CPA Schuetzen rifle but no intention of competition

[GARD72977]

I'm really wanting to sell off some stuff and invest in a very good quality single shot.

I have looked at CPA rifles. I love to shoot off hand and being able to use a Ubert scope.

I'm thinking a 32 h&r or long colt. I'm only going to shoot 50-100yd. The straight wall cases will be easy to load progressive. I have no intention of breech loading bullets.

I shoot USPSA and do not care to compete with the rifle. I'm only wanting to enjoy offhand shooting. I'm serious about accurate shooting and want a nice gun to do it with.

Any opinions on caliber.

[JSnover]

A good falling block in .25 to .32-anything would be very easy to shoot.

[country gent]

Get with Paul and Gail tell them what you want to do with the rifle and theywill be very helpfull giving you alot of information. They are very nice accurate rifles. I really like my Shillouette model in 40-65. I did opt for the filled lever and fancy wood on mine.

[GARD72977]

I love the idea of a 25-20. Loading would be much slower. I think a low power 32cal that will shoot lead plain base bullets would be great. I know a small straight wall case is not the most accurate but it does have a cool factor..

I shoot a Ubeti 1873 32-20 and love it. I keep then on the tame side and they shoot great.

My thought was chamber a short straight wall 32 and if I'm not happy with it I could have it re chambered to a 32-20.

[GARD72977]

I like the filled lower. Nice wood really makes a rifle. Did you have them finish the wood or di it your self? I'm thinking about trying to save some money by finishing it myself.

I love the checkering but can't justify the cost.

I wanted to hash out the options here before i call. Don't want to waste there time. There are a lot of guys here with good information.

[Don McDowell]

25-20 single shot would be a better option than a 25-20 wcf. 32-40 is another good cartridge.
If all the distance you're shooting is 100 yds, you may want to give a simple 22 lr chamber some consideration. My CPA 22 shoots very well to 200 meters.

[rbt50]

I have one in 25/21 and 22lr, gun shoot better then I can. I breach load the 25/21,so no loading dies need. if you get one ,finish the stock your self.
finishing the stock is easy and you will save a little money.

[rbertalotto]

For what you want to do, a 32-20 or 32-40 might hold its resale value better than anything else. Build something that most folks want so when you tire of it, it can easily be sold.

[country gent]

Ihad them finish mine for me. I like the looks of the filled lever loop and the feel but its weight occasionally raises the block slightly making removing the blow tube hard if you dont reset the lever. One other big plus to the CPA is that they are a swap barrel rifle. You can have your centerfire caliber and a rimfire barrel fitted. A quick change over time and your shooting one or the other. Send them an e-mail asking your questions and what your wants are. This way they can answer at thier convience and you know just what they can do. If you want a traditional cartridge the 32 -40 might be a choice. A simple e-mail as to calibers available, cases that will work, Swap barrels, finishing and such. Thier color case hardening is just lovely and the fit and finish exceptional. GGive them a chance to toute their wares.

[marlinman93]

If you enjoy accurate shooting, I wouldn't think using a high volume progressive press on a CPA singleshot rifle is what I'd do. I'd pick a caliber based on what I wanted to do, and not on what press I wanted to reload it with.
The .32-40 is an excellent all around choice for both accuracy, and not a lot of recoil in a singleshot rifle. Since the CPA uses the Stevens design, you can also purchase extra barrels later if you decide you want other calibers.

[WALLNUTT]

Breach seat. Forget about fixed ammo. No dies,better accuracy, and you'll learn to love the pace. I didn't think I wanted to breach seat either.

[GARD72977]

Its funny that you posted about Bree h seating. I have been thinking about this all day at work. Maybe two barrels would work for me. A small capacity case and then a more traditional caliber.

[WALLNUTT]

I picked up an old Hiwall a couple of months ago from a friend who has a few and shoots BPCR regularly. I thought breach seating would be too much trouble so was going to shoot fixed ammo. I bought dies and tried it with some success. The friend handed me a breach seater and said try it. I never thought a plain base lead bullet could possibly shoot that good. I'm hooked. Now I have a set of useless 38-55 dies collecting dust. I do however have a .22 barrel also but have not really tried it out.

[Chev. William]

The .22 RF Cartridges come in various varieties but are All Single Use for most People.
I would suggest a barrel in .25ACP "Match Grade" Chambering as one option. It is a Center Fire cartridge and does Head space on the Rim so it can be loaded to above SAAMI or CIP Factory Specs in such a STRONG Action.

This would give a rifle that could be loaded to shoot Well out to over 100 yds and still be above Tran-sonic transition problems or loaded down to shoot "Subsonic and Quiet for backyard Vermin" if desired.
Depending upon your choice of barrel length, your choice of Propellants may be much wider than the "Pistol/Fast Burn" ones usually recommended.
That said; I have fired Bullseye Charges of up to 1.89 grains behind 63 Grain Lead FN bullets out o f a 10-5/8" Barreled Ruger Single Eight custom revolver with Good results and about 1200 to 1300 fps Velocity at 5 feet from the muzzle.
The Heaviest charge I have fired is a slightly compressed 3.1 grains of BE-86 behind a 50 grain FMJ-RN bullet (not Chronographed yet).

The BBTI Website claimes Factory .25ACP ammo yields 900 to 1000 fps out of an 18 inch
barrel, which considering the SAAMI and CIP Testing Uses a 2 inch Pressure Test barrel is pretty good.
For a Rifle, I would suggest Let CPA recommend a Length so it will "Balance Well", possibly somewhere Longer than 18" and maybe up to 24" depending upon the contour chosen.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Don McDowell]

22lr in a proper rifle will shoot with remarkable accuracy to 200 meters and beyond.

[marlinman93]

I just tried breech seating finally this summer. I built up a couple tools to use with my Ballard rifles in .32-40 and .38-55 calibers. After working up a charge for my .32-40 and a 170 grain bullet, it shot extremely well! I found that I prefer using 50 cases, and charging them as I'm ready to shoot; vs. using one case and de/re-priming it over and over during shooting. Just speeds things up for me, and once I've shot 50 I can stop and prime them again at one time.
I can't say that I'll switch to breech seating for all my singles, but I will certainly do more of it now that I've tried it, and enjoyed doing it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v691/marlinguy/DSCF4587.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/marlinguy/media/DSCF4587.jpg.html)

[WALLNUTT]

I do prefer priming and charging ahead. That way it's not a whole lot different than fixed ammo time wise and gear hauled around and set up.

[GARD72977]

Alright you guys have made good points. I have really warmed up to the idea of breech seating. The 32-20 CPA (.321) seems like a great way to start. Cases are cheap and 500+ shoots per pound of powder really sound good. There are plenty of good molds for the .321 caliber.

I'm going to wait till after Christmas to put a deposit on a gun. I think I want to sell several guns and spend the money on a really nice CPA Stevens. I doubt that I want to finish the wood my self.

[Chill Wills]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v691/marlinguy/DSCF4587.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/marlinguy/media/DSCF4587.jpg.html)

WOW! That beast looks like you could breachseat a piston into a locomotive cylinder.

[marlinman93]

WOW! That beast looks like you could breachseat a piston into a locomotive cylinder.

It's actually not all that large, but with the short distance between the action hook and the seating rod, it does give extremely good leverage! It's a little over 6 to 1 ratio, and with properly sized bullets it doesn't take much effort to seat. I also designed it to work with scoped guns, so the "pitchfork" handle straddles a scope easily.
Took this picture when I was building it. Checking to ensure it cleared the action, sight, and high enough to clear a target scope:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v691/marlinguy/DSCF4560.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/marlinguy/media/DSCF4560.jpg.html)

[Chev. William]

Beautiful Tool Development photo, Give a better idea of its size than the Finish photo shown earlier in thread.
Chev. William

[1Hawkeye]

I know what you mean. Accuracy is a healthy addiction. If you are going for a schutzen model then I would agree with using the .32-40 then if you want to go to the 200 yard line your ready. Another nice thing about cpa's is you can get multiple barrels. If you want you could have a.32 long for 50 yards and the.32-40 for 200 yard targets.

[GARD72977]

I'm new at this but it seems like the 32-20 CPA Caliber will accomplish everything I want. It's the 32-20 case with .321 bore. The cases are cheap so having plenty primed and charged is no problem. I think cases will last forever if you are not resizing them. If you are using smokeless powder the little 32-20 has plenty of capacity for 200yds if you are breech seating.

Considering the added accuracy of breech seating I can't justify the extra expense of a barrel for a more convenient caliber.

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

Way back when, I shot at a Coors Regional Match in Tacoma, WA. I won the Media/Celebrity Match, shot a 247-7X using a Clerk Serrifile HW replica in 32-40 that belonged to a serious competitor. Gorgeous day, zero conditions.

Then, I got invited to the Nationals in Golden, CO. That match I also was lucky enough to win, shot a 24?-?X in wind. I shot Dean Miller's rifle, my lucky day. He was shooting a 32 Miller, the 357 Maximum tapered to .32 caliber. We sat together at a table in front of his motorhome. We talked about the fact that is shot as well as the 32-40, but not any better, looking at 50-shot aggs.
I had been to the Super Shoot that summer, and marveled at the consistency and accuracy of the 6mmPPC. I suggested shortening the case to take loading density from 35%+/- up to 60-65%.

I designed a wildcat 25 caliber cartridge, based on the 6,5x68 S, and wrote an article for Precision Shooting Magazine. The reamer was from Keith Francis at JGS. I took a picture of the reamer print, with a loaded round laying on it, and editor Dave Brennan used it for a cover. JGS kindly offered me a credit for that reamer and go/nogo gauges. So Dean and I are sitting there, and I say, "why not just shorten it 1/4"? He thinks that might work, but informed me that a set of reamers would cost nearly $350. I whip out the credit letter, draw the case, which ended up 1.270" and we send it off.

The next Spring, the weekend after Easter, wife and I are invited to St Onge, SD, to view the rifle he was building for me. We get there, go out to his range, and start loading and breech seating bullets. 1.5" center ring. First 10-shot group scores a 246, up half a grain, 248, half a grain more, and a 249. And that, is how the 32 Miller Short came to be.

If you would breech-seat, you should shoot 10-shot groups consistently under 2" from the bench, at 200yds. Every Schuetzen Nationals since then (1992, iirc) has been won by that cartridge and AA#9.

Pauls 32-20 is nearly that accurate. Choose one of the two and learn to breech seat.

[kcajeel]

My thought was chamber a short straight wall 32 and if I'm not happy with it I could have it re chambered to a 32-20.

My thoughts on this: sounds good but you'd be better off to just skip to option #3 and have it chambered to a 32-40. I know too many people that have tired fussing with that 32-20 Shuttleworth round and even one friend that was so sick with it he has abandoned his classic Stevens 44 1/2 that Shuttleworth rebuilt for him and talked him into the 32-20. The gun has been sitting in his closet now for 3 or 4 years. Paul Shuttleworth has done well with that round but a lot of other people haven't.
I wish you luck if you choose the 32-20.
Oh, and I own two of the Cpa's. I love mine

Kcajeel

[GARD72977]

I didn't expect to hear the problems. I thought I had this figured out. Maybe I need to do more studying.

[1Hawkeye]

Don't fret it happens to all of us. though if you are looking at the shorter .32's I would suggest the plain .32-20 and not cpa's version just in case you ever decide to sell it. The standard caliber might be an easier sell.

[marlinman93]

My thoughts on this: sounds good but you'd be better off to just skip to option #3 and have it chambered to a 32-40. I know too many people that have tired fussing with that 32-20 Shuttleworth round and even one friend that was so sick with it he has abandoned his classic Stevens 44 1/2 that Shuttleworth rebuilt for him and talked him into the 32-20. The gun has been sitting in his closet now for 3 or 4 years. Paul Shuttleworth has done well with that round but a lot of other people haven't.
I wish you luck if you choose the 32-20.
Oh, and I own two of the Cpa's. I love mine

Kcajeel

I have a friend who got a CPA in .32-20CPA a year ago. He tried everything to get it shooting as well as he hoped, and is a very finicky reloader. But after a year of messing with it, he finally gave up and is sending it back to CPA to have it rechambered to .32-40 now. A much better choice, and a lot easier to get accuracy out of.

[GARD72977]

I think I have been reading his post on ASSRA. It has me rethinking what caliber.

[Chill Wills]

I have a friend who got a CPA in .32-20CPA a year ago. He tried everything to get it shooting as well as he hoped, and is a very finicky reloader. But after a year of messing with it, he finally gave up and is sending it back to CPA to have it rechambered to .32-40 now. A much better choice, and a lot easier to get accuracy out of.

I have one, 32-20 CPA. Had it going on five years. Mine shoots great. Still I play with bullets and new powders. Can't stop tinkering but nothing wrong with the chambering. It is the equal of the 32 Miller short.

Nothing wrong with the 32-40 - not at all but the Miller is the rifle to beat but the rifleman has to know how to use it too.

The OP wants an offhand rifle- The accuracy of the 32-20 CPA is outstanding from bench - it has recorded countless 250's. For offhand I doubt any perceived weakness will be do to the chambering but maybe the rifleman.

Just my two penny's worth - I respect others as well but sometimes an individual rifle or barrel is the trouble and not the whole class of chambering.

[GARD72977]

Is there any downside to just going with the 32 Miller short?

[Chill Wills]

Non I can think of except the case is made from the 357 Maximum. They have been hard to find but Starline is now making them. I do not know if the inside specs are close enough or not but likely the Starline are fine too.

[rhbrink]

I have a friend that is working up a bunch of Starline 357 Max brass right now he has not got around to shooting any yet with the temps running from below zero to the low 20's but it'll warm up one of these days? I hope! Anyway the Starline brass is much more consistent that my older Rem 357 Max brass the weights are much better, the primer pockets are more consistent and the flash holes are already chamfered the brass is harder and needs to be annealed before sizing though other wise you will have a few cases fold a crease in the sides.

My old Rem brass was much softer but the actual weight of the brass was all over the place the primers pockets had to be uniformed and the flash holes were terrible, off centered some larger and some smaller and had to chamfer the inside to hopefully get a uniform flash hole length this may be why the weights were so different?

In my opinion the 32-40 is easier to work with but the 32 Miller Short is very accurate maybe the best? It is touchy you have to pay close attention because you can raise pressures very quickly temperatures seem to have a effect with it too! A lot of the ASSRA top shooters are going back to the 32-40 to get away from the sensitive small case of the 32 Miller Short. If you don't mind tweaking with stuff and experimenting a lot the 32 Miller Short is hard to beat.

Good Luck!

[gnoahhh]

I would save my nickels and have a multi-barrel setup made. .32-40, .32 Miller, and .22LR- any combination, 2 out of the 3. Once you're spending that kind of money for a CPA, what's a little extra to have a second barrel (and/or breechblock) made?

[marlinman93]

I would save my nickels and have a multi-barrel setup made. .32-40, .32 Miller, and .22LR- any combination, 2 out of the 3. Once you're spending that kind of money for a CPA, what's a little extra to have a second barrel (and/or breechblock) made?

A second barrel for a CPA is a great idea, and not that badly priced. ($600) But make that second barrel a .22RF, and suddenly it's not "a little extra" anymore. The cost of adding a second .22RF barrel could easily buy a pretty nice .22 rifle. With the $600 barrel, and another breechblock, extractor, forearm, sight; it's going to add well over $1,000 to the base rifle.

[kcajeel]

Its really confusing but you have it down to a caliber, the 32, now you need to get specific design. Almost all of the previously mentioned cartridges can be rechambered in 32-40. If it comes down to that. Just remember to order the barrel with a twist that is compatible with what might be the final choice. I imagine the "final choice" would be the 32-40.
To me it's a no brainer. I love the 32-40. The only negative comment I can say about it is that most loadings will only use about a third of your case capacity. You will have to be careful you don't double charge your case. I use a simple method. After I charge all my cases I double check the powder with a marked dowel rod. You take a dowel rod and insert it into a case thats charged with the correct amount of powder for your loading. Have the cartridge case standing verticle, dowel rod resting on the powder, mark a line on the dowel rod at the mouth of the cartridge. Now double check all your cases with this measuring dowel. I write on the measuring dowel my loading ( 14.5 gr. - 300 MP ). I double check all my cases religiously. Thats the only negative I can find with the 32-40. Woops, I forgot the cases are beginning to be hard to find but they last forever if you have them. You can reform 38-55's and Starline has them sometimes.

Jack

[GARD72977]

After a lot of research the 32 Miller short fits my needs for a lot of reasons.

I have seen several original rifles at a price I would pay. Almost all the originals are 32-40.

I guess it just depends on what I find when I have money in hand!

[gnoahhh]

A second barrel for a CPA is a great idea, and not that badly priced. ($600) But make that second barrel a .22RF, and suddenly it's not "a little extra" anymore. The cost of adding a second .22RF barrel could easily buy a pretty nice .22 rifle. With the $600 barrel, and another breechblock, extractor, forearm, sight; it's going to add well over $1,000 to the base rifle.

Correct. But my thinking is that if a guy can afford multiple thousand dollars for his dream rifle, it's not a stretch to add another grand for the rimfire setup. That $1000 would truly buy a dandy .22- it's what I spent for a minty 52A last summer. But on the other hand, a multi-caliber CPA has a lot of sex appeal too. The older I get the more I lean toward owning a few guns of high interest/personal appeal/value than I do toward owning a lot of guns simply because a lot of guns lining the rack feed my ego. Just me.

[kcajeel]

When we shoot our regular cast bullet matches we shoot the large bore bench first. Then we shoot the large bore offhand next. Score targets and move to the rimfire line. Then change the rifle over to the rimfire barrel. Remove barrel. remove pins and lever, remove center fire block, reinstall rimfire block, reinstall lever, install rimfire barrel, change sight settings and hope you wrote down what you used last time. Now you can start practicing to get your sights back on.
Now after you finish your rimfire match you have to change back to the center fire setup. Hope you didn't forget to write down your sight settings when you finished up before you changed to the rimfire setup. Or how about buying another rifle all set up for rimfire and forget all that.
It can get pretty expensive.

[GARD72977]

I have no real interest in a 22 rimfire. The only thing that would excite me is an original rolling block or falling block that has been relined.

[kcajeel]

No interest in .22 rimfire ??? You're really missing out. It's a lot of fun and a lot cheaper. Well not a lot cheaper, you won't have any luck with "thunderbolts". You'll have to fine out what your rifle prefers and it'll probably be a little higher on the price scale but it's all worth it.
Don't lose out on the fun of the .22 Scheutzen matches.

[marlinman93]

No interest in .22 rimfire ??? You're really missing out. It's a lot of fun and a lot cheaper. Well not a lot cheaper, you won't have any luck with "thunderbolts". You'll have to fine out what your rifle prefers and it'll probably be a little higher on the price scale but it's all worth it.
Don't lose out on the fun of the .22 Scheutzen matches.

Wow! I hope after nearly two years he's made up his mind already?

[GARD72977]

Suprised to see this thread back alive! I have bought a Uberti Schutzen in 32-20 and installed a Unertl scope. I also have bought a Martini match rifle 22 long rifle that has hooked butt plate and palm rest. I'm still interested in a very nice single shot and it's still on my short list. Just spending resources on other guns

[kcajeel]

I'm glad to hear you finally found your rifle. And also glad to hear that you bought you a Martini. Sounds great, I bought a Martini international Mk ll this last week myself. Been looking for one of those for a couple of years.
Its all fun so enjoy.

[GARD72977]

Looks like I'm going to rebarrel the Uberti to a better grade barrel in 32-20. It just does not shoot tight groups. I'm still going to get a CPA. I'm coming around to a breech seat 32-40. Should be the most common used CPA

[GARD72977]

Found this thread a few days ago while researching CPA. I ordered my gun today. 32-40 Exhibition grade wood and engraved. Going to add a 22lr bbl.

Took a while to get this one going......

[John Boy]

Gard - You will not be disappointed,Trust Me!
My CPA's consist of the following"
Stevens 44 1/2 action with:
* Schuezten stock & forearm with Pope Palm Rest
* Silhouette stock & forearm
* Following caliber barrels: 32-40, 38-72, 25-21, 40-65 and 45-70
All with either Unertl, Fecker or Litschert - 10x, 15x or 20x scopes
Accordingly, I do shoot all discipline of matches except BPCR

[Gunlaker]

Wow, exhibition grade and engraved! That'll be a looker. Is it a #52 schuetzen jr.? What other options?

I have two of them, but not engraved. The first is a #52 Shuetzen Jr. with upgraded wood and #4 half octagon Badger barrels in .32-40 and .38-55. The .38-55, when breech seated, is probably my most accurate black powder rifle. I went with the standard 2 prong buttplate and the ball & spur lever. Also a palm rest.

The second is also a #52 Schuetzen Jr, but with a Schoyen single prong buttplate. Extra fancy english walnut. I went with a .38-55 RKS barrel, a .32-40 Douglas XX barrel, and a .22LR also Douglas. I haven't wrung the accuracy out of the .38-55 barrel, but the .32-40 and .22LR are fantastically accurate.

Both rifles needed a little fiddling to get them working right, but they are excellent shooters. I originally shot them with Unertl scopes but I mostly use DZ Arms scopes or MVA sights now.

Chris.

[GARD72977]

Not much as far as options. I did standard checkering and a Schoyen style palm rest. I'm going to do the 32-40 in half Oct/round 28" and the 22lr in a heavy full Oct 26". Each will have it own forend. I'm planning on using Unertls on both bbls. No sights. I did the 49 engraving just couldn't justify the 1550 for full engraving.

Is there anything else I need to be looking at?

256034

[GARD72977]

256035

I wanted wood with good straight grain in the wrist. The checkering should cover it nicely. Hope the cheek piece goes well with the grain on the back.

[Gunlaker]

I'd check with what other people think, but I find that for shooting from the bench the single prong Schoyen buttplate is better than the standard double prong. But then for offhand I like the standard one.

I might one day order a loop style lever to see how I like that one. I am happy with the ball and spur style lever though.

The only thing I did that I would change is that on my .38-55 for the second rifle I ordered a benchrest style forearm. I'm going to order a traditional one as I just can't get into the look of the benchrest one. I find that the more I shoot these rifles the more traditional I want them to be configured.

Chris.

[GARD72977]

I ordered mine with the standard double prong butt plate and Pope lever. I only intend to shoot mine off hand so no concern with butt plate.

[Chill Wills]

Who is providing the wood? I assume the first class wood shown in #49 is the piece you intend to stock it with. Is this wood from CPA or some other source?

[marlinman93]

I ordered mine with the standard double prong butt plate and Pope lever. I only intend to shoot mine off hand so no concern with butt plate.

I have a Cody Ballard Schoyen offhand rifle. The Schoyen double prong is very comfortable, and I shoot it often off the bench. But I got a repro hard rubber (black plastic) buttplate from Vintage grips and fitted it to the stock. It just makes it easy and comfortable to shoot it off the bench also, and makes the use more versatile.

[GARD72977]

Finalized the order today. 28" octogon bbl 32-40 1/14 twist. I decided to go with the Pope checkering. I asked for the checkered panels to be shaded a little darker than the rest of the wood. I'm really excited about this rifle. It was a lot of fun doing the research and ordering exactly what I want.

[barrabruce]

Couldn’t get the 32-20 to shoot then?
Too finicky.

[Gunlaker]

Finalized the order today. 28" octogon bbl 32-40 1/14 twist. I decided to go with the Pope checkering. I asked for the checkered panels to be shaded a little darker than the rest of the wood. I'm really excited about this rifle. It was a lot of fun doing the research and ordering exactly what I want.

I think you'll be super happy with it. The .32-40 is the perfect choice for offhand in a traditional rifle. What weight barrel did you choose? I have heard a few people say they prefer a #3 profile for offhand, but I really like my 28" half round #4 weight barrels.

Chris.

[country gent]

Now is the hard part the "wait" for the rifle. Its the 2 months before Christmas again.

[John Boy]

Gard, you might want to consider the Stevens 28-30. This caliber is considered one of the accurate calibers out to 300yds.

https://www.cparifles.com/pages/calibers#2830

.28-30 STEVENS – This is a fine original caliber, one made famous in its day by Stevens and also chambered by Winchester and the custom makers. Stevens often rebored and rebarrelled rifles to this caliber. The factory used 14” twist barrels, and this is the preferred twist. We also have 12” twist, but shooters are cautioned against using very heavy bullets in the Schuetzen calibers, since accuracy may not be all that was expected. The normal weight used in the past was 130-135 grains, and this is certainly a good place to start. Since this caliber will often shoot its best with about 12.5 grains of 4227, velocity may be close to 1600 fps. Such high velocity may be a great advantage, as the bullet is supersonic to 200 yards. When pushed to such velocities, the .28 has a very distinctive “crack” when fired. The barrels that we use are Douglas 7mm in 12 and 14 twist. It is best to figure on about a .284 groove diameter, but Douglas barrels vary due to being button rifled. The original brass uses large primers, but the new Bertram cases use only small primers, which should be borne in mind when ordering a capping tool. This long case must be annealed and full length sized when bought from Bertram, as their brass is really “basic”. Back to Top

Brass ... https://www.rccbrass.com/28-30-stevens/
The .28-30-120 Stevens is considered the first 7mm centerfire rifle cartridge. It can propel a .284 dia., 120 grain bullet at 1500 fts with 599 ft.-lbs. of energy. This is an ideal caliber rifle for small to medium size game and is accurate out to 300 yards. The lifespan of this cartridge was cut short by the widespread appeal of smokeless powder. However, this caliber has seen a resurgence with single shot sporting groups and is now available at RCC Brass.

[GARD72977]

I ordered a #4 weight full Oct. I like a heavy gun. This in should come in around 14lbs.

John Boy - I have some interest in the 28-30. I'm trying to plan my future gun purchases. I'm looking to add a Stevens 45 single trigger some time in the future in 25-20ss or 28-30.

I managed to pick up this Ken Hurst 22 Low Wall. Should be in tomorrow. It will give me something to do while I wait for the 32-40. To be honest im more excited about the 22.256963

[Chill Wills]

That 22 is a knock-out rifle too.
Ken Hurst is a name from the past. I have not seen his name in a long time.

[marlinman93]

The Ken Hurst .22 Low Wall was a fantastic buy, and represents a real piece of gun art from one of the finest engravers ever!

[GARD72977]

The Ken Hurst gun is absolutely beautiful. I was not crazy about the engraving in the close up pics but when you hold the gun in your hands the engraving flows effortlessly With the gun.

There are a couple mild condition issues. There is a small spot of rust on the blued muzzle. It's not a big deal and would be eliminated by crowning the barrel.

The other issue is small pressure marks in the stock. They are not bad at all. I love checkering or hate un checkered guns! I was thinking about having it checkered and maybe the pressure marks could be addressed at the same time.

Even with these small issues the gun is Stunning. I is more than I deserve.

[samari46]

Get the bench rest style of forend as you will be mostly shooting of a rest.And while I'm at it the heaviest barrel as well. Since you are not competing with anyone but your self weight shouls not be a concern.And a darn good spotting scope 80 milimeters objective lens. If you buy some el cheapo spotting scope you'll be cursing your self for not going bigger. And a good set of interchangeable lenses. And it does present a possibility that someone may have what you want. So leave a flyer at your local range or gun club describing what you are looking for. When I got out of high power my coat,gloves,sling, and some other stuff was donated to a marine just home permanently from service. With it went a big bag of remington 308 once fired empties. Well north of 500. The only conditon was to not identify me as the donator. Let him enjoy what he got. Frank