Martini Cadet advice needed.

[Jeff Michel]

I have just aquired a .310 cadet and need a bit of guidance as to reloading technique, heel bullets that work the best, proper manner to modify 32-20 cases, die options other than the hyper expensive RCBS. In short, about everything. I'm about as dumb as you can get on this topic, so any insight will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jeff Michel

[JeffinNZ]

CBE have an unsurpassed range of .310 boolit moulds. Heel boolits are the only way to go.

www.castbulletengineering.com

My dies are C&H.

[Norbrat]

I'm far from an expert as I've just got one of these myself.

Mine came with about 900 cast boolits, but I also bought a mold from CBE. http://www.castbulletengineering.com/

I'm happy to send you some boolits to try.

I bought proper .310 brass from Western Firearms here in Australia, http://westernfirearms.com.au/reloading-supplies-brass-310-cadet-new-brass-100-by-bertram-p-2638.html along with the proper shellholder for the Autoprime and the Lee case length gauge. I noted the Bertram brass was a bit irregular in length.

My understanding is that you can modify 32-20 brass by reducing its rim thickness, although that is not always required, depending on your actual chamber.

Western Firearms also sell a die set by Simplex http://westernfirearms.com.au/reloading-supplies-reloading-dies-die-a-rama-310-cadet-simplex-master-die-set-78x14tpi-p-520.html although its a 3 die set, not 4 as shown in the generic picture.

AUD$95 is about US$85 today, so that should give you a guide.

And I'm sure Western Firearms would be happy to mail this stuff to you; we have no export restricitons on these items.

Feel free to send a PM if you need help to get any of this stuff mailed out to you.

Hope this helps and gets you started. I'm sure others with more experience will chime in.

[curator]

Jeff,

While your profile doesn't say, I assume you are here in the US. There is a great deal of information on the British Militaria forum:
http://britishmilitariaforums.yuku.com/forums/3/Miniature-Rook-and-Cadet-Rifle-Forum/Miniature-Rook-and-Cadet-Rifle-Forum#.Uh_Z1z-lQ0U
I have a couple of Cadets, both .310 Greener and the .32-20 "conversion" often found in the US. Your best source of brass State-side is Buffaloarms. Some Cadets can chamber .32-20 cases without modifying their chamber but the standard .310 Greener case has a rim thickness of about .043 and the .32WCF case has a rim thickness of .064. Thinning these (on the inside of the rim) can be accomplished with either a case-head/rim swage, or a lathe set up to take off .020" from the inside of the rim. I cast bullets from a CBE mould for .320/120 heeled bullet (mine cast at .323 with ACWW) which I tumble in Lee Liquid Alox lubricant. I have a die set which I rarely use since it is easy to simply de-cap and reprime cases without sizing, add powder (I use 4.5 grains of Unique) and thumb-seat the new bullet. Since Cadets are single-shot, no concerns for magazine over-all length are needed. Accuracy is outstanding and the guns shoot to the original sights. What could e better?

[Jeff Michel]

Curator, You are correct, I'm in Ohio. I probably should correct my profile. I went to the British Military forum, and that pretty well answers any possible questions. The CBE mould that everyone is recommending, is it any better or worse than what RCBS is offering?
Thanks everyone for your advice, it is appreciated.
Jeff

[Jeff Michel]

Based on the strength of the previous comments. I contacted CBE and ordered a two cavity mould 320-120 and 310-118. The new owner is very polite and very helpful. And as Jeff pointed out earlier, he has an astonishing selection for the 310 Cadet and surprisingly, the shipping was less than 20.00.

[JeffinNZ]

Jeff, when it comes time to make the cases I suggest you trim to length such that the seated boolit will just engage in the leade. The case length dictates the cartride OAL length when using a heel boolit.

I can highly recommend the CBE 325.125 also. It's the last .310 boolit Jim designed.

[Jeff Michel]

Jeff, I wrestled between the 320-120 and the 125 grain RN. I asked Mr Commens if he were flexible enough to put multiple designs in the same mould block. He replied in the affirmative and for an extra 20.00 (additional tooling setup) I ordered a two cavity mould, one being 320-120 the second being 320-118, a 125 grain flat point for hunting purposes. The 320-118 decision(believe it or not) was based solely on a discussion thread I had tripped over that you were describing shooting hares with your .310. Thanks for the brass tip, I will eventually have to modify some 32-20 brass..... I think. I've a small amount of bertram acquired locally. I took Norbrat's tip to check out Western Firearms. They have the bertram brass at 68.00 per hundred and even with shipping is half of what I can get it here in the states. How necessary is it to have the correct .310 die set? I've seen opinions ranging from full length resizing with a crimp to a quick deprime and thumb seating to to using .32 ACP dies. Western is offering two different types, one Simplex the other is Lee. Not familiar with Simplex, but have a number of Lee die sets and pretty satisfied. I'm loath to order a 100.00 set of dies and never need or use them, if there is a reasonable alternative.

[calaloo]

If I were you I would fire form some cases and try to just "thumb seat" the bullet. When lubed with Lee Liquid Alox even if the case mouth is a bit large the bullet will not fall out. I trim the brass so the heeled bullet just engages the rifling. If I extract a loaded round the case comes out but the bullet remains and must be pushed out with a rod or a short piece of brass rod dropped from the muzzle to dislodge the bullet.

Bill

[calaloo]

If I were you I would fire form a few cases and see if the bullet fits. Even if the case mouth is a bit large if the bullets are lubed with Lee Liquid Alox they will not fall out. I trim my brass so the bullet just engages the rifling. If I extract a loaded round the case comes out but the bullet remains in the chamber. A short piece of brass rod dropped from the muzzle dislodges the bullet. Try this, you may not need dies.
Bill