Hi guys I usually post on the shotgun side of the forum. This is my first post on the single shot side. Thought I would share my experience getting a circa 1911 rook rifle up and running. Reading Colin Greenwood's excellent work on these rifles sparked my interested in the these neat Victorian relics.
You can see it was originally a .300, but was relined to .255. I sent it off to Dale Tate for a checkup. Then I had some brass milled and stuffed by Colorado Custom Cartridge.
Smokeless-unique I think-driving an 80 grain bullet to 1100fps. Now that I have the brass I can reload and the old girl is back in service! The whole process took about a year.
It was very gratifying to shoot it for the first time today. I shot it at 60 yards off my truck hood 5 times, and 5 each off- handed at 50 and 40 yards. There was a 10 mph steady breeze blowing L to R.
With a little preserverence, it is possible to get an old obsolete caliber gun back in action. Now this gun is now a great little small game gun! Can't wait to take it squirrel hunting in the fall.
