Poor Man's Buffalo Rifle

[David LaPell]

I have never been able to afford a Sharps rifle or a Remington Rolling Block custom rifle, but I found this nice gem recently, an Argentine 1879 Remington Rolling Block in .43 Spanish. It's got a few dings and dents in the wood but it has a wonderful bore for a gun that shot blackpowder rounds over a hundred years ago. It reminds me of Lucretia Borgia, the full stocked Trapdoor Springfield Buffalo Bill Cody shot 3,000 bison with when he was under contract. I had thought about customizing this rifle, but it's too nice to cut up. Still has the nice three line Remington markings on the tang. If all works out, I would like to take it hunting if I can get it to shoot. I got it for about a third of the cost of a decent Italian Sharps replica and less than the deposit of a Shiloh Sharps.

 

[Mus408]

Can you still find ammo for it?

 

[Wyandot Jim]

If all works out, I would like to take it hunting if I can get it to shoot.

Very nice, but what does this mean??? It doesn't shoot???

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Can you still find ammo for it?

I would think that you could find some rounds close enough. Then fire form them and load them up with black powder.

 

[David LaPell]

Can you still find ammo for it?

I would think that you could find some rounds close enough. Then fire form them and load them up with black powder.

A couple of companies make brass for the .43 Spanish, Track of the Wolf and Buffalo Arms sells it along with the bullets, there are dies out there for it, Lee and RCBS make them. I looked up the caliber before I got into it. It's so close to .44-77 Sharps that the brass and loading data is the same, only difference is the diameter of the bullet.

 

[volshooter]

Very nice and clean looking rifle, great bore.
Finding ammo might be a problem, but you will succeed..
Enjoy

 

[trebor44]

As pointed out above, here is the place to go: https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/233/1/CASE-43-SPANISH

Enjoy, some of these have been bored out to a 45-70 govt.

 

[Colonel Daddy]

There is loading data and bullet molds available. Was reading an article no more than a month ago about the 43 Spanish but darned if I remember where. Do a little digging. Any missing or worn parts should be able to be made by a 'smith.

 

[cas6969]

.43 Spanish is easy to load for and brass is available.

Now if it's been re-chambered to .43 Reformado it will be less fun, but still doable.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

That rifle has some history under it's belt, I bet. Congratulation, that is a real treasure. :D

 

[win1894s]

Very nice rifle. Thank you for sharing.

 

[DeletedMember275]

Great find! That bore is in amazing condition considering the age of the gun! There were recently some threads on the Cast Boolits forum about the .43 Spanish, so that might provide some info for your quest.

 

[David LaPell]

I've been doing some more digging on these rifles, apparently while they were really popular in South America, particularly Argentina, Mexico, and a few other places, these exact rifles were used in the Philippines during the Insurrection by the Moros in .43 Spanish.
It's hard to say where this gun came from, there are no markings on it from any nation, no stampings, other than inspection markings, nothing, not even a serial number. Only numbers are three on the buttstock, one going horizontal, a "2", and then a vertical "42". That and a "u" on each barrel band, nothing more. I don't think this gun ever saw service in any military, and after reading up on it in Mike Venturino's "Shooting Buffalo Rifles of the Old West", he wrote that these guns were sold like this commercially. I think that's what this might be. The bore looks too good to have been issued, many of these things have pitting and rust, this doesn't.

Here are some of the rolling blocks in the hands of the Moros.

 

[Joe in Fl]

Great Old Rifles

 

[redhawker]

Here ya go...(ka-ching!)...

https://www.buffaloarms.com/43-spanish-11-15x58r-ammunition-370-grn-rn-lead-black-powder-box-of-20-amo43spanb

https://www.grafs.com/catalog/category/categoryId/332

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/328680/jamison-reloading-brass-43-spanish-bag-of-20

https://www.venturamunitions.com/load-x-43-spanish-370gr-rn-ammo-20-rounds/

 

[DeletedMember275]

"Here are some of the rolling blocks in the hands of the Moros. "

Brings to mind the old ditty 'Civilize them with a Krag.'

http://www.oocities.org/athens/forum/3807/features/krag.html

FWIW, I've seen pictures of a Kansas militia unit in the Philippines carrying Trapdoor Springfields, dated in the very early 20th century.