New .32-40 "Squirrel Rifle" showing promise!

SHELL SHUCKER

SHELL SHUCKER

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Here be me new "squirrel rifle" build. She be a Lee Enfield in .32-40 Winchester. I've wanted a .32-40 for
years and finally decided to do one up on a Lee Enfield action because of the ease of conversion for swap-
barrels and the simple, robust reliability inherent to the design as far as rimmed cartridges go.

I gave my new plinker a 60 round break-in today with 170 gr. Bullet Barn RNFP boolits to get an initial feeling fer the rifle and assess accuracy. I ain't worried none about accuracy now that I've tried this new, favorite rifle of mine on itty-bitty targets to 200 yds.

I machined a Brewer type locking collar from C360 brass to set headspace for the McGowen 24" barrel that
was obtained through Mystic Precision and was chambered,threaded & contoured to my specs by Terry at
Black Art Rifle Co. Nice work Terry....My 32-40 reamer still looks fresh!:)

Based on a No.4, Mk1 Lee Enfield, the wee beasty is showing decent accuracy with my preferred load of 12.0 gr of IMR 4227 under a pea of kapok to hold the powder in place. Even though it was windy to beat s**t, this rifle is showing good promise as a .32 caliber, proper "squirrel bomber". The scope is a Nikko Stirling 4x unit that
I bought 5 yrs. back, but is a super clear scope which suits me fine.

The only thing needed to finish this rifle off for me is a decent trigger such as a Huber or Can West unit.
A wee bit of fine tuning on this puppy will pay off fer sure!:D

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The top target looks Effed-Up because a boolit hit a piece of steel behind the paper & frag'ed the target.
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When ye notice that the target centers are the same size as a grey squirrel's head, then ye might
conclude that a squirrel rifle I have.:eek:
 
Did you have trouble getting the original barrel out?
I have heard they are really set in tight.
 
To remove the original barrel, one needs to relieve tension in the joint of the barrel to receiver.
The way I use on actions that have crappy barrels is to use a parting blade in the lathe to cut
a 3/8" deep channel, 1/16" in front of the barrel to breech interface to allow for easy removal.

No need for special barrel wrenches either!:)
 
Nice shooting by the way. The first and third groups appear to be similar in size, and shows what a good cast bullet load can do from an accurate rifle. I suddenly have an urge to load up some cast for my '06.

Looks like things are "greening up" quite nicely there; we're still plowing snow, and probably will be until the skeeters come out in June.
 
kamlooky said:
How much time and costs involved?
Rifle, barrel and hours involved?
Seems simply maaaarvelous.
Click to expand...

This critter ate up $550 and change to first acquire the tube and then have the barrel smith
chamber, thread and contour to my specs & crown. I also bought and shipped the reamer
to Terry which adds to cost. For time, one must not be in a hurry as getting the barrel in to
Mystic Precision took 4 months and Jerry then sent it over to Terry at Black Art Rifle for the
work mentioned above. That took a couple more months but hey, when orders for work start
piling in, ya got's to get in line amigos.

My own time involved fabbing the barrel lock collar, prepping & facing the receiver as
well as modifying the extractor and cutting the notch in the barrel for said bit. Add to that,
shaping the fore end & refinishing the stocks + bedding work to this point. I still have to
pillar bed the fore end and of course, get a decent trigger. Figure in another 10 hrs. of my
fiddlin' and there ye go. Ya gotta love tinkering on a project for the satisfaction of a good
end result.;)

I'm gonna do up another complete Lee Enfield "Big Cooey" rifle this year in .25-35 Winchester on
a No.1 mk III which should be a howl to shoot as well. There's still lots of old post-war, factory sporter
versions of No.1 mk III's and No.4 mk 1's and the like to base a fun, old school rifle on.

I had a .303 No.1 mk III sporter when I was in junior high school. I got my first .22 a year later.
That Cooey .22 I got for 5 bucks is still in me clutches...An I'll croak with 'er too.
Before that it was air rifle city, but what fun times those were. I have a soft spot for Lee Enfields
as well as Martini Henry's mainly because they suit my preferences so well.:)
 
Very nice project. Unique. I never thought I'd see a Lee Enfield chambered in 32-40, but you have a very fine example there. What sort of velocity are you getting with that load?
 
Win 38-55 said:
Very nice project. Unique. I never thought I'd see a Lee Enfield chambered in 32-40, but you have a very fine example there. What sort of velocity are you getting with that load?
Click to expand...

This load is throwing 'em out at around 1300 fps. I take my chrony with me next time to try some different powders. I'd like to stay inside a 1400 fps. ceiling to keep leading to a minimum.

I'll have to try some sub-sonic loads out as well.:)
 
My great grandfather used a 32-40 win exclusively as that was the only repeating centerfire rifle I ever knew he owned: From deer hunting to beating the soldier boys in target shoots (so I've been told), he did it with a Savage lever action in 32-40; although I'm not sure a model 99 is what some authors had in mind when writing of the virtues of the 32-40 as it pertains to fine accuracy. It's nice to know that these old calibers have not been completely relegated to the pages of history... without us handloaders though, the last factory limited edition ammo was a couple decades back.

Interesting choice for squirrels, but I've shot starlings with a 222rem and steers with 20ga, so no hypocritical complaints here. ;)
 
Congratulations on an outstanding rifle and on a unique idea. My preference as a lefty is leveractions but one of my keepers is a No.5 in nice shape and more importantly nice bore.
 
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