.32 Long Colt ,Need Help

[Chev. William]

I seated a bullet in a .94" long cases and it chambered fine.  I then seated it in the same case, but just enough to hold it in place, so it struck out maybe .125" further and it still chambered.  The chamber/throat area is pretty worn, so its hard to tell if the case is going in past the chamber or not.  I made up a few more reloadable cases yesterday, here is what the components look like.

The 299153 Bullet I measured seems to have a 'driving' length of .155", that is the length from where the bullet nose stops going into the mouth of a .32 Long Colt Case point first to the beginning of the Heel under the driving bands.

This .155" added to your case lenght of .94 added to the extra extension you mention of .125" equals 1.220" so your 'chamber' is at least long enough to be a possible ".32 Extra Long RF" one.
The overall length of the .32 Extra Long Rf with a 90 grain round nose bullet is listed as 1.570" with a case length of 1.150" which indicates an exposed length of bullet of .420", very similar to the length of the 299153 bullet design from top of heel to tip of round nose.

ndnchf,
If it is not too much trouble, would you try Sizing down a .327 Federal Magnum case to .32 Long Colt diameters and check it in your chamber.  I would guess the resized case would measure something more than 1.15" and possibly close to 1.20" in length.

If this test case will chamber, it may indicate you do in fact have a barrel that is chambered for the .32 Extra Long RF round.
A somewhat rare beast indeed at this time, and reportedly introduced in 1875 and production probably ended around 1920, at the same time the production of .32 extra short and .32 long rifle were stopped.
It is too bad this family of cartridges were not provided with the same intense Ballistic development that was accorded the .22 RF family of cartridges.  The .32 Extra Long was loaded first with BP, then did transition to Smokeless loadings, but were only provided in the same Muzzle Velocity for both powder types, about 1050 fps.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[ndnchf]

Chev - my mistake, that case is .92" not .94".  I just dropped a 299153 into the chamber and let it fall until it stopped, then measured from the breech face to the back of the bullet. It measures 1.025".  Measuring the bullet, from base of heel to front edge of 1st driving band is .250". Measuring from the front edge of the 1st band to the rear edge of the 2nd band, where the case mouth would touch, is .125". So .125" plus 1.025" gives a maximum case length of 1.150". 

I must live under a rock, but I never heard of a .327" federal magnum, I had to google it.  I don't have any, but it could be the basis of a case for this rifle.

[Chev. William]

That is the Fun of searching out what matches a curious measurement, and the chance to see someone resurect a cartridge that is now an Orphan.  The .32 Extra Long case should provide a very good basis for your further pleasure.  Please keep us 'lurkers' informed of you r progress.  By the way, perhaps a .300 Sherwood would also allow trimming to fit this Chamber.
Best regards,
Chev. William

[ndnchf]

Yes, this is quite an adventure! I think the .300 Rook (length 1.17") or the .300 Sherwood (length 1.54") will work to make .32 extra long.  .32 H&R will be very close, but a tad short. So there are several options.

[Chev. William]

Reviewing history of the .32 RF cartridge family at least someone on these Forums has made and fired examples of each one  from .32 Short through .32 Long rifle, with ndnchf now working on the.32 Extra Long.
That leaves only the .32 Extra Short as not presently being represented in "shootable" versions, either RF adaptations, or CF conversions.
I think that is amazing for a diverse group of individual spread over a wide part of our Country, and for the mutual aid and encouragement via the internet.
Best Regards,
Chev. William

[ndnchf]

I agree Chev, the internet certainly has made it a lot easier to get folks together and work on these most unusual projects.  When I started playing with BPCRs 35 years ago where was no such intercommunication and nobody I knew shot these things.  I was on my own except for hand written or typed letters to people I met tthrough a magazine or advertisement.  Does anyone remember the old Black Powder Cartridge Rifles magazine from the early 1980s? or its successor The Black Powder Report?  I still have a stack of those magazines, including a few that have my articles in them.  That was a long time ago....

I just hooked up with a guy locally who has some .327 Federal Magnum brass that he will sell me.  So I'm on my way with the .32 Extra Long Rimfire

[Chev. William]

ndnchf,
Outstanding!

This morning I need to go to the USPS Office and buy a Money Order to pay for a Gun Broker auction I won for some Remington-Peters empty .32 Long colt Brass.  I will also use the trip to buy Groceries for the Month, including food for my dogs.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[ndnchf]

Its suppose to be around 6 degrees here tonight - I'm not going anywhere except to work tomorrow morning.  I sent of a MO for a 100 rounds of that brass a couple days ago.  I should be good for a while. 

[Chev. William]

Brrrrrr. I don't blame you for staying home tonight.  My MO is in the Mail system now.  No Idea if "Jack Nasty" will reply to any of the PM Emails I sent regarding the Auction.  Oh Well, I will just have to be patient.
Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

By now 'Jack Nasty' should have received the MO via USPS Mail as his address is in Buena Park, CA (home of the Original Disneyland) which is also in Southern California in the Same Metropolitan 'sprawl' as my own in Sun Valley, CA.  I am hoping to receive my purchase sometime within the week.
Best Regards,
Chev. William

[ndnchf]

I just got my cases from Jack Nasty today.  They look great - brand new RP .32 long colt brass. 

[Chev. William]

Still no word nor cases from 'Jack Nasty' even though I asked him via Email to message me when the Money Order arrived.

It was mailed on the 6th from Sun Valley, CA to Buena Park, CA so should have arrived by now.

Chev. William

[broken arrow]

Yesterday, I picked up an Ideal #1 reloading tool (tong type with the integral bullet mold) in .32 Long Colt.
For those interested...
The bullet mold is for a round nose non-heeled bullet,
base appears to be .268 inch diameter,
2 driving bands are .314 inch diameter,
and the small portion of the bullet is .302 inch diameter.
bullet length is .565 inches long.
I need to fire up, cast a couple, and see what they look like.

The tool is missing the de-priming rod, can anyone post a pic of what it looked like so I can make one?

[ndnchf]

Yesterday, I picked up an Ideal #1 reloading tool (tong type with the integral bullet mold) in .32 Long Colt.
For those interested...
The bullet mold is for a round nose non-heeled bullet,
base appears to be .268 inch diameter,
2 driving bands are .314 inch diameter,
and the small portion of the bullet is .302 inch diameter.
bullet length is .565 inches long.
I need to fire up, cast a couple, and see what they look like.

The tool is missing the de-priming rod, can anyone post a pic of what it looked like so I can make one?

That's a great find, .32 Colt tools are quite scarce. 
I'm having a little trouble picturing this bullet shape.  The .268" diameter base seems way undersized and with .314" driving bands there is a big size difference, but you say its not a heel bullet.  Where is the small .302" diameter portion?  Please help us to understand 

[broken arrow]

Well, I wouldn't call it heeled but maybe it is.
The base is .268 inch dia. and about .050 inch long.
Would the .050 be a heel?
The .302 dia. is between the driving bands and just in front of the first band (toward the nose).

Now these are the closest that I can get with a dial caliper and would, I suppose, change with the type/alloy of the lead used.

[ndnchf]

.050" sounds too short to be a heel.  If I recall correctly, the Lyamn 29153 heel is about .145" long and .299" diameter.  Yours almost sounds like a gas check bullet   Maybe some of the other guys will recognize it.

[Chev. William]

ndnchf,
I believe you were writing about the "299153" as having a .299" heel diameter.
I agree with you that .050" is too short for a heel on a .299" diameter or even .268" diameter.
It actually sound like a S&W bullet rather than a 'Colt' from the dimensions Broken Arrow posted.
But I am not familiar with all of the possible designs that Ideal used in their tools.
Perhaps w30wcf will post some ideas on wht the bullet design is.
Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

My new "Wisner's" extractors came today along with my 100 ea R-P 32 Long Colt brass form "Jack Nasty".
The extractors are slightly long even for 22LR(they cover the 22RF firing pin completely and nearly reach to the Center Line of the Breech Block face) but are NEW Manufacture and have some sharp edges left on them.  Definitely enough extra to allow proper fitting to the cartridge rim.
I did drill one pivot hole out to fit my .231" screw in my 1915 action and it went into the action nicely.

I am still waiting on the Three "broken" extractor/ejectors to arrive.

There is going to be a long careful period of 'fitting' for these Extractors and Extractor/ejectors to work with the cartridges I am interested in for these actions; .22 Long Rifle, .22 WRF/WMR, .25 ACP/.250AL series, .25 Stevens, .32 Long/.32 Long Colt.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[JimBob]

The tool is missing the de-priming rod, can anyone post a pic of what it looked like so I can make one?

[Chev. William]

FYI,
There is an Ebay Auction in progress for a Stevens 44 Barrel in "32 Caliber".
Best Regards,
Chev. William