Barrel work on Martini Cadet?

[brstevns]

Does anyone know who can rebarrel a martini cadet?

[John Taylor]

I have done several, just finished one last week. Made mine a 32 S&W. The long strait cases give a little trouble, did one in 357 Max and had to take quite a bit off the top of the breach block.

[brstevns]

I have done several, just finished one last week. Made mine a 32 S&W. The long strait cases give a little trouble, did one in 357 Max and had to take quite a bit off the top of the breach block. PM sent

[Goatwhiskers]

FWIW, I converted my Cadet to Max, shooting a RD190 which is a long nosed boolit I have no trouble chambering simply by holding the lever down. Ejects fine, I just pick up the empty off the block. Found it odd the the RD175gr boolit which is a much shorter nose is a pain to chamber. Incidentally doesn't shoot worth a hoot in my gun. GW

[brstevns]

Who did your work?


FWIW, I converted my Cadet to Max, shooting a RD190 which is a long nosed boolit I have no trouble chambering simply by holding the lever down. Ejects fine, I just pick up the empty off the block. Found it odd the the RD175gr boolit which is a much shorter nose is a pain to chamber. Incidentally doesn't shoot worth a hoot in my gun. GW

[Sur-shot]

John, The secret to making a Max in the Cadet is bullet selection and you need not cut anything off the block. But you do need to put a bushing around the firing pin hole and reduce the firing pin diameter due to the increase in pressure over the BP loads. My favorite bullets are the 200 Remington RN or the 200 RCBS FN GC. You do not use a regular pistol bullet, rifle bullets fit without altering the block. If it will feed and eject an empty case to start with, and they will, it will function a spire point or RN rifle bullet without modification in the Max. :-)
Ed

186282

This is my Avitar

[John Taylor]

Not all cadet breach blocks are the same. Almost all have to be bushed when going to higher pressure. Some won't allow a long strait case without relieving the top.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

The .357 Maximum would be a fine cartridge for the Cadet, if you could get it in and out easily. If it is going to be a sporting rifle you need to be able to load it simply with one hand in only one place at a time, and if you fumble it once in a lifetime, it isn't going to be when you are shooting at something trivial, is it?

I'd try the effect of very slight chamfering of the top rear edge of the chamber, before I removed metal from the block. It would have to be only as far as the solid web of the case, no further than many other rifles have an extractor cut. But if contact there is only a third of the way from the case neck, the rim will be higher by twice as much as you remove by chamfering.