doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com what caliber is this rook rifle

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What do I need to do to get a bullet to fit.I had a friend measure this. Monty

It looks like a .360 #5 Rook. I think you make the cases from .357 magnums.

Agree with Mike.
Trimming down 38Special cases is the easy way to go.
The 360No.5 originally had a heeled bullet but I have read that some shoot well with cast .358" bullets - don't know how, but that has been reported.
I have a mold for a heeled bullet but no rifle as of yet. If you want to try some, I can mail some out to you. They are close to .375" but I will measure them again if you are interested.
Here is a picture of the bullet and a cartridge made from a 38sp case.

I believe this is the 380(Long or Rook), which uses an outside lubricated/heeled bullet;whereas the 360#5 uses an inside lubricated bullet of smaller diameter.Both can use cutoff 38sp cases,which is what really causes the confusion.The dimension that tells the tale is the groove diameter.The bore diameter shown above is about right for a groove diameter around .379", which would be correct for the 380.In helping my cousin load for his 380, we tried the often reccomended .357" hollow based wadcutter.This bullet would not shoot(it likely would have in a 360#5).I had a conical bullet mold for the 36cal cap and ball revolver, which dropped a .375"+ bullet with a short"heel".This bullet lubed by rolling in Alox was satisfactory.The proper bullet would be the heeled bullet shown above or one of the old 38 colt bullet molds. For powder, Unique was traditional but one of the new generation powders should work also.
Mike

Gad Custom Cartridges offers several heeled bullets in that size range;

http://www.gadcustomcartridges.com/

My shooting Buddy bought this mold from Accurate for his 38 Long Ballard and it has worked perfectly, casts excellent bullets using 20:1 alloy, he also uses Lee liquid lube.
32ideal

Accurate Moulds

You must be right about my bullet being for the 380 but the 360No.5 did have an outside lube heeled bullet. At least that is what Hoyem and Colin Greenwood say in their books and original cartridges certainly look it. The diameter should be .366".
I wonder if pushing mine through a sizer would ruin the heel.

Except for a little difference in length(and that is not very much)the case dimensions for both cartridges are the same, within a couple thousanths,so the difference would be determined by "slugging"the barrel to determine groove diameter.If it is .375-.380" it is 380 Long,if .357-.362", it is 360#5. A .378-380" bullet is practically the same as the neck diameter of .379", so it would have to be a heeled bullet. The smaller bullet is significantly smaller and could fit into the case. I have found that the 360#5 is often confused with one of the 360 Express cartridges(usually 360 2 1/4") and listed as having that cartridges bullet diameter. I wish I had a double handfull of both caliber rifles and Ammo for them. Then maybe I could give a definitive answer, but until then my opinion is not worth any more than anyone else's.
Mike

thanks for al the help. Hopefully my son can do this. I will see which way he wants to tackle it .Definitely cut some .38 I;m not sure which bullet.