BSA Martini in 32 Win Spl

[LeftHandGuy]

Hi everyone,

I have a pretty decent Australian contract BSA Martini. It has had its chamber reamed to 32 Win Spl. The small amount of research that I have been able to do suggests that this was a common fate for these rifles on being imported into the USA as the bore/groove diameter of the original 310 Cadet chambering was close to that of the 32.

As far as I can tell I got lucky, my rifle seems to have been converted by someone who cared about what they were doing as it chambers and extracts just fine, I managed to scrounge some factory Winchester, and everything functions as it should, and even groups OK, but recoil is vicious.

So, I am wondering if anyone here has had one of these 310 to 32 converted rifles, and what, if anything, you did to make shooting it more enjoyable?

Now, before anyone tells me to search first, I did, and this is the only relevant thread I found: Post in thread 'Martini caliber change.' https://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/martini-caliber-change.3872657/post-36570059

Maybe @Gun Smith will see my post, and expand on what eventually happened with that Martini...

 

[Gun Smith]

Hello LeftHandGuy. If I recall, that rifle I mentioned in that thread worked fine, but what I meant by barely
chambered and ejected was do to cartridge length of the .32 Special. I was a tight fit for sure, but worked
fine. The guy who had it started using black powder loads with cast bullets for a much more pleasant shooting rifle, as factory smokeless rounds were punishing. I fired it a few times with his BP loads when I met him at a range. Much easier on the shoulder. It surely could have been loaded with lighter smokeless loads too. Don't know if he ever tried that. I presume he kept it; haven't seen him lately. Best regards for
happy shooting with yours! Joe

 

[centershot]

Trail Boss might work. Fills the casing and is very mild.

 

[LeftHandGuy]

Hello LeftHandGuy. If I recall, that rifle I mentioned in that thread worked fine, but what I meant by barely
chambered and ejected was do to cartridge length of the .32 Special. I was a tight fit for sure, but worked
fine. The guy who had it started using black powder loads with cast bullets for a much more pleasant shooting rifle, as factory smokeless rounds were punishing. I fired it a few times with his BP loads when I met him at a range. Much easier on the shoulder. It surely could have been loaded with lighter smokeless loads too. Don't know if he ever tried that. I presume he kept it; haven't seen him lately. Best regards for
happy shooting with yours! Joe

Thanks for that @Gun Smith . Cast bullets are definitely on my list of things to try, but I hadn't seriously considered loading BP. I hunt the flintlock season here in PA, so I actually have a reasonable quantity of both 2fg and 3fg, although I don't know much about loading metallic cartridges with it (I understand that leaving an air gap in the case is problematic, and that's about it). I will certainly look into that.

 

[LeftHandGuy]

Trail Boss might work. Fills the casing and is very mild.

I had wondered about Trail Boss too. Following on from the BP suggestion above, the big benefit of TB is that it would be something I could shoot on the indoor range. I think real BP would quickly make me unpopular there! I will look and see if it's a) available, b) if there are any general analogous (or even published data) I could start working up with....

 

[sneakboxer]

I had wondered about Trail Boss too. Following on from the BP suggestion above, the big benefit of TB is that it would be something I could shoot on the indoor range. I think real BP would quickly make me unpopular there! I will look and see if it's a) available, b) if there are any general analogous (or even published data) I could start working up with....

https://imrpowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/trail-boss-reduced-loads-r_p.pdf

Trailboss is pretty neat. But I haven't seen it on a store shelf in a long time. I have used it in a 35 Whalen with pistol bullets.

https://imrpowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/h4895-reduced-rifle-loads.pdf

H4895 can be reduced too but I have not tired that. Best of luck

 

[JSH]

I didn’t figure a 32 Special would be short enough to chamber in a Martini Cadet?

I have done a small amount of work for a friend years ago and used 32-20 brass in the 310 Cadet.

I have seen several in 38 special and 357 Magnum, rebored or rebarrled of course. One thread years ago a fellow had 32-357 max reamer ground, don’t recall the outcome.

Some folks tend to get the 32-20,32WCF and 32 special mixed up.

 

[LeftHandGuy]

I didn’t figure a 32 Special would be short enough to chamber in a Martini Cadet?

I have done a small amount of work for a friend years ago and used 32-20 brass in the 310 Cadet.

I have seen several in 38 special and 357 Magnum, rebored or rebarrled of course. One thread years ago a fellow had 32-357 max reamer ground, don’t recall the outcome.

Some folks tend to get the 32-20,32WCF and 32 special mixed up.

It does fit, but you have to keep pressure on the lever to hold the breach low enough (I have read that the very best of these conversions included some relieving of the feed ramp to make feeding easier). Surprisingly, for an action with notionally weak extraction, it ejects the spent case cleanly and with considerable force, and the once fired factory brass comes out clean and with no signs of poor obduration, and no indication of excessive headspace (although I realize it might take a couple of reloadings to really show that).

If I cannot get any joy out of 32 Spl, then I might consider getting the barrel re-bored to 35/30-30 or 357 Herret - (since the extractor has already been modified for that rim size) - but I will try and bottom-out making it nice to shoot as it is first.

 

[LeftHandGuy]

https://imrpowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/trail-boss-reduced-loads-r_p.pdf

Trailboss is pretty neat. But I haven't seen it on a store shelf in a long time. I have used it in a 35 Whalen with pistol bullets.

https://imrpowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/h4895-reduced-rifle-loads.pdf

H4895 can be reduced too but I have not tired that. Best of luck

Excellent info! I have some H4895, and I will have a look to see if I can find some Trail Boss for sale (most of the sites listing it for sale seem a little "too good to be true....")

 

[Gun Smith]

Trail Boss could be your new friend if you find some. I had bought a can of it years back. I think it was like
8 or 10 ounces, maybe 12? Stuff is like fluff! Never did use any though, lost interest in it. Best of luck!

 

[LeftHandGuy]

Since I was given some encouragement with this here, I thought some of you might appreciate know how it panned out in the end.

I, I tried and failed to find a legendary Lyman 321427 bullet mold, and was on the verge of ordering a custom mold when I was recommended and alternative solution - resize jacketed bullets. I measured the rifling depth to be .3205, and found jacketed .323 diameter 139 grain PPU softpoints at Graffs. I ran those through a Lee .321 bullet size die and tried them over a few different powders based off load data for 140 grain bullets in 30-30. That actually gave me pressures that were too low, so I just gradually increased the loads until the primers looked good.

The end result was a mildly recoiling round, that grouped acceptably. Just in time for a successful hunt in the Pennsylvania extended firearms season in late January this year. A large (200+lbs dressed out) shed buck dropped to the shot.

I am hardly the first person to have used an antique rifle for a successful hunt. However, from the small amount of information I can find online, it seems that the latest date my rifle could have been produced was 1912, making it at least 111 years at the time of the hunt. Which is something to think about!