Martini Cadet Ideas

[drhall762]

I am now in possession of a Martini Cadet action. Action only, nothing else.


I am in need of some ideas on barreling/chambering, preferably from folks that shoot these in something other than the original form.


I am currently leaning toward something in the .25 or .30 caliber maybe based on the .357 Maximum brass. Kind of concerned about going to .30 WCF size because of the MC's small barrel shank diameter.

I have read several threads on this forum but was wondering if there were any additions since then.


Thanks

[country gent]

I have one that's been rebarreled and chambered in 218 bee. SO " sporter barrel new wood with pistol gripped stock. A very nice accurate light walking rifle for wood chucks and small game. 218 bee. 218 mashhburn bee, 25-20, 32-20, all should be doable. There was a 222 rimmed in Canada that was somewhat popular also. On 30-30 length loading may become a issue due to radious on block and length.

[drhall762]

The .218 Bee in one of its many configurations seems to be maybe the most popular conversion I have seen. Very efficient and can give the .222 Remington a good run for it's money.

[Boz330]

I have one in 357Mag. and 7MM Waters. I would think one of the 22 versions as well as a 25-35 would make an interesting rifle. Cartridge length is something to be aware of or you might have trouble loading it.
The 7mm is a sub MOA rifle with jacketed bullets.

Bob

[Outpost75]

A .357 Max. will not clear the breech block on ejection.

My .357 Mag. drags a little and brass does not eject cleanly, although .38 Specials fly clear.

John Taylor may still have my original pull-off barrel which Chris Helbig rechambered to 8x32R using full-length .32-20 case blown out straight.

I love mine in .357 but actually shoot .38 Special in it most of the time.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Lucky you! Wish I had one. Back "in the day" when imported many were converted to .32 Win. Spec. and .32-20 WCF. I had one of the latter, which eventually proved to be a good shooter. Upon reflection, I think that those were two pretty good choices considering the limitations of the action's length and strength. Were I to barrel up an action today I would certainly consider the .32-20, and the .357 Mag. is another.

[Wayne Smith]

Why not the 327Mag and shoot everything from the 32S&W and longer?

[prsman23]

Now that's a thought. Similar to .357 but would most likely work length-wise. And can shoot a varying amount of cartridges safely. I like it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cwheel]

I've had one in .357 for about 25 years now. .357 seams to be a good choice for these actions, just clears the breach block loading and unloading. I fire just as many 38 spcl. rounds through mine. One thing to watch with these is as the pressures rise with these ( .357 ) is the hole for the firing pin in the breach block on the centerfires is oversized and primers flow into that hole locking up the action. Several years back I tig welded mine closed, made the firing pin smaller, and re-drilled the hole in the breach block smaller. You may need to do this to yours as well if it has not been done already for higher pressure rounds.
Chris

[Goatwhiskers]

FWIW: I got one a few years back that had the barrel rebored and chambered for the .357Mag. Interestingly someone had barely cracked into the bore when they D&T for the forend screw. I was able to safely repair that, another story. Anyway I opened the chamber for the Max cartridge. To make a long story shorter I did start with jacketed but soon switched to cast. I soon settled on the RD190 using WW and PP. It consistently shoots within 3/4" with a stiff load of 1680. I do have to hold the lever down to load. It doesn't throw the empty clear, but I don't want it to. Surprisingly I also have a RD175 mold and that boolit is harder to load due to the fatter nose. Doesn't matter as that boolit won't give me the accuracy I demand. GW

One other point, guess it's due to the longer chamber but .38's and Mags are only for plinking as the groups are much larger. GW

[John Taylor]

I have only done one in the 357 max. Top of the breach had to be shaped different to get it to load. Best would be to use a case with a slight taper for easy ejection. 22 LR seems to eject OK but the 22 mag will require pulling the empty out with the fingers. Had the same problem with the 357 max dragging on the chamber wall. Have talked to several that had them converted to 32 Special and all complained about the high recoil from such a light rifle. Probably had some problem with trying to run a .321" bullet down a .317 bore.

[gnoahhh]

30 years ago, Wayne Schwartz put a .30 bull barrel (Douglas) on one for me, chambered in .30-30 with a "standard" ball seat, 1-10" twist. With a 20x Unertl mounted on it (what an astonishing looking rig!), it would shoot cloverleafs at 100 yards with a Saeco custom 190 grain bullet. It too didn't eject (ok by me) and the lever had to be held down in order to weasel the loaded round into the chamber.

Sadly, it went away to help finance a Stevens-Pope, which in turn eventually became part of a house down payment...

[Jack Stanley]

I shot one a fella had chambered for the 38 special necked down to thirty caliber . Lots of fun and cheap to shoot and quite accurate as I remember .

Jack

[pietro]

Kind of concerned about going to .30 WCF size because of the MC's small barrel shank diameter.

FWIW, .310 Cadets have been successfully chambered in .32 Winchester Special, but the top of the breechblock needs to be scooped out a bit to allow the round free loading & extraction/ejection.

Here's one that sold recently: http://www.gunbroker.com/item/634433218


BTW - The recoil is stout, due to the light weight of the rifle so chambered.


.

[Bigslug]

I don't see a lot of sense in trying to get the biggest, hottest round that can be crammed in. Remember what these actions were for.

Mine's a .32-20 (sort of) conversion to the original bore. Got it shooting very well, but it was not without effort. If the bore was less than a mirror, and given Outpost's case fit issues with the .357, I'd be inclined to cut a .38 Special chamber for accuracy's sake and load to +P spec to get my .357 jollies on. Darn little you can't cleanly and quickly flatten with Keith's .38-44 HD loadings. If you need more range than that can dish out, there are other rifles.

[Reverend Al]

I have a "project" baby Martini action and some new wood for it (nicely figured too) and it will become a .32-20 WCF. Can't have enough .32-20's in my opinion!

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I have sporters in 17AH, 17/222Rimmed, 218 Mashburn, 222 Rimmed and my best and most used conversion a 25/35 Winchester.

[BigEyeBob]

I am building a 25-35 WCF Martini at the moment ,I bought the barrel recently ,it had been removed from another Martini cadet ,so all should be good. I also have others , in 32-20 (BSA factory chambered), 222Rimmed , 300Sherwood , 297 Morris long , 22lr , 380 Rook and 310 Greener.
Other future projects include a Martini in 300 Rook or 255 Jeffery.

222Rimmed is a uniquely Australian cartridge ,my rifle has a heavy Tobler barrel and is a tack driver , more a bench shooter due to the weight ,the Redgum stock and fore end dont help with the weight much . Dont think Ill be able to catch up with BA though on numbers of Martinis owned by one person.

[drhall762]

I seem to be drawn in to two options: first is the .218 Bee in some form, maybe Mashburn; second is a .30/.32 caliber in the size/length of the .357 Max. My daughter is only 7 so I want to keep it relatively mild.

[labradigger1]

I have one that's been rebarreled and chambered in 218 bee. SO " sporter barrel new wood with pistol gripped stock. A very nice accurate light walking rifle for wood chucks and small game. 218 bee. 218 mashhburn bee, 25-20, 32-20, all should be doable. There was a 222 rimmed in Canada that was somewhat popular also. On 30-30 length loading may become a issue due to radious on block and length.

I have a martini henry I'm gearing up for mashburn bee. Could you post some pics?