Since I shoot long range, and I don't shoot BP, the .40-50SS will see smokeless loads. The .40-50SS went obsolete before smokeless powders hit the market, and it's an anemic BP cartridge. Had it survived to the smokeless powder era I think it might still be around today. 50 grs. of BP is not enough to properly push the 300-350 gr. bullets past midrange levels. Original Remington advertisements listed it as a caliber for the Midrange Creedmoor rifles, so a 500 yd. caliber at best.
I have another original Remington Rolling Block Sporter in .40-50SS, but have only had it for about a year, and haven't worked out long range loads as the original has a slower 1:20" twist.
I plan to try this one out to 1000 yds., and with smokeless powder loads in the 1350-1400 fps range I hope it performs well. The small case capacity is a plus over larger .40 calibers like my .40-65 and .40-85 caliber rifles. It will fill the case better, and should be more efficient. We'll see if that theory works out in reality. I have until July to get some loads worked up and tested.
I shoot my other Rolling Block in .40-65 using the RCBS 300 and 350 CSA bullets. It does quite well at 650-1000 yds., and has the same 1:16" twist Green Mountain barrel. So I think if I get my loads figured out for the smaller case it should do as well.
The sight is a Remington from the run they built for their Rolling Blocks in the late 1990's. Numrich sold them as parts, so I purchased all the pieces and assembled it. They were a thrifty $130 price, so no reason to buy a shorter sight for more money. And a midrange runs out of height before I get to 650 yds., so they wont work for me. Takes enough elevation to compensate for a 50'-60' arc in the bullet's flight out to 800-1000 yds.
