Another very interesting Rook Rifle - Mini-Snider in 360 #5 cal.

This is another one of my cute little Rook rifles that I will be plinking with as soon as I get ammo loaded. Its a scaled-down Snider rifle with the Snider "flop-to-the-side" breech block.

I've just started to develop loads and will be ready to shoot it this week. A full report will follow. Although the 360 #5 Rook caliber is not very common, I have found that the cartridges can be made from 38 Long Colt brass. In fact, it will shoot 38 Long Colt ammo just fine. And, this rifle will also shoots 38 S&W ammo even though that case is a little bigger in diameter.

The rifle appears to be high quality with fine checkering, a carved buffalo horn forend tip, and scroll engraving. The wood on this rifle has some very nice grain, but its very dark and the grain doesn't show up very well in my pics. I'll be adding better pictures as I get them.

I could not find any maker's name on the rifle. Perhaps it was made by Snider itself. There is a small oval that reads; "Snider's Patent" and two arrows through an "S". Not sure what they mean, unless again, that's for Snider - pointing to which end the bullet comes out. The bottom of the hook-breach barrel has British proofs, and a "105" which I assume is the British marking for gauge of the 360 bore.

And as usual, your comments are most welcome.



I ADDED SOME BETTER PICTURES OF THE STOCK - THEY LOOKED TOO DARK AND YOU COULDN'T SEE THE NICE FIGURE IN THE OTHER PHOTOS.

That is a dandy little rifle, I can honestly say I have never seen a scaled down version looks like fun to me

Beautiful little rifle!

quote:

Originally posted by Rolland:
That is a dandy little rifle, I can honestly say I have never seen a scaled down version looks like fun to me

Hello Rolland,
Thanks for the reply.

I had never seen a scaled down Snider either, but apparently they made quite a few as Rook rifles.

quote:

Originally posted by Peter Connan:
Beautiful little rifle!

Hello Peter Connan,
Thanks for the reply.

Loading for this rifle was interesting. Fortunately the 360 No.5 Rook cartridge is nearly identical to the 38 Long Colt cartridge. That's what I used for reloading. About 3 dozen years ago I purchased a 38 cal Hollow Base Heel Bullet swage die from Corbin. With this die I can insert a standard .357 dia lead bullet, pull the handle, and out comes the Hollow Base Heel bullet. In this case I wanted a 115 grain bullet, so I started with a Speer 158 grain round nose lead bullet. These are fully coated with a wax type lubricant. I snipped-off about 25 grains and inserted the shortened bullet into the swage die. When you pull the handle, it squeezes the bullet into shape, and bleeds off excess lead through 3 tiny bleed holes in the die.

Out comes a perfect heel bullet with a base dia. of .357 and a forward dia. of .375". Bullets are loaded over 2.5g of Trail Boss powder.

Pictures below show the process ..... now off to the range.



I finished my first testing at the range and it went OK. But I need to increase the velocity. I found some published data that indicated 1000 fps would duplicate factory loads. I'm very conservative with unknown calibers - for that reason I started low - with 38 S&W data. I'll increase velocity on my next outing.

It looks like it has a full length of pull and the action is really well proportioned, it really is a an elegant looking little rifle.

I know that it's heresy but I would love to see the finish stripped off and redone on that wood.

Well, it clearly still shoots well too!

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
It looks like it has a full length of pull and the action is really well proportioned, it really is a an elegant looking little rifle.

I know that it's heresy but I would love to see the finish stripped off and redone on that wood.

Hello Fjold,
Thanks for the reply.

Yes, not a half-scale rifle. It has a 14" LOP and a 26-1/2" octagon barrel. It tips the scales at just a tad under 6 pounds. It balances perfectly for off-hand shooting. I intend to go after a few squirrels and rabbits with it. We have no Rooks in Wisconsin.

I have thought to "deep-clean" the stock with OOOO steel wool and linseed oil to bring out the features without totally stripping the original finish.

quote:

Originally posted by Peter Connan:
Well, it clearly still shoots well too!

Hello Peter Connan,
Thanks for the reply.

I increased the bullet weight to 150g using the same 3.3g Bullseye charge. Resulting velocity was a snappy 835 fps. And very accurate.

Great stuff here Buckstix, I like the smaller little Sniders, I only have a large .577 Sporter right now but have seen larger models to I think even a 8 bore !

It sure can shoot, I must make up some of those slugs to use in my couple of Webley revolvers, I use 38 S&W right now .

A favorite of mine the .360 No5 Express & the .300 Sherwood, both buggers to load for .

quote:

Originally posted by Sarg:
Great stuff here Buckstix, I like the smaller little Sniders, I only have a large .577 Sporter right now but have seen larger models to I think even a 8 bore !

It sure can shoot, I must make up some of those slugs to use in my couple of Webley revolvers, I use 38 S&W right now .

A favorite of mine the .360 No5 Express & the .300 Sherwood, both buggers to load for .

Hello Sarg,
Thanks for the reply.

I have 2 rifles in 300 Sherwood, a Westley Richards and a Cadet. The only .300 dia. bullets I could find are made by Hornady, a 7.35m jacketed 128g bullet. I have also had success with casting a soft lead 90g 32 cal heel bullet (Lyman No.299153) Although its oversize, it works just fine. Here's an example using that bullet in a .300 bore rifle. http://forums.accuratereloadin...9421043/m/9481094362

This is the only Snider action rifle I have ever owned, but I intend to look for more of these mini-Snider rifles.

.