.32 rimfire

V

vikingo

New member
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Maybe this post should be in reloading, but it's for an antique revolver so I'll start here.

Bought a Hopkins and Allen Ranger 2. Can get brass and bullets from H&c collection in France, but the primers won't ship internationally. So, I need to get primers here in Canadia and i find l have all sorts of options. .22 primers for nail guns (green yellow brown), starter pistols, long and short.
It seems that the power of the primer needs to be factored in when you calculate your load in BP. Is the added powder in a starter pistol blank really enough to make your old revolver into a bomb?
I read about some guys cutting down .22 blanks, or opening the crimps and dumping out the powder....
Has anyone here tried this? I understand the .6mm flobert will pop right in and out without too much trouble, but I'm hoping someone here has some experience reloading .32 rim and can give some help.
<thanks
 
I only own center fire antiques but before buying them I researched 32 rimfires because lets face it the price on these guns is very good. What I had decided to do (had I bought a 32 rimfire) was to buy 32 Colt cases and drill out the base. Then use 27 cal Hilti ramsets from the hardware store. They serve as the primer and powder and can be centered not requiring the off set position. I never got that far but that is what I would have tried.

Good luck
Moe
 
I shoot those H&C Collection Reloadable Rimfire cartridges all the time.
I use the Sellier and Bellot Flobert Blanks in mine. Those 6mm Flobert Blanks ( they are the exact same ones that H&C ships with their kits within the EU ) are the way to go.
I think you only need to start calculating the power of the blank in if you are playing around with Powder Actuated Tool blanks. Those are a different beast entirely.
The little 6mm Flobert blanks are basically fancy cap gun caps. I've set them off with a nail on the table and I barely felt the pop on my bare finger holding the nail an inch away. I use Goex FFFG Blackpowder crammed right full and, with the full case held steady upright, firmly push a little .22 Flobert cap in with a small wood block until you feel it just kind of ' Click ' in. The Flobert caps click in because they fit perfectly. While you probably could use some other .22 case with the powder and bullet pulled if you cut it down, it still wouldn't be optimal because the case isn't designed for it. It would be the same with reloading centerfire cartridges and if you didn't right at that minute have the correct centerfire primers so you started squishing and cramming percussion caps in. You could probably figure out how to make it go bang easily enough but it will definitely not be sealed where you've created the ignition. The Primer Pocket on the H&C cases is machined out perfectly for the Flobert caps so that is what you should use. It's no big deal that H&C doesn't include a pack of Flobert caps with the reloading kit since you can find them pretty much anywhere. Most of the CGN sponsoring gunshops would have them I'd bet. I was concerned about their availability before I ordered a kit but as soon as I looked for them they were easy to find and now I don't think I've been in a gunstore that doesn't have them in a long time.
Some people have said it's difficult to find real Blackpowder around. If that is the case then from personal experience I can tell you that you could use Hodgdon's Triple 7. I have used Triple 7 on .32 RF long, .38 RF short, .41 RF short and 7mm Pinfire. While I liked real Blackpowder better the Triple 7 did work no problem. The warning on the can is very specific " Do Not Use Triple 7 in Metallic Cartridges ". You can disregard that warning as long as you treat it as though it were real Blackpowder and load the cartridges without any empty space in the cartridge. With Rimfire cases I fill it all the way up to the primer hole, then pack the powder down a little bit to keep a little compression on the powder, then push the primer ( Blank ) in.
With these very small case capacities of the H&C cases it is safe to just fill them up, their .32 RF long is no .454 Casull. With the H&C cases you are not going to produce a bomb. The only way you could do that is to start messing with Smokeless powder and you Do Not Want To Use Smokeless in a Hopkin's and Allen Ranger 2.
I have shot a Hopkin's and Allen Dictator ( pretty much the same thing as the Ranger ) with the H&C cases with Blackpowder and it worked great. It definitely didn't feel like the little Pop-Gun Cartridges were going to blow up the gun.

Cheers, Iain.
 
Afterthought - used a .32 Short Colt casing drilled out to fit a Hilti .27 Green with no powder and a 32 round ball. Went off fine and went through 1/2" plywood. Reloading was not so good as half the cases distorted when removing the Hilti case. Too hard to find enough short colt so abandoned the project.
 
wr.sainsbury said:
Afterthought - used a .32 Short Colt casing drilled out to fit a Hilti .27 Green with no powder and a 32 round ball. Went off fine and went through 1/2" plywood. Reloading was not so good as half the cases distorted when removing the Hilti case. Too hard to find enough short colt so abandoned the project.
Click to expand...

Green was too strong.

Cheers
Moe
 
I hear the H&Cs work well and if you go that route then no need to read on. I reload these and I've screwed around with valuable .32 SC cases, 5/16" brass tubing, .27 & .22 and most recently started making my own turned cases. If you just want plug n play then it's not for you, but if you enjoy the journey as much as the destination then it's a lot of fun. .27 Browns are impossible to find (any hotter you do risk stretching the frame or worse), but .22 browns seem common up here anyway. In my particular revolver I also found those Hiltis simply wouldn't fire on the first strike, but the .22's do. I had to offset my .22's, many people report that their .32 will fire a centered .22 no problem, but not the case here.

A brown .22 blank does indeed drive a .32 round ball through plywood with no additional powder, definitely not something to mess around with. As I say, any hotter and there exists potential risk of stretching things or worse, some folks I'm sure have had success but it does depend on exactly what you are shooting and the condition of that exact gun.

For my rifles now I convert to CF and just fire .32 Colt.

If you want a very good summary, there are some on CGN like these that include descriptions of methods that are working for some folks:

https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/427850-32-rimfire-question

https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...o-you-reload-32-rimfire?highlight=.32+Rimfire

I've read plenty of info on this and the very best thread on the net is here (change "hxxp" to "http"); Others may chime in to say there's too much detail in the foregoing link, but if this interests you then it IS well worth reading:

hxxp://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?147224-reloadable-32-rimfire-brass/page1

Those folks have done a ton of R&D on it. Long thread but worth the read, to me it's interesting. I think I've tried most of the solutions in there. YMMV
 
I have both made 32rimfire from 32 colt and also used the HC brass. in both cases I just cut down a 22rimfire and put it in. for the amount of shooting i do with these pistols it is not worth getting the blanks (added cost). a lot of the time i pick up ftf 22lr off the range floor and use those for my 32 projects. I have a video up on youtube, just search my handle for it.
 
Hi, NorthcoastBigBore. I got through some of that thread before l went crosseyed and gave up. That's just a bit beyond my understanding. I find it difficult to get BASIC information. l run into a lot of people who feel that if you were not born with a gun in your hand, you should leave it to the experts. This has not been the case on CGN. Thanks for your imput.
 
vikingo said:
Hi, NorthcoastBigBore. I got through some of that thread before l went crosseyed and gave up. That's just a bit beyond my understanding. I find it difficult to get BASIC information. l run into a lot of people who feel that if you were not born with a gun in your hand, you should leave it to the experts. This has not been the case on CGN. Thanks for your imput.
Click to expand...

All good, it is a lot to digest. Those CGN links I provided are certainly a nice summary, kind of cutting to the chase.
 
vikingo said:
Maybe this post should be in reloading, but it's for an antique revolver so I'll start here.

Bought a Hopkins and Allen Ranger 2. Can get brass and bullets from H&c collection in France, but the primers won't ship internationally. So, I need to get primers here in Canadia and i find l have all sorts of options. .22 primers for nail guns (green yellow brown), starter pistols, long and short.
It seems that the power of the primer needs to be factored in when you calculate your load in BP. Is the added powder in a starter pistol blank really enough to make your old revolver into a bomb?
I read about some guys cutting down .22 blanks, or opening the crimps and dumping out the powder....
Has anyone here tried this? I understand the .6mm flobert will pop right in and out without too much trouble, but I'm hoping someone here has some experience reloading .32 rim and can give some help.
<thanks
Click to expand...

The H&C collection bullets are way too hard for an antique bore. I'd recommend using the .32 colt/rimfire bullets from jetbullets.com. These shoot very well in my revolvers, but the heels of the bullets are a bit too large for the H&C brass. I shave down the heel of the bullet with a pencil sharpener first.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom