32-20 Aussie Martini Cadet Rifle

R.W.Dale said:

I don't expect to need to ever full length size at these pressures but I may be wrong.

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I used to run my fired cases into a full length die with almost no effort and very little actual "sizing " taking place. If your rifle is anything like mine was, you can expect many many reloads from a single case. I think Bwana John was correct in stating these re-chamber jobs were done on the cheap and quick and dirty. I hope your gun is one of the better one's.

FWIW, Simpson's just got a small batch of BSA Cadet-type .22 LR target rifles. They appear to be selling out fast.

https://simpsonltd.com/bsa-martini-12-15-z48179/
https://simpsonltd.com/bsa-martini-12-15-z48183/
etc

They also have several BSA 'International' Martini target rifles.

tark said:

Hope you like nasty recoil.

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I was given a .32 Win Special chambered cadet, in great shape and factory condition otherwise, in 1972 from a widow (along with a .25-35 Win 94) in Big Sur Calif. who wanted me to have them in my job as a ranch foreman there. That .32 Winchester Special was a real European Wild boar knocker and I shot at least a half dozen of them with it. As I remember the recoil was like the average Winchester 94 Carbine and nothing special . Certainlt not a .32-20 rook rifle tho . I also had a .303 Martini Carbine many years, now THAT was a fairly stout recoiling gun ! The .32 Winchester special has the correct bore for the .310 Martini and can easily be loaded light with cast bullets . Don't get me wrong, I like 32-20 tho .

It will be interesting to see the shape of the fired cartridge.

Kevin

R.W.Dale said:

seated with a 300blk seating die with the seating stem turned backwards and crimped using the 300blk lee factory crimp die.

the crimping is unorthodox but should really pay off with the heeled bullets to come. The rounds are slipped into a shell holder and dropped in the top of the die with a washer used to make the spacing correct.

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I don't understand how the crimp die works.

Does the ram on the press contact a floating collet on the bottom of the die which pushes the collet into the die which squeezes the case neck?

If so, could I set up a Lee factory crimp die for a 30-06 to do the same thing?

Bullet crimping the heeled bullet without immediately pulling the just seated bullet back out of the case has been a bit of an issue, and your solution seems a very good one.
Getting the case wall thickness AND bullet heel diameter AND bullet diameter AND the case neck tension all to work together correctly has been a challenging aspect to reloading a heeled bullet cartridge, especially with any change in componets.

I acquired a lot of different heeled bullets and factory loaded 310 Cadet ammo, one of the methods for securing the bullet into the case was 4 healthy stakes into the case!

In an older issue of Handloader magazine the author modified a wire stripping pliers to apply the crimp to a heeled bullet .41 Colt case. Basically drilled a hole just under the case diameter between the two arms/legs of the stripper handle. I'll see if I can find the article later and scan the photo, but it's the type of stripper in this photo:



Imagine the hole for the stripping insulation from ignition terminals was enlarged and tapered from both sides.

I just found this!
https://oldwestbulletmoulds.com/shop/ols/products/310-cadet-crimp-die

But I think you have solved it already by dropping the round in from above and using washers to control the area of crimp.

Sounds like you're having fun R.W. That's the name of the game! When you get things sorted ( as the Brits would say ) let us know how it groups. Do you have any factory 32-20 ammo to try, just out of curiosity? If not, I could send you some. Let me know.

R.W.Dale said:

…Me too.

Luckily I live in the country enough that I can step out back and rip one into the soggy ground and even the cows around won’t notice.

so I did.

the neck of a 32/20 is gone. Replaced with the smooth taper of 310 Greener…

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So, from the rim to the “shoulder is 32 WCF and from the shoulder forward is Greener? Shouldn’t be too hard to ream a WCF sizing die to the correct dimensions.

Looking forward to hearing how this projects sorts itself out.

Kevin

one take away is the trigger on this rifle is fantastic for a milsurp

I can't bring myself to do it to either of mine but drilling and tapping the the back of the triggerguard and adding a over travel limit screw would really make it almost perfect.
I bought a spare trigger housing to try it out on and learned that these little rifles do not have universal parts interchangability.

Its great yours shoots the .314 bullets so well!

While waiting for a proper diameter mold, you might consider paper patching the bullet to the correct diameter.

Kevin

R.W.Dale said:

Finally range day for all you guys following this

View attachment 1016523 View attachment 1016524 View attachment 1016525

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Nice shooting! Wild limo in the background too -- yours?

R.W.Dale said:

Yes it is. I’ve shunned payments a couple years back and this has been my latest daily (good ac)

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Nice work on the worked-up loads, lol!

Love the Caddy too. I had a '77 Coupe Deville with the 425 and it was a heckuva nice ride in its day.

How are you lubing the grease groove on the heeled projectile?

Using powder coat eliminated the need for the icky externally lubed bullet but adds another process to reloading the cartridge.

I got pretty good results using 45% LLA/45%PasteWax/10% Mineral Oil, using multiple tumbles with complete drying inbetween, followed by one last tumble in a mineral oil soaked rag to try to remove the lube from everywhere other than the groove.

I have really enjoyed bringing these little rifles back into regular usage.

R.W.Dale said:

The bullets are as shipped from Matt's bullets

https://www.mattsbullets.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=337

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I order from Matt's frequently, especially for the oddball stuff like ultralight .430" bullets for my Charter Bulldog and .380 British Revolver (aka .38 S&W) Pricing and turnaround has always been good with him.