Ultimate rook rifle

[cluttonfred]

Wonderful article on the .32 Rimfire Steven Favorite, thanks for posting that BCRider.

 

[Maple_City_Woodsman]

The NEF "Handi-Rifle" and the TC "Encore/Contender" are never going to be the "Ultimate" anything. They are inexpensive and versatile, but they lack... class.

TC Encores/Contenders are $600 rifles (about $300 for a frame, and another $300 for a barrel). They are no the same as an $85 H&R, which has to has any spare barrels laboriously hand soldered, and is covered in plastic parts.

No doubt they are not in the same league as the one of hand built masterpieces proffered by the legendary old gun firms... but they are far from the farm implement you seem to think the are. A solid "middle shelf" product in my opinion.

It's a little older but it seems like an old Steven's Favourite in .32 rimfire would fit the bill just due to it's classy old rolling block action and relative rarity. And it's got "The Look" to my eyes. It could either be converted to shoot .32LC or one could use the round ball buckshot conversion cases that use .22industrial blanks as the pressure source. A round ball shot with a nail gun charge of that sort should do a nice job out to 50 to 60 yards on the sort of game we're looking at for these guns. And the slow round ball wouldn't carry all that far beyond that range.

I agree wholeheartedly. There is a beautiful, 90% condition, antique Remington No.4 'Baby Rolling Block' in 32 rimfire sitting on the used rack of our local gun shop with a reasonable $900 price tag. I have watched it languish there for over a year now. BTW, I have a few other 32 rimfire weapons as well. You can actually load conical bullets in your re-loadable hulls, the trick is finding a way to seat the bullets effectively. Some Frenchman makes a hand die kit to do just that, but it costs something like 200 Euros. I'm working on a cheap solution to accomplish the same thing.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

No doubt they are not in the same league as the one of hand built masterpieces proffered by the legendary old gun firms... but they are far from the farm implement you seem to think the are.

Now you tell me!

I just got through plowing the South Forty with mine.

 

[S. Hill]

TC Encores/Contenders are $600 rifles (about $300 for a frame, and another $300 for a barrel). They are no the same as an $85 H&R, which has to has any spare barrels laboriously hand soldered, and is covered in plastic parts.

No doubt they are not in the same league as the one of hand built masterpieces proffered by the legendary old gun firms... but they are far from the farm implement you seem to think the are. A solid "middle shelf" product in my opinion.

I didn't say that the TC Encore was cheap. I said that it lacked class. The Encore/Contender platform has a big problem with the grip. When you make them into a rifle, they simply never attain the "flow"(?) of a fine rifle or shotgun. There is simply no way to turn it into anything other than what it is. (chunky)

So I stand behind what I said. You can dress it up as much as you like, but it will STILL lack gracefulness.

 

[Maple_City_Woodsman]

That's total subjective. Personally I think the rounded semi-pistol grips found on many antique guns are ugly as sin but a lot of people like them. Take the vintage rook rifle seen here as an example:
http://www.icollector.com/Army-and-Navy-300-Rook-Rifle-with-Case_i9294836

Hideous stock in my eyes.

For many people the grip style on the TC not only aligns well, with the hand and arm, but with the eye to the sights as well. That is 'flow' if there ever was any.

 

[S. Hill]

That's total subjective.

Truer words were never spoken!

To me, the classic lines look better and more proportional, and the ergonomics make the gun point more naturally for me. There is no comparison between these two rifles. (and remember, the OP was asking about the ULTIMATE rook rilfe)

 

[CraigC]

I have to agree. While the T/C offerings are wonderfully versatile guns, you just can't make a proper rook rifle out of one. They just look and feel all wrong configured as such. The rounded knob grip of the Army & Navy rook rifle in the link is beautifully designed. The Encore, not so much.

 

[BCRider]

As much as I like TC rifles I'd be the first to admit that they are not the prettiest things on this planet. But there's some custom stock makers that have done amazing things to aid in beautifying the Contenders and Encores.

The smaller and lighter Contender platform would certainly be the way to go for a small and light caliber rook gun over the Encore. Add on a custom stock from some nice wood and which is slim and light and you'd have a really nice rook gun.

 

[Boomie]

Greener said the .22 was not well suited for rook and rabbit, that it paradoxically had too light a bullet and too long a danger space. He said that ideally a rook rifle should shoot accurately for 100 yards and the bullet then drop straight to the ground. Not physically possible, but something to think about when shooting at a rook on a limb or a rabbit in a flat field where a miss could go a long way.

Sounds like my CZ452 in .17HMR would be nearly perfect.

 

[CraigC]

How do you figure that? The .17HMR is good for about 250yds.

 

[BCRider]

I just found out about a really sweet looking single shot falling block rifle made by the E. Arthur Brown Company. It comes in a number of rather long distance fast rounds in stock form. But if they could be talked into a version with a tapered barrel for light weight and chambered in either .32LC or even .38Spl I suspect that this could be a pretty nice rook gun.

http://www.eabco.com/store/products/Standard_Model_97D_Rifle-1835-56.html

Note that the weight is listed as up around 11'ish lbs. But I'm assuming that this is for the shipping weight and not the actual rifle which looks to be fairly slender and light.

Wha'cha think of this one?

 

[alemonkey]

I've always thought that rifle from EAB looked cool. I would like to buy one some day. My understanding is that it's derived from a IHMSA silhouette pistol originally developed buy a guy in the Grand Island, NE area. I hang out with some pistol silhouette guys and I seem to remember them telling me that.

EAB also sells the pistol it's based on.

 

[Gordon]

From my experience with .314" in old 32-20s and .32 S&W Long in rifles (and pistols) I'd steer clear of the .32 Colt (not the .32 New Police which IS the .32S&W Long BTW) short and long. The Colt ".32s" were designed with an outside lubricated minie hollow based bullet to fill oversized rifling/grooves. Like the .41 Colt it has proven a dead end street in the accuracy dept. in most cases. Also the .32 Colt cases are about as rare as original rook rifle cases are, unlike .32-20 or .32 S&W Long.
Another real good "rook" cartridge is the .25-20 Winchester. A 60 grain bullet goes fast for a short while. A 75-100 grain bullet is a bottom end deer load. My cat fart 25-20 load is a 75 grain cast flat point with 2 grains of Win 231 sized to fit the tite Pope barrel of my Remington #2 or unsized for my rough bored old 92 Winchester. . The same kinda load in a .32 S&w Long is 1.6 grains of the same powder under a 90 grain cast .316" flat point sized to fit the particular gun. I'd have to be in a special place to justify shooting into trees with any rifle.

 

[BCRider]

I noticed that pistol too. I couldn't tell from the pictures if the action was a bit smaller or not. But if it IS more compact and could be done as a small caliber rifle then it has the makings of a sweet little small game hunter.

 

[DM~]

The NEF "Handi-Rifle" and the TC "Encore/Contender" are never going to be the "Ultimate" anything. They are inexpensive and versatile, but they lack... class. You can add the fanciest wood in the world, and they still will lack gracefulness.

The Ruger #1 and the Dakota Mod. 10 are too heavy and large for a rook rifle. If you put an ultra-light barrel on either of them, the balance isn't right. If you start with one of those actions, you are stuck with a 6.5 lb. rifle. While that is great for a medium / big game rifle, the whole idea of the rook rifle is to be light and compact.

I agree, i never could understand how TC could get so much for a "casting" that pretty much drops out of a mould finished. Do a little CNC on the casting, and over price it.

I'm not saying they aren't good guns, just over priced and on the ugly side...

DM

 

[mainmech48]

The sweetest little small game and plinking rifle I ever saw was the Martini cadet action which had been "sporterized" and converted to .32 S&W Long owned by a boyhood friend's stepfather. IIRC, it weighed about 5#, had a truly outstanding, light, crisp trigger pull and seemed almost magically accurate. I've quite often regretted not having been smart enough to go ahead and build one for myself while Cadet actions were still readily available and affordable.

 

[mjackson]

I think I have found the ultimate even though it doesn't exist. It would be a mini-Farquharson from Soroka Rifles. Now, who's with me??