Reloading for .32 Colt

[markieh]

I have a Marlin 1892 (made 1906) lever action which is chambered for .32 rimfire. I believe they were originally supplied with 2 firing pins, one for rimfire and one for centrefire, which I believe was for .32 Colt. However I'm not sure whether that's .32 short colt or .32 long colt????

Can anyone assist? It's going to be a major project to get brass (I'm in the UK) so I want to get it right first time.

 

[2152hq]

The Marlin 92 in 32cal will function and fire both the .32 Colt Short,,& the .32 Colt Long
..with the proper centerfire firing pin.

They came with 2 firing pins,,one for CF and one for the RF versions of the same cartridges.

The 32Colt Short cartridges were loaded with the groove dia outside libed 'Heeled' bullet design.
The 32 Colt long was loaded with a smaller bore dia size bullet that was inside lubed. It had a hollow base that was intended to expand upon firing to groove dia.

(This same idea was of the hollow base small dia inside lubed bullet was used in the 41 Long Colt)

Some owners of these rifles have had them rechambered to the more easily found 32 S&W Long cartridge and report no problems in loading, feed, fire & extraction.
The bore& groove specs of the orig bbl are fine for the conversion. Just a rechambering which barely enlarges theorig 32Colt Long chamber to the 32 S&W Long

Here's a good & quite long discussion on the Marlin 92 in 32. Reloading, bullets, casting, brass, conversions,,all sorts of info.

.32 Long Colt ,Need Help

 

[markieh]

Thanks for the info. I got about 10 pages into the link you supplied but that was as much as I could absorb. Will read the rest later.

Unfortunately re-chambering to .32SW isn't an option. As a rimfire the gun is classified as an antique in the UK. If I want to shoot it I have to put it on my licence, but it can be taken off should I want to sell. Re-chambering would mean it is permanently registered as a "section 1" firearm so could not be sold under the antique category. UK firearms legislation allows certain obsolete calibers to be sold freely as antiques but changing it to .32SW would mean I could only sell to people who have a firearms certificate.

 

[Green Frog]

Markieh, dealing with the vagaries of firearms laws around the world is quite a challenge. 30-40 years ago I had that same model Marlin. It came with most of a very old box of rimfire ammo (the few I tried were duds!) and the CF firing pin stashed in the butt stock under the butt plate.

I was fortunate back then to find a couple of old stock boxes of 32 Colt (long) cartridges at a large Hardware Distributor. Even though they were intended for my Marlin rifle I had to jump through the hoops for buying pistol ammo… in spite of the fact that I have never owned a Colt revolver.

I got interested in “the next shiny thing” and sold that rifle for a small profit, but still miss it and value the experience.

Froggie

 

[markieh]

Jumping thru hoops???? We have to jump thru FIRE here.I used to shoot a lot many years ago, mainly practical pistol (Tricked out 1911). I gave up when handguns were banned and didn't bother for a while. Then I found out about the antiques which caught my interest. I bought a couple of .32 rimfire revolvers, the Marlin 1892, and a Remington no4 rolling block (also .32rim). Back in 2015 I saw a really nice .320 british revolver which I promptly bought for £650.00. All was fine for 5 years then the government decided to remove .320 along with a couple of others from the "Obsolete calibers list". If you had one you had till 21st September 2021 to either. 1) Have it deactivated. 2) Hand in to the police for destruction. 3). Give it to a museum. 4) Apply for a firearms certificate to keep it.

I certainly wasn't going to give it away so decided to apply for the FAC. Since I was jumping through the hoops anyway I thought I might as well start shooting again. So I joined the local club.

Here's the kicker. With the club fees, security cabinet and the licence fee I will have spent close on £400.00. to keep my little .320........... BUT I STILL CAN'T SHOOT IT!!!!! The only handguns we can actually shoot are cap & ball revolvers.