[waterfowlboy]

i just purchased a hopkin and allen falling block rifle and was woundering what caliber they came in. there are no markings on the gun except for a serial # 0399. Thanks for the help!

[SDC]

Hopkins and Allen made a whole bunch of different falling-blocks, but most of them were in rimfire calibres such as 22 Long, 22 Long Rifle, 25 Stevens, 32 Rimfire, etc. The way to be SURE is to have a chamber cast done on your rifle with Cerrosafe, which will give you the dimensions of the cartridge that is supposed to be used in it. That info, plus the bore diameter, will tell you what it's supposed to fire.

[BEARMAN]

I did a http://www.dogpile.com search of "HOPKIN AND ALLEN FALLING BLOCK RIFLES" and got some at auction, ranging from 12 and 16 gauge to .22 rf. Check out the book "SINGLE SHOT RIFLES AND ACTIONS" by Frank deHaas, available at www.brownells.com

[Jim K]

If searching, note that it is HOPKINS (with an "S"). It might make a difference.

Jim