reloadable .32 rimfire brass

[uscra112]

Those diameters, interestingly enough, are almost spot-on for the Stevens .25 rimfire.** The .32 Colt rimfire measures .315 body and .380 rim, which leaves me wondering how the firing pin of a .32 RF gun gets enough purchase to fire the cartridge if the .27 Ramset/Duo-Fast charge is set concentric. Does one have to enlarge or move the firing pin to make it work?

**Also same as the .17 WMR cartridge, from which, with a lot of labor and cleverness, I have been making new .25 Stevens. Sadly the WMR brass is so much heavier that the little boys' rifles I intended it for can't fire it. They were designed for copper-cased ammo. I want to assume that the same problem will exist for the .27 Ramset brass.

[kootne]

Phil, here are a couple pictures, one shows from L to R;
A 32XL case turned from brass barstock, the .22 blank pocket is concentric. My 1.5 Remington had plenty of overlap to work. The firing pin is replaced with one I made to only hit the "primer" and not the rim. If you look close at 4 o'clock you can see firing pin dent in the primer. The cases are bored/reamed .223 through to just enough c-bore for the heel bullet.
The next one is a .32LC concentric drilled for a .27 Ramset and the rim must be thinned considerable to get headspace. The front edge of the rims on .27's are not parallel the rear surface but taper getting thicker towards the middle. Actually, this was my "Gen. 1" .32rf technique going back to '09. I was parting off the crimp, dumping powder and loading with 3f black powder.
The 2 on the right are another product of what happens when I am not closely supervised. The primer/propellant is a .27 Ramset, the case is formed from .312 x .014 1/2 hard brass tube or the same in Aluminum. Steps are; cut to length, form constriction ahead of rim by clamping in tool, first flare with 90 deg. flaring screw, final flare to form rim by pressing form tool in with vise. Use 311419 bullet, gas check step is right dia. to finger push into tube.
The other picture is the tooling to form the cases. Made/modified from a brake line flaring tool.
Dennis
P.S. I have found the Remington and Stevens 44 will ignite the heavier .27's but my Favorite will not.

[uscra112]

Well, now I'll have to try it. Got a fistful of .17 WMR cases that split when trying to expand them for the .25 Stevens project. (I did finally work out a way to anneal them without setting the primer off.) Trim them way short, use as primer for the 1.5 grains of Bulleye load that I use with the acorn blanks.

Then the inevitable question - what have I got that will hit them hard enough to fire? Not the Favorites, not the #4 Remington, not the Hopkins & Allen 932. The Bay State would do it, but it's designed convertible to centerfire anyway. Don't have any 44s or Ballards in .32 RF. Lawks! Now I need yet another gun! And at my age, too!

What this would be ideal for is the guys who have rimfire .32 Colt Marlins.

[kootne]

I have found it really improves ignition to thin both sides of the firing pin at the end so the footprint is still as tall but maybe only .030-.040 wide. Some of the .27 blanks are also steel (brass plated) instead of brass. That has to make them even harder to fire.

[Chev. William]

That reminds me: Ruger SAP firing pin tip is a rectangle form with the edges tapered so the point is slightly smaller than the body near the tip.
Also the 'early' or 'mid' 1894 Favorite firing pin tip is a wedge or rectangle shape.
The 1915 one's tip is round.

Chev. William

[uscra112]

I have found it really improves ignition to thin both sides of the firing pin at the end so the footprint is still as tall but maybe only .030-.040 wide. Some of the .27 blanks are also steel (brass plated) instead of brass. That has to make them even harder to fire.

Yes, I had to do that for the .25 Stevens Model 44 I bought. Call it the "chisel" tip.

[AntiqueSledMan]

"Those diameters, interestingly enough, are almost spot-on for the Stevens .25 rimfire.** The .32 Colt rimfire measures .315 body and .380 rim, which leaves me wondering how the firing pin of a .32 RF gun gets enough purchase to fire the cartridge if the .27 Ramset/Duo-Fast charge is set concentric."

Hello uscra112,

I have two .32 RF revolvers, I had planned on using the .22 Blanks as a primer. Unfortunately the firing pin will not reach the .22 Blank when centered in the case, so I'm going to use the .25 Duo Fast cartridge as primer & powder charge.
If I ever get back to the project I'll post my results.

AntiqueSledMan.

[uscra112]

Two things that still bother me about using Ramset charges as the propellant charge. One is that it's imperative to avoid using the more powerful grades, since pressure that high may damage the gun, (and/or the shooter). Especially true of the old revolvers. Two is that the body of the Ramset cartridge expands, making them difficult to punch out of the adaptor when reloading.

Stay tuned.

[ndnchf]

I did quite a bit of experimenting with ramsets years ago. Its mostly captured in the previous pages. They are worth taking the time to review. I know there are a lot of pages to look at. But there is a lot of good information captured here.

[Chev. William]

If I remember correctly, the 'chisel' or 'wedge' rectangular firing pin tip of early or mid range model Stevens Rim Fire rifles had sufficient radial 'width' to be able to fire a .22 or a .25 RF with the same tip position in the breech block. A Stevens Favorite .25RF breech block seems to have had enough 'overlap of the 'chisel' tip to fire either a .22 or a .32 RF cartridge, if the barrel were correct.

Stevens made the firing pin tips wide enough to leave both a compressed imprint on the case rim and to Require a relief groove in the 6 O'clock extractor so the overhang did not strike Steel of the extractor or the barrel breech end. The later round or ball end tips did not have so much overlap.

Chev. William

[ndnchf]

This is a old and very useful discussion that I was involved with years ago. I encourage folks to review this for all the great info we gathered over several years.

For those on facebook, we have a group devoted to obsolete rimfire and heel bullet cartridges, guns and loading equipment. If you fon't care to be on facebook, I understand. But for those who are, and have interest - I invite you to join. Please be sure to answer the simple screening questions. These are designed to weed out robots and spammers.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1056...537/?ref=share

[EdZ KG6UTS]

[QUOTE=ndnchf;5206379]This is a old and very useful discussion that I was involved with years ago. I encourage folks to review this for all the great info we gathered over several years.

Good stuff! I just started playing woth .32RF for a Remington #2 roller I bought. Between Cast Boolits and YouTube there is quite a bit of info out there. The #2 has enough whack to fire the .22 tool loads in turnrd cases.

EdZ

[ndnchf]

I've had several #2 rifles in 32RF. All had the extra long chamber to take .32 extra long rimfire. The barrel markings don't indicate this. Carefully measure your chamber to know for sure.

[EdZ KG6UTS]

I've had several #2 rifles in 32RF. All had the extra long chamber to take .32 extra long rimfire. The barrel markings don't indicate this. Carefully measure your chamber to know for sure.

This rifle also is set up for .32 Xlong RF but the barrel markings is only "32". So far all I have are .32 long cases, both offset drilled for a primer and true RF. I wanr to try "PrimeAll" with the original RF cases and fine black powder.

[ndnchf]

This rifle also is set up for .32 Xlong RF but the barrel markings is only "32". So far all I have are .32 long cases, both offset drilled for a primer and true RF. I wanr to try "PrimeAll" with the original RF cases and fine black powder.

32 XL can be made from 25-20 single shot brass, or with a little more work - from 327 Federal Magnum. Check out my video about using Prime All to reprime an original 38 rimfire case.

https://youtu.be/lfL_5qMey2o

[EdZ KG6UTS]

Thanks for that info and sorry for not responding earlier. I got hung up on property issues with irrigation so no internet time.
EdZ

[Nobade]

I just discovered this thread, with good timing. I picked up a nice 32 rimfire Crackshot today, looks like I have a lot of reading to do to find the best way to get it up and running.

[uscra112]

To cut to the chase:

Buy some adapter cases from Jack Harrison (tenmile on this board) Search <299153> on Gunbroker to find his products. You won't need many - they're easily reloaded in the field. Make your own only if you're feeling frisky. I can, but I don't bother.

Also buy a supply of the correct heeled bullets, (Lyman 299153 mould), from Jack.

Buy a supply of 6mm "Acorn Blanks" from whoever still has them in stock. (search the Innertubes). These are your primer. They punch out of the adapter after firing far more easily than the nailgun blanks. I like the Walther brand best. RWS and S&B also make them. Not cheap, but worth the price.

For a Crackshot load about 1.5 grains of Bullseye. The blanks are more energetic than regular primers, soo don't use loads posted for the centerfire .32 Long Colt.

Have fun with it.

[Nobade]

Thanks! That is exactly the path I am planning on following. The first squirrel with the new rifle will be a good accomplishment.