Has anyone reloaded for a Martini Cadet that has been rechambered to 32-20? If so, what diameter bullet do you use? What powder? I just want to plink.
Martini cadet 32.20
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Gazz
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I have a similar Martini but have not loaded for it. I did read that there is a roundball (buckshot maybe?) that fits the bore and provides good accuracy.
THE PILGRIM
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Had a Custom Cutie chambered for 218 Bee.
It's on my List of Why The Hell Did I Sell That Gun?
Nice Wood, Bull Barrel, Custom Operating Handle with Brass Ball on the End!
Been so long don't recall my load.
I think it was Lyman published nominal load using 2400.
It's on my List of Why The Hell Did I Sell That Gun?
Nice Wood, Bull Barrel, Custom Operating Handle with Brass Ball on the End!
Been so long don't recall my load.
I think it was Lyman published nominal load using 2400.
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A friend has one of these he bought many years ago. I'm not sure of he's ever fired, but I did right after he bought it. I've reloaded for .32-20 with cast bullets only for a long time. Just to see if the gun would shoot, I fired a few rounds up close, about twenty-five yards. It worked fine and grouped well but at 25 yards every rifle is accurate. My loads were at standard pressure using Unique powder and a 115-120 grain cast bullet at about 1200 fps. Bullets were sized at .313" or .314", maybe not ideal for that rifle. If it was my rifle, I would experiment with different diameters and shoot groups at 50 yards, then 100.
OP
Just came in from firing five rounds of pistol ammo i had bought at a gun show. Four out of five key holed at ten yards. My book shows .316 dia. for cadet rifle and .312 for pistol. I have also been told .323 for cadet rifle. I have cast bullets, don't know what to use.
Rule of thumb is to slug the bore. There are variations in those Martinis. Some were up to .321" bore diameter. I had one that was rechambered to 32 Winchester Special by an importer and marked so, then later rebored and rechambered to the old 35/30-30 wildcat. Some will shoot the 32-20 fairly well with out modifications. Others will do well after a 32-20 has been fired formed and reloaded with a suitably sized bullet without case resizing. They are strong little actions. My only fault with them is the lack of a safety feature.
John
John
I picked up one in the original .310 Cadet chambering about 20 years ago. Got dies from CBE in Australia and cases from Buffalo Bore I think. Eventually had it rebored to .357 Mag. though.
The original .310 used a heeled bullet like the .22. I still have some files from when I got the rifle which may be useful. I think there was quite a bit of info on EZ Board (?) and the British Militaria Forums back then.
A couple of comments I saved from the latter forum at the time re the .310:
One comment from the latter board I saved re the .310:
"You have to slug your bore to find out your bore size, my BSA Cadet bore is .3235 diameter "
I do have a saved file re reloading the 32-20 but it seems to be only reloading that calibre in general, not a rebored Cadet. But they're strong actions.
The cadet 310 groove dia will be .323d but +/-.
They are a 5 groove bbl rifling, so they are hard to measure the exact groove dia using a slug driven down the bore and then simply measure accross the lands.
You can get pretty close,,but close is where most of the odd sizes both + and - get listed around the .323 point.
The heeled bullet of the orig is a key to getting any accuracy out of the cartridge. It allows a bullet of needed dia but still using a case with a neck ID of smaller spec which the 32-20 will have right along with the orig .310.
Some rifles will accept the 32-20 case as is,,some will need the 32-20 case rim thinned a little before they will chamber. Most 310 cal cadets just won't accept a 32-20 unless a rechamber is done.
Shooting the undersize .312/.314d bullets of the 32-20 in a .310 bore of anything around the .323 mark will just not work too well.
.010" undersize bullets to bore dia usually don't.
When the right combination of case, bullet, powder and loading/seating can be found, the little rifles are quite accurate when in good condition.
They do have a weak extractor system, Weakness is more in the leverage than the structural strength. But they can be damaged as well when they are stressed beyond what they can take trying to extract a stuck shell in the chamber that doesn't want to give it up.
So if you push the loadings too much and start to get hard extraction,,back off.
The action is strong, but the bbl shank is small in dia. The threaded portion of it.
Trying to make too much of one of these can result in a bulged chamber.
Kind of the same thing the Winchester 92 original has going for it.
They are a 5 groove bbl rifling, so they are hard to measure the exact groove dia using a slug driven down the bore and then simply measure accross the lands.
You can get pretty close,,but close is where most of the odd sizes both + and - get listed around the .323 point.
The heeled bullet of the orig is a key to getting any accuracy out of the cartridge. It allows a bullet of needed dia but still using a case with a neck ID of smaller spec which the 32-20 will have right along with the orig .310.
Some rifles will accept the 32-20 case as is,,some will need the 32-20 case rim thinned a little before they will chamber. Most 310 cal cadets just won't accept a 32-20 unless a rechamber is done.
Shooting the undersize .312/.314d bullets of the 32-20 in a .310 bore of anything around the .323 mark will just not work too well.
.010" undersize bullets to bore dia usually don't.
When the right combination of case, bullet, powder and loading/seating can be found, the little rifles are quite accurate when in good condition.
They do have a weak extractor system, Weakness is more in the leverage than the structural strength. But they can be damaged as well when they are stressed beyond what they can take trying to extract a stuck shell in the chamber that doesn't want to give it up.
So if you push the loadings too much and start to get hard extraction,,back off.
The action is strong, but the bbl shank is small in dia. The threaded portion of it.
Trying to make too much of one of these can result in a bulged chamber.
Kind of the same thing the Winchester 92 original has going for it.
There was an excellent article from Rifle Mag.mentioned at the end of this post on 24-hr campfire. I think I still have it somewhere.
Good article in "Rifle" Magazine on the .310 Greener Cadet and .300 Sherwood by Ross Seyfried; it's called "Little Rifles, Long Range" and is on pp. 38-45 of Rifle #199, January 2002. Covers handloads for the .310, how to make cases, etc.
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