Swedish RB + .32 H&R = One huge PCC

I had a quick-but-fun test session yesterday with my 8x58RD Swedish Rolling Block rifle and a pair of custom-fabricated .32 H&R chamber adapters.





The math says the .309" bullets should tumble out of this .323" bore, but the soft lead and large base cavity of the 98 grain Lapua HBWCs I used managed to stabilize nicely from this ridiculously long barrel. The holes in the target showed no signs of yawing at 15 yards (probably closer to 13 yards, considering the actual distance to the muzzle.)

The group would have been smaller if I hadn't kept losing the front sight in the large black target -- these days I need more contrast with my eyesight. Probably still good enough for ground squirrels.

I found two issues with my new adapters, neither critical. The rim diameter was a tad undersize, so I found it necessary to hold adapter against the extractor during insertion. The fumbling in the video was me forgetting about this. Also, since the adapter is steel, it can't expand to fully obturate the breech. That means there's a whiff of gas from the breech with each shot, comparable to the blow-by from a revolver. You can see it in my short video. Not a big deal with proper eye protection, especially if you are accustomed to shooting muzzleloaders.

swoter said:

Nice! Will a 327 work also?

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No, but it would have if I had asked Ace at MCA Sports to make it that way. I think he can also do .32-20 and .30 Carbine on a custom basis.

http://www.mcaceak.com/index.html

I had seriously considered standardizing on the .327 Federal early on, since I also own a Single-Seven and it would have provide greater case volume to play with than the H&R. Part of my goal was to use just one cartridge in all of my 30-ish caliber converters and maintain compatibility with my .32 handguns -- I have five revolvers that will accept H&R, but just the one that takes .327 Federal. Also, the most useful bullet in most of my converters (particularly the 8mms) is the soft lead HBWC, which doesn't benefit from the higher .327 velocities. Plus I have lots of .32 H&R brass.

For me, the main attraction of chamber converters is that they allow me to shoot handgun ammunition on an indoor pistol range where high powered rifle ammo (even down-loaded) is prohibited. To date, I've shot .32 H&R chamber converters in 7.5x54 French, 7.5x55 Swiss (both GP90 and GP11), 30-06, .303 British, 8x57 and 8x58RD. Still waiting on a pair in 7.62x54R. Best group so far was from my '03 Springfield.

One of these days I'd like to put together a dedicated single-shot carbine in .327 Federal.

dh1633pm said:

Wife and I went to the range today. Brought the Swedish Roller. Shot a few of the rounds that Dave sent me and the Chamber adapter. Wow. They went off with a bang. Well more like a pop. I was right on target at 25 yards.
View attachment 1040219 View attachment 1040220

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The breech view is really a study in concentricity!

And I do like the color case hardening on your receiver! Hope the extractor didn't give you much trouble.

Swampman said:

Are there any possible pressure issues with the 45,000 psi .327 Federal in an 8x58R Rolling Block?

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I apologize for not making my original intentions clearer. Rereading my reply above, one could easily infer that I was recommending the use of factory .327 Federal ammo in chamber adapters.

When I mentioned the .327 as any early contender for a chamber adapter standard, what I actually meant was to make use of the .327's longer CASE. My thought was the .327's larger internal volume might give me more handloading flexibility, even down in the 20K psi range. After some actual shooting I found that going to the shorter .32 S&W Long worked across several platforms just as well as the H&R, so I concluded that my original notion lacked merit and dropped the idea.

Thanks for bringing this up!

dh1633pm said:

I totally disassembled the roller for a well deserved cleaning. Cleaned all parts in the ultrasonic with just a little dawn and hot water. Reassembled today. When I first got the rifle I cleaned just the bore and outside parts. Was pretty filthy inside. On the underside of the forearm there was the stamped serial and next to it hand written “B” and the serial number in pencil.

next step for me is a little more brass and some 32 h&R dies.

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You know, I forgot to mention that .32 ACP dies will also work in a pinch. Marshall Williams recommended this in an article in Handloaders Digest Vol. 17, indicating that he used his set of Lee .32 ACP dies for .32 S&W, Long and H&R.