Converting 32 rim fire to 38 special

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I've converted about a dozen .32 rimfires into .17 Mach 2. The task of taking a piece of junk and turning it into a well-working gun is daunting - every one is different with different issues to deal with. Most of them did not work well 130 years ago and will bring a grown man to tears of frustration - but the final product is a legal squirrel shooter that gobbles ammunition ( about six to ten shots per squirrel ) - and is the envy of all ( okay -- I'm supposing that part.)

No - it is not worth the bother - it is much more logical to get a little Savage Rascal and use less ammo - but I do admit that logic does not apply here.

Oh - and before anyone bothers asking - no - I won't be doing any more of those conversions - thanks for asking though.
 
Elijah, the first thing is to compare the chamber pressures of the old .32 rimfire round and any center fire options.

In many cases the barrel isn't the issue. Often it's the action that won't take the greater pounding. For example, converting a Stevens .32 rimfire single shot hinging block style rifle over to just about EVERYTHING center fire. Other than some really obscure stuff like .32S&W you're going to find that all the options are going to put too much stress on the hinged block that closes over the head of the cartridge.

It's stuff like this which is why folks are saying that it's just not that easy to do a conversion.

As for handguns most of the .32 rimfire revolvers were made from very cheap metal. So again any chamber pressure that is much higher than the little .32 rimfire is going to stretch or snap the frame of a revolver or just outright blow apart the cylinder. Again something obscure like .32 S&W might be OK.
 
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