Black hills Rolling block

[rsavoie]

Hi there,

I just aquired a black hills rolling block and was wondering if anyone out here knows how to make the 45-60 ammo for it?

If I could source some cerrosafe I could have a better Idea but in the mean time if anyone knows how to make ammo for it I'd like to hear about it cause I cant seem to find much info on them.

[marlinman93]

It's a .629" rim and .509" base diameter with a 1.89" length. That large rim and base diameter will make finding any donor brass as tough to locate as the original .45-60 brass.
I think your only option might be Rocky Mountain Cartridge Co. and their lathe turned brass. Unfortunately that's not going to be cheap at around $150 for 20 cases.

https://www.rockymountaincartridge.com/products.htm

[rudybolla]

IIRC, I made cases from .45-70 brass some years back.

[marlinman93]

IIRC, I made cases from .45-70 brass some years back.

.45-70 cases are a lot smaller rim, and might result in the extractor slipping past the rim.

[rsavoie]

Thanks a lot Marlin Man! Maybe its a good time to tell my better half I need to buy a lathe! It would be nice to find an original round to show with the gun, but Id be happy to have a box of turned brass and shoot 1 round out of it just to say I did.

[marlinman93]

I attend the Cartridge Collector's annual show in Castle Rock, Wa. every March, and there are numerous sellers there with original cartridges for sale individually, and most obsolete ammo can be found there. But depending on how rare it is I see $25-$75 per cartridge prices for rare ammo!
I wanted an original box of paper patched .40-63 Ballard ammo to go with my engraved Ballard midrange rifle. I have hundreds of pieces made from .405 Winchester brass to shoot, but no original ammo. I found a full box of Winchester made ammo in this cartridge at the CGCA show in Colorado in May. It was $200, but I gladly paid that considering how tough it's been to even buy one cartridge!