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Forums10
Topics38,931
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Most Online1,344 Apr 29th, 2024
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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 48
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 48 |
Buckstix- I did see your post, very interesting rifle. One of the reasons to ask for photos of more rook rifles. LRF- I collect old hunting books, and some of them, from down south, have mentioned coot gizzard gumbo. I have hunted ducks since I was old enough to get a license, but never paid much attention to coots. Figured it was time to see if those southern hunters knew what they were writing about, so shot 6 or 7 coots one day. Found out they have surprisingly big gizzards, for a relatively small bird. With both of us living in Pennsylvania our entire lives, the gumbo my wife makes might not compare to gumbo from Louisiana, but to us Yankees, that gizzard gumbo was very good. You just never know until you try.
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 1,273 Likes: 90
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 1,273 Likes: 90 |
Buckstix- I did see your post, very interesting rifle. One of the reasons to ask for photos of more rook rifles. LRF- I collect old hunting books, and some of them, from down south, have mentioned coot gizzard gumbo. I have hunted ducks since I was old enough to get a license, but never paid much attention to coots. Figured it was time to see if those southern hunters knew what they were writing about, so shot 6 or 7 coots one day. Found out they have surprisingly big gizzards, for a relatively small bird. With both of us living in Pennsylvania our entire lives, the gumbo my wife makes might not compare to gumbo from Louisiana, but to us Yankees, that gizzard gumbo was very good. You just never know until you try. LOL, I am fond of Bridge shot Pigeon Pie and have also eaten Black Bird Pie but that was 60 some odd years ago. Today I prefer chicken pot pies.
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 81 Likes: 2
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 81 Likes: 2 |
Was it a matter of timing? Had the .22 LR not been developed by the time the mid-caliber, so called rook rifles were in demand I believe you are correct in your last statements. As many as 40 of us gathered from 2000-2010 to shoot them annually near Cincinnati. Tom Rowe & I restarted Rook Matches last fall, in E. Tenn. along with SS Sporting Rifles. Another match next month - posted on this forum. Many Rook rifles were bored out to .410 in the 1920’s with the UK ban on rifles. Tranter was a big supplier of actions to the trade. Seems the most popular cartridge found are: 250-295 .295 / 300 Rook .360 No.5 / .380 Sorry, I haven’t taken the time to learn how to post photos on this forum. But, I do have a ‘19th Century Battery’ FB page to communicate my match, with lots of photos. You should acquire one as they are fantastic little rifles and fun to shoot.
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1 member likes this:
Parabola |
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 7,800 Likes: 567
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 7,800 Likes: 567 |
It is a shame so many were converted into a .410. Trying to convert them back, into a proper rook caliber, is often impossible due to liner wall thickness and lack of bore diameter even in a .410. Plus many of the original calibers are for long discontinued calibers which even hand loading are a bit of extra work. You often can just line them to .22 and alter the bolt to put them back in service. I guess with the .17 rim-fire you cold go that direction. But I liked the low power nature of the original caliber, which limited their range and their being used in tighter spaces. If you bullet carries a mile you have a back stop issue.
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1 member likes this:
Parabola |
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 81 Likes: 2
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 81 Likes: 2 |
KY Jon I converted 2 back to 360 No.5, both were H&H hammerless. 1 lined, the other sleeved. .366 (9.3mm) liners are still available, I believe. The 360 No.5 (or .380) basically use a 38 long colt case.
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Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 974 Likes: 410
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 974 Likes: 410 |
Had they not been converted to .410’s, giving them a new lease of life and much simplified legal status, many of the rook rifles that still survive would have gone as scrap. The pity is that so many, on conversion, had the front part of the barrel turned down from octagon to round with the change being marked by 2 or 3 circular grooves turned into the barrel. This was pretty unsightly and in my view the rounding down of the barrel was unnecessary as in boring out to .410 a lot of metal is removed from the barrel leaving the octagonal barrel, if left alone, quite nicely balanced. It also made it much more difficult to restore them to their original state as rifles such as .32-20 as many have done in recent years. To prove it could be done nicely (if it had to be done at all) here is how it was done by Charles Edward Greener ( W.W. Greener’s son) for his daughter May. The original fully octagon barrel has been blended into an ovate shape with the original matted top flat being preserved all the way to the muzzle. Note the chisel work done to blend the change.
Last edited by Parabola; 03/09/24 04:54 AM.
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1 member likes this:
earlyriser |
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Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 974 Likes: 410
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 974 Likes: 410 |
I have just acquired, on a princely bid of £2 ( it was Holts upper estimate) a bundle of 4 books. One is a grubby and fragile copy of W W Greener’s Modern Breechloaders, published 1871. I looked to see what he had to say about Rook Rifles, to find that he did not use the term instead calling them as shown above Breech-Loading Pea-Rifles. They were certainly referred to in his later works as Rook or Rook and Rabbit rifles. Historic Bore, do you know when the term first appeared in print?
Last edited by Parabola; 09/07/24 05:49 AM.
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 4,566 Likes: 233
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 4,566 Likes: 233 |
The term " four and twenty blackbirds in a pie" in the poem, refers to the custom of making a "pie" from "branchers" breasts. Mike
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1 member likes this:
sharps4590 |
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