.17 Mach 2 in .32 - dangeresque?

[NorthCoastBigBore]

Stevens favorite is best converted to .32 s&w long. Makes a nice rabbit gun. Aside of that if you change the barrel completely you may have it easier. Remember though often the firing pin is too high so the gun will need work. I had one in 22 mag. It worked but only after messing around with the pin alignment cause in original configuration it broke hitting the liner.

If you redrill the firing pin hole & make a new pin on a Favorite you can simply use .32 SC (if you don't want to reload the .32 RF). I agree rechambering to .32 S&W Long is even easier, if you have a chamber reamer, given the availability of .32 S&W Long vs .32 SC; but .32 Colts (S & L) are dimensionally the same as the .32 RF (S & L). Been considering this on my Favorite since I have .32 SC brass - but I'm loading the RF and finding that works just fine.

.32 SC can also be reformed from some others (rims often need to be turned). There is a lot of info out there on reforming .32 S&W Long to .32 SC. GREAT thread on CastBoolits by a guy who has been working out loads and brass options for .32 RF (in the Rimfire forum).


And agreed that the pressures of the .17 M2 (and modern .22 LR) are too much for the Favorite actions (1894s and 1915s anyway). The tilting block design cannot handle it and they get loose.

This is why I wondered about these .32 RF revolvers. I have a .32 Hood Revolver and shoot .32 RF in it, but I see these conversions for sale and they seem (from what I'm hearing) to be holding up. Not interested in converting the one I have (it works fine), but these others are just interesting.