Anyone familiar with 32 ideal?

[johnsonian09]

Did some cleaning/digging around in the garage at the fIl's place. found what appears to be a falling block rifle. Only markings I see are 32 ideal on the top of an octagonal barrel.

It has iron sights, the stock drops down considerably and on the drop there is a type of aperture sight.

I own mainly semi autos. Looked in my manual couldn't find a listing for 32 ideal in my reloading manual.

If it's still a viable cartridge I figured it might be nice to surprise the old man with a box of ammo for the thing. I worked the action a bit and feels like it would be fun to shoot.

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[cwtebay]

Looks like a pretty simple conversion from 32 WCF brass - albeit a little short. If memory serves it was meant to be a "salvage" chambering for shot out 32 RF rifles. It seems to me that a member here has one... hopefully he turns up.

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[Wilderness]

Looks like a pretty simple conversion from 32 WCF brass - albeit a little short. If memory serves it was meant to be a "salvage" chambering for shot out 32 RF rifles. It seems to me that a member here has one... hopefully he turns up.

More info: The .32 Ideal takes a .323"+ bullet. The Lyman mould is #32359. Mine throws about .324" and I size to .323" for .32-40 - shoots really well.

A straightened out .32-20 case will accept #32359, and is also a viable option for a "chamber relieved" .310 Martini. A Lyman .32 M Die will open up the .32-20.

[Thin Man]

Why don't you compare the measurements of 32-20 brass against the 7.62 Russian Nagant revolver brass. The Nagant has a slightly smaller rim diameter but is longer in length. Graf & Sons shows Nagant brass in stock, 50 pieces for $23.09. They are out of 32-20 brass like everyone else. This could get you up and running now rather than having to wait for the 32-20 to reappear as available. Good luck with your search.

[Bent Ramrod]

The Nagant brass is, as mentioned, a little short and thin-rimmed, and a little small in diameter (but better than .32-20), but it does work in a pinch. The stuff I am using is PPU, and even with frequent annealing, the brass splits a lot. Started out with 72 empty shells; after 5 or 6 firings, I’m down to 35 or so. Starline brass, properly annealed, might be better stuff.

If you want “real” cases, contact Rocky Mountain Cartridge. They’re turned from solid brass, are kind of expensive, and there may be a wait until current orders are cleared and they can tool up again, but the brass is good stuff, of the proper length, rim and diameter. I don’t resize it, just use it as-is in my Stevens 44-1/2.

[Green Frog]

I’m surprised no one has mentioned the American Single Shot Rifle Association (ASSRA.com) as a potential source of information. As has been mentioned previously, the 32 Ideal was developed mostly as a way to salvage 32 rim fire rifles with shot out bores... most often single shot rifles. The whole idea behind ASSRA was to preserve the history and use of the single shot rifles from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of WW I. This encompasses the heyday of the 32 Ideal.

Froggie

PS to the OP: Have you looked under the fore end for more markings? Reboring info is often found there. It would be helpful if you could post pictures of the action to make identification of the action possible. It is likely to be a Ballard, Stevens or Winchester from your description, but other possibilities do exist.

[longbow]

Not familiar with it but found this with a quick search:

https://www.rccbrass.com/32-ideal/
https://www.oldammo.com/february19.htm

Looks to me like while .32-30 brass may be useable it will be short. Better to buy new brass I think unless some other cartridge is close enough to form from.

Longbow

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello johnsonian09,

I think if I was going to try forming 32 Ideal,
I'd try the Star-Line 6.8 Basic brass.
It will be a job, but I think it's doable.
It would use small rifle primers and would have no head stamp.
It is a neat cartridge, Stevens offered it as a re-bore for shot out barrels.
The Winchester Single Shot was chambered for it also.

AntiqueSledMan.