.32 Long Colt ,Need Help

[Chev. William]

Saturday the Mail brought me a stock for my '44' receiver and I spent Sunday 'scraping' it to fit the Tangs and body of my receiver.
This Stock was offered on Ebay and is reportedly a 'takeoff' form a "Paul Shuttleworth" Stevens 44-1/2 Shutzen that the owner changed to a Bench Rest rifle via a new Stock and Forearm.   It ended up with the top tang solid against the end of the top cut and the bottom tang having about 0.11" between the Tang end and the end of the bottom cut.  I feel Very Lucky to have gotten this used but beautiful Stock for my project rifle.

Tuesday the Mail brought me a sample order of "25-20SS Basic Brass" from Buffalo Arms.  Measurements indicate these are close enough to make easy conversions to the various .32 "Colt" size cases either RF adapters or CF cases, especially the Extra Long ones.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

Thursday Afternoon I took a photo  of the mock up rifle with the proposed future Stainless Steel barrel above it.  The Future barrel would end up being about 22-1/4" long, Muzzle to Breech Face, when reworked to fit the '44'action and chambered in one of the'.32 "Colt" family' cartridges.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

My Friend let me use his Lathe for most of the day Today so I cut the Tenon on the Winchester 700 (Woops...I looked closely at the Barrel Markings and it is marked 'Model 70', not 'Model 700' as I ws led to believe by the Auction Description)Barrel to fit my Stevens 44 Receiver. The front 'locating' diameter I cut is .813" to be a sliding fit in my Receiver socket which measures between .813" and .814". This differs from Frank de Haas's book which indicates is should be .800". The Rear 'locating' diameter is .752" to slide into my Receiver which measured .753" compared to Frank's book indicated .745". I single pointed the 20 TPI threaded section and cut thread relief on both ends so I could screw the Receiver on while the barrel was still chucked in the lathe. I will wait to cut the locking socket and the extractor slot until I have the Receiver and Breech Block properly 'mated'.

I am still thinking of adding a Tube 'shroud' to the barrel on which to mount a Foreend for grip so the Barrel would be essentially full length floating. I am adding photos of the Receiver, a Stevens Barrel and my Winchester reworked barrel to illustrate.


Both barrels with the Receiver below.


Close up of the two barrel tenons.


The Stainless Steel Winchester barrel screwed into the Stevens 44 Receiver.

I think that a 'collar' will be needed between the barrel Tenon Front Face and the Receiver Front face as the barrel currently screws into the champfer at the front of the socket.
This would also give me something to 'hang' the 'shroud' on.

'Still thinking through the next steps.
Best Regards,
Chev. William

PS: I now have a Winchester 700 (correction: Model 70, not Model 700) Barrel Tenon with the .300 Win. Mag. chamber in it left over. Does anyone want it? or have suggestions for possible uses?
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Sunday afternoon I used my Friend's Lathe to single point thread the S. S. Barrel to accept an Aluminum Tube as a 'shroud' to allow a full floating Barrel of almost full length.  After removing the barrel from the Lathe I noticed I had damaged the Start of the new threads and will need to either repair the start or remove the damaged area.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I might fix this problem?

Best Regards,
Chev. William

PS: replaced the aluminum tube with a section of Seamless DOM 4130 Aircraft tubing, threaded by my gunsmith this time.  It Fits BEAUTIFULLY!  No photos though yet, the Barrel and Action ar estil at my gunsmiths shop to b echambered adn the Breech Block changed to CF.
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

I used a 'hand work' suggestion I received and used some fine cut files (Triangle and Flat) to file down the damaged thread start.  Now I need to wait until I can internal thread the intended Shroud tube to see if I need to do further rework.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[dusty texian]

Sound's like your project is comming along Chev. I am hope to get back on my .32 LC bench gun project latter this wk. Getting close to a test fire day,,,,,,Dusty

[w44wcf]

.32 LONG RIFLE CARTRIDGE / BULLET
The .32 Long Rifle bullet was the Ideal 299155. It was an inside lubricated hollow based bullet to be used in the .91" case.
I managed to find a small qty and decided to load them over the original factory 13 gr. powder charge (see illustration on page 1).

POWDER COMPRESSION
I found that it took close to .20" of powder compression on the 13 gr (Swiss FFFG) charge to allow the bullet to seat to the proper depth in a modern R-P .32 L.C. case.  In an earlier SHBP (solid head button pocket) U.M.C. case, compression was less at .14".

BUMPING UP THE BULLET TO FIT THE FIRED CASE
I was using fired cases and the bullet (.300") was a slip fit so after finger seating the bullet on the compressed powder charge, I ran the cartridge into the seating die and ran the seating stem down to touch the bullet. I then backed off the ram, turned the seating stem in 1/4 turn or so, which compressed the soft bullet, bumping it up to be a snug fit in the case.  

Now to get to the range and give them a try ....... that is when the weather moderates a bit ....



w44wcf

I had a chance recently to test the 299155 Hollow Base bullets.  13 grs. by weight of Swiss FFFG pushed the 80 gr. bullets to an average of 1,241 f.p.s.  and produced a 1" group @ 25  yards.    

Next time out I'll see how they shoot at 50 yards.

w44wcf

[w44wcf]

Dusty Texan,
Hope you bag a turkey with your Marlin.

Chev. William,
Thank you for the update.  Hope you will be able to take it to the range soon.

w44wcf

[Chev. William]

This week my 'Free' time was spent reforming R-P .32 S&W Long cases to .32 Long colt diameters.  I now have 35 more to add to 55, already at this point, for turning off the 'roll' of displaced Brass just forward of the Rim.  Once I get them turned, they will be trimmed to length for various load testing.  Some will be trimmed to .32 Short, some to .32 Extra short, and the majority to the .912"-.914" length preferred by my Barrels for use with 31-090A Heeled Bullets.

This is the last remaining of a lot of 100 R-P cases I bought on Auction last year.

Now I need to wait for access to my Friends lathe to turn the 'roll' of displaced Brass just frowared of the Rim off the cases so they will be ready for trimming. 

Perhaps over the next few days I can get some .22 Hornet cases reformed to .25 Stevens/.250ALRx diameters.  I am short some for Testing.

This reforming is 'bruising' my palm from the repeated force needed to 'swage' the Case bases to the correct diameter.
And the force is about the same for either caliber.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[ndnchf]

It does take a lot of force to swage down the head area which creates the roll.  My Lee turret press was not really up to the task, so I employed a 3 ton arbor press.  By standing the die upside down, it was an easy job to press the case in, all the way up to the rim, then flip the die arround and press the case out with a steel rod. Much easier on the hand.

[Chev. William]

Nice Arbor press, it would make the reforming easier I agree, but I don't own one and neither does my Friend with the Special Effects Shop.
Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Spent some time this last weekend Expanding the Necks and Shoulders of 200 .22 Hornet cases with a .250" Diameter "Drill rod" expander punch mounted in my Bench Top Drill Press with a Hornet Shell Holder held in a Machinists Vice C-Clamped to the Drill Table.

Then Monday afternoon and evening I trimmed about 80 to 1.125" length, deburred them inside and outside, then ran them into my Lee Carbide .25ACP Sizing Die as far as the Shell Holder would allow, to reduce the body diameter to .276".

The next step is to use a RCBS "Primer Pocket Swaging Kit" along with a 3/16 ID fender washer to push the cases the rest of the way into the sizing die until the rim contacts the bottom of the die, thus finishing the full length resize to .276" diameter.  This will leave a "Roll' of displaced Brass forming a radius at the top of the Rim which will need to be turned off in a Lathe.

As to the rest of the Hornet cases; I will wait until I receive the two new Lee Case Trimming tools I ordered, one at 1.050" and one at 1.250" for use in preparing .250ALR and .250ALRM length cases. these can also be left with the rim at Hornet diameter and used as .25 Stevens size slightly shorter and longer cases for my experiments.

Best Regards,
Chev. william

[Chev. William]

Sunday evening I have now run 80 of the 100 .25 Stevens Long/.25ALS basic cases through the full length resize all the way to the Rim.  20 more to do yet but the repeated force causes "bruised Palm" and I need to spread the work out over a few days.

Next after the sizing is to turn the displaced Brass roll from above the Rims.

Also Midway Supply informed me that my .22 LR "Freeland" Chamber Reamer is in the mail.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

There is a posting on the "reloadable .32 Rimfire brass" Thread of the "Cast Boolits Forum" about Gray (Grade 1) PTL Blanks by "Navy Shooter" quoted below:
"At least as of today, Amazon has Gray Level 1 Powder Loads at http://www.amazon.com/Caliber-Gray-L.../dp/B00BU8M56S. They note they had only 13 in stock, and this is not sourced by Amazon, but by Bellcan Corp.

Gift wrapping is available..."

As of this morning there are 9 packages of 100ea left, I ordered four packages Yesterday evening.
Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Today I had a chance to use my Friends Lathe and got 50ea .32 Long Colt (resized from .32 S&W Long) cases turned to remove the displaced Brass Roll in front of the Rim, so now I have 50 cases for experiments.

I also tried cutting a Chamber with my new .22 RF Freeland Finish Chamber Reamer and I am in quandary about it. Supposedly it is .2242" just in front of the Rim Step and .2240" at the front of the cut chamber (about .600" forward fo the rim step.
The Chamber measures .229" just in front of the rim rebate?  When I use a Dial Caliper to measure the Reamer it seems to measure .230" instead fo .224" nominal specification.

I will Call PTG, the marked manufacturer, about this in the morning, and also Midway Supply, the seller, to see if they hav eany more in stock that they can measure.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[mtmarfield]

   Greetings!

   Forgive me if this has been posted, but I've just uncovered a copy of Handloader Magazine #122
for July/Aug. 1986, wherein is an excellent article on reloading entitiled, "Loads for the Marlin Model
1892 in .32 Long Colt".
   I've found this article very valuable when making .32 LC loads for my earlier Marlin Safety Model
1891; with the addition of a Marbles Tang Sight, I was hitting shotshell hulls regularly at 40/50 yards.

           Be Well!

                          M.T.Marfield

[dusty texian]

Hello mtmarfield, Thanks for the info. I had read that article many yrs ago. Need to dig it up for a refresher.The little .32 Marlins with peep sights are deadly accurate ,and a pleasure to shoot. This combo happens to be my favorite plinking firearm,,,,Dusty

[Chev. William]

Today I had a chance to use my Friends Lathe and got 50ea .32 Long Colt (resized from .32 S&W Long) cases turned to remove the displaced Brass Roll in front of the Rim, so now I have 50 cases for experiments.

I also tried cutting a Chamber with my new .22 RF Freeland Finish Chamber Reamer and I am in quandary about it. Supposedly it is .2242" just in front of the Rim Step and .2240" at the front of the cut chamber (about .600" forward fo the rim step.
The Chamber measures .229" just in front of the rim rebate?  When I use a Dial Caliper to measure the Reamer it seems to measure .230" instead fo .224" nominal specification.

I will Call PTG, the marked manufacturer, about this in the morning, and also Midway Supply, the seller, to see if they hav eany more in stock that they can measure.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

Thursday, May 14th, I called Midway and discussed my problem with customer service.  They said to call Pacific Tool and Gauge about it.  Also Midway verified the Label on the Reamer tube was made "050814" but could not verify when or how they got the "backordered" Reamer to send me and had no more in Stock.

Pacific Tool And Gauge asked me to forward via email the shipping notification and order confirmation emails I received from Midway.  PTG also said that the "12/12" on the Reamer was the build date that PTG put on it and would send a Return Material Shipping Label so I can return the Reamer to them for inspection, correction, or replacement.

So now I am waiting for the Label.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Now my RCBS JR-3 Reloading press is broken, some more "rain on my parade".  I now will need to either fix or replace the press.
no more reloading or forming Brass until i do.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

RE: The Broken RCBS JR-3 Reloading Press;  I received an email from RCBS that the replacement parts are on the way NO CHARGE, that is Great Product Support!

I also bought a backup used RCBS Press off Ebay to have as a spare on hand for the future.

The Break occurred in the "Toggle Block Link Pin, which is the pivot between the Toggle Block and the Link.  It snapped under load in the middle with the "Left" portion dropping out of the Toggle Block Hole but he "Right" portion Jammed in the Toggle Block.

The Press was bought around early 1970s era as part of a Reloading Starter kit so it lasted around 40 years of moderate to heavy service to date, a robust piece of long lasting equipment.  Up until then my father and I had been shooting commercial Reloads or Factory ammo.

At that time the prices for Surplus 30-06 and 45ACP was beginning to rise and we felt it was time to learn the reloading techniques to keep shooting inexpensively.  Prices have continued to rise on all ammo and Surplus ammo is getting scarce anyway, what with the change in Military Calibers and the policies of the Obama Administration.

Best Regards,
Chev. William.

[ndnchf]

Chev - I'd say you've got your money's worth with that press. Nice to hear RCBS still stands behind it. My lee turret press is good for routine tasks, but for heavy forming, I use my 3 ton Dake arbor press.