doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 25-36 sleeve

TJs is kinda infamous for being hard to reach. Probably because he's working too hard at making liners.

Have you found someone to install it?

No, I called the man referenced before and it was a bad time. He said send pics and we will go from there but said he questioned whether the breech block could handle the extra pressure going from 360 rook to 25-35??

Carl,

.360 Rook was essentially a low pressure cartridge similar to the .38 Long Colt revolver round.

The action would not have been designed for higher pressures and if you need to re-line it it would be sensible to look at cartridges from .38 Special (and not +P) downwards such as .32-20, .32 S&W long, .25-20 etc.

How is the original bore? If not badly pitted it might shoot acceptably with .38 Special HBWC or .38 Long Colt rounds.

It’s still ok, rifling is worn but barrel is still tight(?). I think my smith means it is still close to original factory tolerances. Thanks for your input.
Carl

If it’s questionable with 25-35, I’d opt for 25-20 next.

Wow, voice translation made hash of that! Let's edit a little.

25-20, 32-20, and, of course, 22 rimfire are the 3 most popular calibers for rook rifle relines, I believe.

There are lots of other contenders, but they would require scrounging or making some very hard to find brass: 25-20 single shot, for example. That would have the advantage of having a little narrower case and leaving a bit more meat under the threads.

Brent, I do all my own work. This liner will be going in a Ballard so I can keep the original barrel and caliber, 40-63.
Bob

Carl,
I didn't understand the rifle still had a shootable barrel. I absolutely would recommend handloading and shooting it in the original caliber now. Original Rook rifles are harder and harder to find. Common 38 Special cases can be shortened to fit and proper bullet molds as well as loading dies for 38 Long Colt are available. At the worst, you might have to size the heeled bullet from .380"+ to .360"+. Somewhere in these forums our old friend Wayne Goree described in pretty good detail his experiences handloading for both .380 and .360 Rook rifles, including bullet diameters.
Mike

The funny thing is, on the original portion of the lever, there is a very clear stamp.. 380. I wonder if it is actually a 380? My confusion is the mold casting measures less than .380 and my very knowledgable friend who checked it out said it is definitely a .360. I am not an expert on bullet casting, even that is an overstatement. I know nothing of how to determine proper calibers from a casting. I bought the gun because it is cool looking and I like single shots and it was very affordable. There you go! The rifling is worn but my friend said it is clean and shootable. That was my conclusion on a visual inspection too.
Mike, a rook gun is more like a powerful sling shot, right? I want it to be a target rifle even if it is for shorter distances, and maybe a varmint gun. not something that lobs lead 50 yards. Is that too harsh?
Carl

I would (re)load 38 Special brass (if it fits the chamber length,,or trim it down to 38 Long Colt length which is likely the proper length for the orig caliber.
Then load 'Mid Range Target' loads using cast or swaged 148gr Hollow Base Wad Cutter bullets.
These are standard .357d but the soft lead and hollow base will expand upon firing and engage the rifling of the 360 bore size no matter what it happens to be at this point.
It's a common load used by shooters with S&W Victory revolvers rechambered to 38Special but still having the 38S&W bore bbl on the gun with their slightly oversize (for 38Spec) bullet barrel.

You can try 38S&W cartridge in the chamber and see if it will chamber...they are loaded with a lead bullet that is likely just right for the 360 Rook at .361/.362d.
The old Brit Military 38S&W load was a 200gr bullet (38/200) meant to do everything the heavy .455 Webley was capable of doing. But that's another story.

The 38S&W case is slightlylarger in dia than the 38Special/38 Colt, so it might not chamber,,but it's worth a try.

If it doesn't,,then I'd simply go to the load above and see what kind of results you can get.
The Mid Range TArget Load (3.5gr Bullseye/ 148gr HBWC Lead) was and still is a standard Bullseye target pistol load in competition and used at 50and 25 yds to shoot 1" groups.

In a light weight Rook Rifle I would welcome a cartridge that would do that and not knock the snot out of me.
Easy to load,,brass all over the place as well as bullets and powder choices.

A 25-35WCF would not be too pleasent to shoot more than a few rounds in a light weight Rook.
The 25-20,32-20 and others in that range would be fine but would take work & $ to do a conversion.

I'd at least try the 38 Special/148gr WC bullet angle first and see where it goes. Nothing lost if it doesn't work out and then you can go to re-lining, re-bbling, etc.

Just my thoughts,