.32 ACP in a .308/.30-'06/.303?

[Apple a Day]

I got a catalogue the other day from The Sportsman's Guide and in it there was a gizmo to put in your rifle chamber (either .303, .30-'06, or .308... you had to order the right one) to be able to shoot .32ACP pistol ammo through your rifle.
link http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=471502
Serious?
Gimmick?
Could it harm your rifle?

 

[NCsmitty]

Should work ok, probably not target grade accuracy but you never know. It won't harm your rifle. I'm guessing that you'll have to knock the 32 case out with a dowel. Cheap plinking.

NCsmitty

 

[BenceT]

I have seen this too,I was wondering about using it in my .303 but the barrel is really long.I was wondering if it would even make it out of the barrel.Looks fun for $15

Tim

 

[Sam1911]

I looked around and found some .32 ACP for about $13/50, plus shipping. That's $0.26 per round.

Considering that, a) it won't be terribly accurate in all likelyhood, b) it probably will require some annoying fumbling to extract the fired cases, c) you can reload most rifle calibers (for plinking -- not premium hunting bullets and match primers, of course) for around that, or buy surplus ammo for not much more, I don't think I'd spend much on such a gimmick.

But, it might be fun if you wanted to shoot rats or something (at very close range) with your hunting rifle or mil-surp.

I'll vote 15% serious, 85% gimmick.

-Sam

 

[elmerfudd]

I've got one in 30-06. Extraction has never been a problem. Accuracy was mediocre at best. Maybe 5" groups at 100 yards, but this easily could have been matter of the ammunition. I doubt cheap .32 ACP is loaded to match specifications. It also shoots to a radically different point of aim, both horizontally and vertically.

Noise levels are about the same as a .22 lr. It probably hits a lot harder. I really wouldn't know as I haven't used it on any game.

I bought it years ago since I already had a 30-06 and I had read some internet BS about how .32's fired out of a rifle barrel were about as quiet as an airgun. Yeah, right! Maybe a .45 Quackenbush.

The main advantage I could see to one of these would be if you had a long barreled rifle you could tailor a very quiet handload using one. A .32 with a light load of bullseye and a cast lead bullet shot out of a 26" barrel would probably be fairly quiet. My 30-06 has a fairly short barrel on it so I've never bothered.

 

[Sound Mind]

For what it's worth

In case anyone still sees this, I googled upon this while looking at small game loads for my 308 - ironically I first tested the idea using the very adapter you are asking about.

I ordered 2 of them thinking I at least had the opportunity to reload (or lose) one of them. Neither fit in my normal 308 (savage 110) but both fit in my modified H&R single shot. I did try and make one fit by chucking it at grinding it down a little getting it to fit better and better until either a: I needed to attend to the rest of the gear I was loading for the hunt b: my wife asked me to do something or c: my drink was empty.....

So sticking with the H&R "truck gun" I was delighted to find it shot to the same point of impact w/ the adapter as the iron sights (set for 180 gr core-lokt) out to about 50 yds (minute of mik jug). I already had a .32 so ammo was no big deal and it road around the woods on logging roads on the Olympic Peninsula. I shot both Ruffed and Spruce grouse with it and had 1 shot kills, only frustration was watching 3 more spruce fly off while I try and dig out the 32 to reload

Same day as the last Spruce Grouse I ended up walking an old spur thinking more grouse then anything and had a 3X4 walk out 50 yds ahead, I quick switched and dropped him, got quite a kick out of taking small and big game with the same rifle, same day - still have that grouse in the freezer as it lost to backstraps.

I found the decibel level to be 22ish (as "accurately" measured by 2 sets of ears) but with a decidedly deeper "donk" (careful if you repeat that)!

So in conclusion, calipers showed it has a slightly larger throat then standard 308 ammo which led to it's stickyness in my savage but I am confident I could have made it work, it's cheaper then other adapters already and gave me a cheap chance to see how the small game load would work in my rifle (I have now bought reloading equipment for the sole purpose of downloading small game rounds). If you planned on plinking or target shooting, I think the pain in the butt factor would kick in soon with constantly extracting and reloading the adapter - but if you do, sand it shiny first! Much easier to find in the dirt then the factory gunblue and with one grouse I opened the H&R and as anyone who has one knows - it flings the shells WAAY out and I had to comb the ground for a while to find it.

Hope that helps (and that someone is still reading this)

 

[Uncle Jaque]

Subcaliber Adapters

I've had a few of these, and there seems to be two basic types;

One is like a steel casing that is chambered to accept the subcaliber round into it's base. After firing you do have to shake or poke it out of the adapter.
I had one made by Winchester in .303 Savage, and it was nickel plated.

The other kind, and I think LYMAN made them, is like a steel cartridge casing with a firing pin extension running up from the base through to the front end where the front of the shoulder would be. The .32 round snaps on to spring loaded claws around that platform and serves as the "neck" and bullet of the completed adapter.

The rifle's firing pin hits the extension at the head, which transfers the energy through to the primer of the small pistol round to fire it.

After extracting the adapter, the empty subcaliber casing is simply snapped off of the end and replaced with another one.

I used to reload some of these .32s with cast bullets over about 2 gr. of Unique and they made dandy plinking rounds for down cellar into a steel bullet trap. Sometimes I used #0 buck shot for the projectile and they worked well enough for short distances, and would do the job for rats, squirrels and such if the sights were adjusted properly. I still have one in .303 British.

Every now and then the pistol shell does not seal completely and there is a little gas blowback - not a problem in a properly vented action as the pressures are comparatively low.

I guess they were sort of a gimmick, but they are fun - especially for introducing kids to the high power rifle or for indoor practice where HP rounds are prohibited.

They also eliminate the risk of catastrophic "detonation" sometimes occurring in regular rifle cartridges loaded down to very light or "squib" powder charges. Apparently this weird phenomenon has blown up even heavily built pressure testing guns in a laboratory.

I would like to load some light "small game" loads in my .308 with 85 to 100 gr. bullets, but don't know where the "danger zone" for detonations starts in regards to powder types and charges.

Any suggestions?

 

[NCsmitty]

Uncle Jaque, 1 listing that I found is 10gr of Unique behind the 100gr Speer plinkers for about 1600fps. I've seen loads as low as 8gr but you have to be careful not to stick a bullet in the barrel.
Unique is great in these light loads, no worries.

NCsmitty

 

[db_tanker]

I have been thinking of the same thing with heavier cast bullets normally used for 30-30 WCF in my 308 and using Trail-boss.


I think a 10 grain load of TB would give good case volume and a dandy plinker.

 

[NCsmitty]

Maybe this will be of interest to you guys.

http://www.surplusrifle.com/articles2008/trailbosskiss/index.asp

NCsmitty

 

[dmazur]

Well, this isn't exactly the same thing, but it is a subcaliber adapter, and that is related -

Hammond Game Getter

This thing uses powder-activated tool rimfire cartridges, which are available in different strengths.

The kit includes a swaging die, which you force buckshot through to size it correctly for your bore.

I believe the intended application is small-game hunting with your deer rifle, not cheap target practice. Yes, it is tedious to reload the adapter, but the idea is to get something like a single-shot .22 without having to pack a second rifle.

(I intend to get one for each of my Ruger #1's, in .243 Win and .30-06 Sprg.)