Shooting the Remington Rolling Block 7X57 - Is it Safe?
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Hello Friends. After our last video on the Remington Rolling Block I went into deep research mode after being prompted by a comment that opened up a past line of research into the safety of the smokeless powder chambered Rolling Blocks...specifically the 7X57 Mauser chambering.
Apparently, the 7X57 round went through some cartridge shortening changes in the 20's that can produce excess head spacing in older rifles and the single shot Rolling Blocks were extra sensitive to this change and did not vent gasses well which lead to receiver failures if using "modern" ammo.
I also heavily researched exactly where my particular Rolling Block came from as it is a bit of an anomaly with no markings I can use to identify its history. This lack of markings seems to be a clue in itself and I surmise this rifle to be either.....
1) An El Salvadoran Modelo 1902 that was not crested as a "contract overrun" or from a lot of 700 or 800 that were held by Remington due to "financial difficulties" with their customer. Or......
2) A French purchase of less than 1000 rifles (different purchase than the 100,000 8mm Lebel chambered rifles) that were unmarked 7mm chambered M1902 version rifles made in 1910-1911 used in French Guiana as guards rifles at the Devils Island penal colony which operated from 1852 to 1939 and held about 70,000 French felons. Remember the movie Papillon with Steve McQueen?
My research went on and I concluded that my firing of well over 100 rounds of Chilean surplus ammo head stamped 1976 was uneventful and the brass was absolutely PERFECT looking because it was NOT modern ammo but the "old" 7mm that was made to shoot in the old 7mm chambered guns.....namely the 1985 Chilean Mauser.
I cautiously come to this conclusion because there was absolutely NO evidence of excessive headspace or high pressures. And that, as they say, is that.
Thanks for coming along for the ride!