New Guy With A Martini Cadet

[BruceHMX]

I found a very nice unsporterized Martini Cadet last week. It is one of the Klein's gun from the 60's and changed to 32-20. That is stamped on the receiver.

I shot a box of Remington 100gr LRN out of it. Fireforming the cases, It has a mint bore and shoots about 3 inches high at say 30 yrds.

I have some 323dia Jap Nambu bullets that were set up for another project. After chamering the empties the 323 bullet is very snug but I believe a seating die would push the bullet in. I cannot do it by hand.

I have read just about everything I can find on loading for this now. But still have some questions for the more experienced. With these cases fireformed do I now load this round with 310 Cadet dies? Should I contact Lee and get a sizing die to size the bullet to say 321? I really like this rifle and want to get it to it's true potential not to mention my son who is 10 loves it.

[BruceHMX]

Update. I took a fireformed case. Deprimed it. Put new primer in and 4.5gr Unique. Used my 32 S&W Long seating die. Eased the 323dia bullet in. Cartridge would go in but stop about 1/4 inch before flush. I kept lowering bullet but did not help. Empty fireformed case will go back into chamber. What am I doing wrong? Is the bullet dia too big?

[Goatwhiskers]

You didn't say if there was any flare. I use a very slight flare with my Max and quickly found that in my Cadet I need the slightest crimp to remove the flare or cases are very hard to chamber. Just an idea. Goatwhiskers

[twotoescharlie]

323 is 8mm diameter. might br too big.

TTC

[JeffinNZ]

Though your chamber has been reamed to .32-20 (or butchered) you will still not likely be able to seat a boolit fat enough for the Cadet; you'll still need a heal boolit. I recommend Cast Bullet Engineering in AU. Jim is the world authority on Cadet boolits and has at less 7 varieties.

[L Ross]

I also have a Cadet marked 32-20. I have a H&G mould for a .322" round nose 8m/m Nambu bullet that weighs 90 gr. I am lucky in that not only do they chamber perfectly but shoot very accurately with either 4.0 gr of Unique or a case full of Trail Boss. Have you slugged your barrel? Can you get by with a smaller diameter bullet? If so the try sizing the bullet smaller to see if it will chamber.

Duke

[John Taylor]

My reamer print shows a neck diameter of .331" tapered to .327". This gives enough room for the .312" bullet and the wall thickness of the brass. If you are going to use a larger bullet you may need to ream the neck out enough so it will chamber. Might be best to start with a chamber cast to see what you have and then measure the diameter of the neck of a loaded round. You can get a neck an throat reamer from Pacific tool. You want a couple thousandth over the diameter of the loaded round so the brass can expand and release the bullet, and room in case your bullets are not sized the same.

[rollmyown]

+ 1 on what JeffinNZ said. Do a chamber cast. Measure or send it to Jim (Cast Bullet Engineering In Australia). This is the best way to get the most out of your Cadet.

[L Ross]

I don't think the 32-20 reamer even touched the throat of a .310 cadet. I believe it mostly changed the rim area. Otherwise my .322" bullet plus 2x brass thickness wouldn't even begin to chamber.

Duke

[Bad Ass Wallace]

It's a fallacy to say that these converted Cadets were "reamed" to 32/20, if fact the 310 reamer was run into the chamber and rim cut deeper to accomodate a 32/20 case.

A fireformed case will be a parallel walled , in effect a 310 Magnum and compared to a factory 32/20 bears no resemblance. I have 11 Cadet rifles and 10 are bores of .316 and only one (Greener) has a bore of .321. A local bullet manufacurere here used to sell jacketted 120gn .316 projectiles.

So first is to determine if you have one of the tight bores or a larger size. I load a CBE bullet 317.120 which is a conventional flat based (not heeled) and sized to .317 and they shoot quite well at 100yds.

[torpedoman]

I shot a box of Remington 100gr LRN out of it. Fireforming the cases, It has a mint bore and shoots about 3 inches high at say 30 yrds.

maybe its just me, but i would reload the cases with 32-20 bullets like the ones that were in the brass lets say 100gr rnfp.

[DHB]

Doing a chamber cast is a good idea, slugging the barrel IS A MUST! If you don't know what your grove diameter is YOU DO NOT know what size boolit to use. Just the way it is. I don't mean to insult but you MUST know what you're working with. I had a 303 Martini that a .323 boolit would drop through. 303 is supposed to be .313. Once you know what you've got you can load from there. I would use a 32-20 die set.
DHB

[BruceHMX]

Thank you all for your advice. No offense taken by anyone. I have been collecting milsurp's for 40+ years. I've also learned through those years to listen and read it all. So here's where I'm at. Took the fireformed cases and a 312dia 100gr 32-20 bullet just went in. Put the same charge of Unique. Shot nice at can's and accurate to say 30 yrds. One of the things I noticed was the 312dia bullet would not drop down the muzzle. So sure enough I slugged the bore and it is a 316. I have not started casting yet but trust me it's coming soon! Called Moyer's and he is going to send me some dropped non sized 315dia 32-20 bullets. I'll lube them and try it again. If that's the ticket I'm going to order the mold and start casting. Since the 32 S&W Long die is working for seating should I order the 32-20 die set? The way I figure the 312 bullet is shooting accurate and is catching the rifling. The 315dia will even catch more. Am I on target here kinda? Thanks guys.

[BruceHMX]

Well after a few weeks I finally had time to sit at the bench. I got the 315dia bullets from Moyers. Not sized or lubed. I put some lube on them. Bought a set of 32-20 RCBS dies.

With fired formed 32-20 Remington brass. Deprimed with a Lee deprimer. Chamfered cases. 4.6 grs Unique. They worked perfect in the seating die. A nice crimp. Inserted in rifle with no push or effort. Ejected great.



At 25yrds first three rounds. No keyholes. I think I just need to adjust sights.



So I think I have the right stuff for my 32-20. Easy to load. Now to get the mold and start casting. If sight adjustment dosen't work to print POA center guess I need a little larger bullet? You guys help me here please with comments.

Last Friday I got an actual 310 Martini. Pics to follow. The fun continues and I guess that's what's it's all about.