Made some .44 Long Rimfire cartridges for an 1860s Ballard rifle

[ndnchf]

I picked up this very early Ballard sporting rifle, probably made around 1863-1864 chambered in .44 Long Rimfire. I have no interest in guns I cannot shoot. So I made my own reloadable .44 Long Rimfire cartridges by modifying .44-40 brass to take a .22 blank in an offset chamber as a primer, and using a 218gr heel type bullets. I hope to get to the range later this week to try them out :smile:

[FredBuddy]

Ingenious !

[303Guy]

Absolutely ingenious! Just yesterday I was wondering how one might make rimfire ammo, thinking of the 32 rimfire, having had a look at the 32 rifle restoration by Tripplebeards further up (or down?)

Is the brass going to be hard enough not to slowly indent after several firings?

[ndnchf]

I took the .44 long rimfire Ballard rifle to the range this afternoon for the first time. I have to admit being just a little nervous shooting a 157 year old rifle for the first time! I made a short video, check it out to see how it went :-)

https://youtu.be/aq3CqFQd36E

[ndnchf]

Absolutely ingenious! Just yesterday I was wondering how one might make rimfire ammo, thinking of the 32 rimfire, having had a look at the 32 rifle restoration by Tripplebeards further up (or down?)

Is the brass going to be hard enough not to slowly indent after several firings?

Only time will tell. But after the first firing, I see no damage to the case. But I'm sure over time and many firings, they will get a little beat up.

[Bull-Moose]

Nice work.

[garandsrus]

Did you also add powder or is it just the blank? There was a fair amount of fire coming out of the barrel.

[ndnchf]

Did you also add powder or is it just the blank? There was a fair amount of fire coming out of the barrel.

There was 25gr of 2F old eynsford in some, 27gr of 2F in others. The blank is just the primer.

[uscra112]

My experience with .32 caliber adapters is that the worst wear comes with punching out the .22 blanks. The body of the blank expands, requiring a fair amount of force to push it back out, the hole soon gets loose. I've gone over to using 6mm "acorn blanks" that dog trainers use. They're so short that they don't flare out inside the adapter. More expensive, but they preserve my adapters.

https://www.gundogsupply.com/walther-22-cal-6mm-acorn-blank.html

[ndnchf]

My experience with .32 caliber adapters is that the worst wear comes with punching out the .22 blanks. The body of the blank expands, requiring a fair amount of force to push it back out, the hole soon gets loose. I've gone over to using 6mm "acorn blanks" that dog trainers use. They're so short that they don't flare out inside the adapter. More expensive, but they preserve my adapters.

https://www.gundogsupply.com/walther-22-cal-6mm-acorn-blank.html

Yes, agree. These are acorn starter pistol blanks. Not the more powerful nail gun blanks. Those blow wide open and are more difficult to remove. These acorns pop right out.

[uscra112]

At about 12-1/2 cents a shot, they're on par with the inflated prices of ordinary primers!

Good job with that, ndnchf. Drilling/reaming the hole and making the recess for the rim isn't as easy as it looks.

[para45lda]

That sir was awesome. Love the video. I have to say I laughed out loud when it showed the target!

Thanks for the post

Wes

[ndnchf]

I use a .224" reamer to finish the new primer hole. The blanks run .225" - .226", so this gives a snug fit.

[pworley1]

Very impressive.

[Eddie Southgate]

Dixie Gun Works sells those for several different calibers . They ain't cheap .

[ndnchf]

Dixie Gun Works sells those for several different calibers . They ain't cheap .

Unfortunately, they have been out of stock at Dixie e
for some time. But RCC does have them in stock.