I had a cased Holland & Holland in .300 (also made by Webley) and it was a really lovely rife to shoot in the garden, most of these were left to rust in the potting shed, (near to where the Rabbits ate the vegetables), when the ammunition became impossible to obtain, or they were lined to .22. Your garden looks very nice at this time of year, with a very nice Clematis and Stonecrop in the paving. The point was a real bonus! Stay safe! Chris B.
Hi Chris, H & H did put their name on some fantastic Rooks ! I have heard of a number being converted to .22 or .410. Thanks so much for the compliment on the garden, I will share with my wife for all her hard work. There was about 8,000 years of native occupation on this property so we have found a number of artifacts over the years. Always exciting to find one, Best regards...Doc
Sweet little rifle Doc. I like the Brit's attention to detail, right down to the engraved screw heads. Your dog is about as useful as Harley, but a might easier to clean up after I imagine. That's quite a large point you found there. Makes me wonder what was prowling around your place back in the day! Thanks for posting, well done! Gp
Hi Gp, Yes Sir, they understood style and function, something that's is mostly lost today with computer aided design. I think my dog joined a union or something, can't get him to do anything! I try to recreate in my mind what was going on around the property thousands of years ago. The juxtaposition, number of, and culture type of artifacts are trying to tell a story. ......Doc
@@dr.durellshepard398 The Birmingham Small Arms motorcycles were a thing right up to 1970 because of their classic style. Being totally outclassed mechanically by other manufactures was their undoing. There is an attempt to resurrect an updated version of the BSA Gold Star. Gp
I really enjoyed the video Doc, that a Beautiful little rifle. Very interesting on the "Eley" ammo, which is my last name! After a long day of training which involves a lot of loading & unloading my duty weapon, I wish my sidearm had that Auto Loading Feature. 🤣
Good to see you, Doc! Have never seen this gun before, but I like it! Very nice sleek lines. I bet it does a better job than your guard dog. Very interesting end of video also. Well done!
Another beautifully filmed and greatly informative appointment, Doctor. Is one required to put the hammer on half-cock before opening the action to avoid shearing off the point of the firing pin?
Good morning Mark, good to hear form you. Glad you could keep your appointment at my u-tube office location. It will open and close with the hammer down but it drags on the extractor. Best to half-cock it. Regards....Doc
A while ago,many rook rifles,,hammerless usally like WR and HH were made into the then new 6*70R developed by Krieghoff and Norma. Sleeved barrels it was used there,,750 ms for a 95 grain 6mm bullet. For roe bucks and more,since the rook ammo was not legal on game ,and hard to find. This also took out a good bit of fine original rook riflesmout of circulation,so sad a bit it was
Hello Sir, and thank you for a different perspective on rook rifle history. In the U.S. where you could not get the original ammunition, many were converted to .22 LR. Best Regards...Doc
@@dr.durellshepard398 A lot of the same over here also, stocks of English ammo found,but some converted . If it was one of mine ,i would have perhaps converted it to .38 Special as some of them are not that far from it ,a d easy to find components and ammo for .
@@dr.durellshepard398 the 6*70R was made as insertion barrels for shotguns or drillings, but Krieghoff also chamber it in combo gun sets and drillings also. Quite similar to some older German or English cartridges they are if one looks on it . Little gas pressures,modest speed and good working they give., And a soft bullet behaving quite nicely on top of it .
@@MrPh30 Sounds fine to me, I love soft lead bullets and light loads, a proper fit for the antique arms I play with, not trying to break any land speed records.
They take the Nosler Ballistic Tip Hunting type 95 grain . In the 6mm at that speed it mushrooms fine . Similar a 110 Vmax in 7,62x39 in bolt can do also . With the 123 powder charge it disrupts little .
Hi Barry, Aren't they splendid little rifles ! Your Martini rook sounds super, (Martini anything is super). I have an old Greener .22 Martini, but she is no Rook rifle, big and heavy, but still love-able. Best regards...Doc
