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Weeks ago I bought nice price this rifle cal 32 s/n 87xxx. When it arrived I discovered barrel was relined in 38spl. Until now i've tried 16grs od fffg and 2,6grs of Rex yellow strictlly with 148WC lead with no problem and good accuracy but I wonder if it could be safe to shoot commerial 38spl loads. Just to have a vintage touch I glued on this Ward 20 scope.Attachment 293936
In the March, 1967 issue of the American Rifleman magazine, Frank DeHaas wrote an article on gunsmithing rolling blocks. Regarding the suitable calibers for the #2, he includes the .38 Special. Of course, that probably was before +P loads. I don't know how scientific DeHaas was in his determination but he was a well respected single shot gun smith and author in his day.
I'll try to recover this magazine. thanks
DeHaas was well respected for his expertise in single shot rifles, and I think his experience was from almost exclusively hands on and trying various barrels and chamberings. I'd trust his estimate that the #2 can handle .38 Special smokeless loads, but I also agree that it wont include any hot .38 Special loads.Quote:
Originally Posted by kootne
The #2 is a very well designed action, and so well made it put a high price tag on them when they were new, and resulted in smaller sales due to the price tag.
In his book "Single Shot Rifles and Actions," he also cautioned against using the high velocity .32-20 in the #2.
If the rifle were mine, I would happily shoot standard pressure .38 Special loads, but draw the line at modern Plus+ ammo. I probably would stick to cast lead projectiles too.
Robert
Of course guys I never intended to shoot +P and similar evil things. My question was if I can safely reload duplicating plain commercial loads. At present I can cast RCBS 148grs WC, Lee 158 SWC and Lee six cavities 38-150-1R and I'll handload them a notch below commercial loads. I own also a S&W K38 and an Uberti Richards conversion Colt Navy so I have to be very careful with their dedicate loads.