Steven falling block in. 32 rim fire

quinnbrian

quinnbrian

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Can anyone tell me the muzzle energy and muzzle velocity of a. 32 rim fire shell. Looking at converting a Stevens to center fire. But would like to stay in the same realm of the. 32 rf shell. Thinking of a 9mm standard shell. I have a barrel for a 9mm, it wouldn't take very much machining to make it work. Thanks for any help.
 
Was thinking of doing the 32. Conversion, but don't want to change the original barrel. Too nice of condition. Just thought of changing out a new barrel and making a new extractor, and redrill for center fire. That way it wouldn't be hard to take back to original. And maybe one day. 32 rim fire shells will be produced again. Or at least I can hope they might some day. And not at $2.00 a round!
 
If it is not a true falling block, ie. 44 1/2 or 044 1/2 action, then it is not suitable for conversion to 9mm . If it is a swinging block Favorite then 32 S&W (not Long) is the pressure limit.
 
Thanks for your answers. So is the limiting factor the block, or the way it is attached (the bolts that hold the swing block) or.........?
And yes it is a Stevens. 32 rim fire swing block rifle.
 
quinnbrian said:
Thanks for your answers. So is the limiting factor the block, or the way it is attached (the bolts that hold the swing block) or.........?
And yes it is a Stevens. 32 rim fire swing block rifle.
Click to expand...

the limiting factor is the way that the breach block is supported (or not supported). The 44 1/2 and other true falling blocks have the breach block supported by shoulders in the receiver, behind the block. In other words the thrust is controlled by the block against the receiver. In favourite and similar type actions, the thrust is taken by the pivot screw in the front of the block and by a toggle link from the lever to the block.

cheers mooncoon
 
to convert one into .32 colt center fire, yoou dont need to touch the barrel, just the firing block by repositioning the firing pin. the .32rf is practicly the same as a .32 colt CF. the marlin 1892 lever actions came with a second firing pin so you can shoot either ammo.
 
Thanks m134 that sounds a little easier. Just got my box of shells today( .32 rim fire) , gun works excellent!! And pretty accurate! At about 30 feet I hit a 2 inch target. Not bad for a cheap 70 year old gun.
 
It's great that you are shooting it, they are nice little rifles. I have 2 Favorites, in .25 and .32, along with some ammunition I stashed away almost 40 yrs ago and I occasionally treat us all to a woods walk.

I don't know what kind of 9mm barrel you have but a handy fellow might be able to put together a light break action "rook" style rifle.
 
Ha, I. Had a crazy idea today, that just might work! If I take a 9mm casing and pull, it down to the. 32 base / body of .318. And leave the rim at 9.96 (that the 9mm rim size) . It could be made to work, with no barrel change at all. The 32 colt was a great idea, but there almost as hard to find as 32rf. And the 32 acp rim is too small to just resize the body. If anyone can think of another shell case that has a rim of around 9.6mm And a body of .320-.350. Let me know.
Waba the 9mm barrel I have is a spare m31 barrel, not top of the line,but would have been easy to machine down to fit the receiver on Stevens.
 
if you have the ability to draw the 9 mm cases down, I suspect you must have a metal lathe. Why not make your own cases from solid stock and use Hilti shells as primers. you want the rim to be about .010" narrower than normal and you want the Hilti shell to sit that much proud. The reason is that you do not want to be using energy up on the rim of the outside case. The breach block of a Favourite is fairly simple, you could also make a centerfire one and use standard primers but keep your loads down to match the original 32 rimfire or alternately load with black powder. Be sure to wash the barrel with warm water after shooting and give it a good oiling

cheers mooncoon
 
Hello mooncoon, the idea , with pulling down the 9mm case,was the ability to reload the same shell cases....Spend some time make 50-100 and reloaded at will.I've never pulled down brass but I have pulled down alum.I think brass is a little hard to pull .....but I'm will to give it a try.Would like to come up with a way that anyone could do.
 
I vaguely think that I have seen pulling metal done on a tv documentary although can't remember where or when. I am under the impression that it was done spinning and involved a fair amount of pressure. To me that would imply a metal lathe and partly I don't see how you would grip the rim firmly enough to permit drawing and partly I the the web or solid portion at the bottom of the case would be extremely difficult to draw without a lot of pressure.

cheers mooncoon
 
Hello mooncoon, I have not been home long enough to try it yet. Yes it involves putting it in my lathe. I think I can build a manderal (I think that how it's spelled) that is just a little smaller than the id of the 32rf and and insert it in to the body, so it hits against the front side of the primer hole and make an other piece the would just fit over the rim(held by the tail stock) ,( you could put tension on the shell case by turning the tail stock in and locking it in place. And a third piece made of three long roller bearings, held parallel to the casing, in a circle around the case. Held in such a way that one end of the three bearings touch first(by the rim) and press down firmly on the manderal inside the casing, and than work your way to the open end of the case. All of this would happen with the lathe spinning at a low to medium speed.
I hope that anyone, other then me can understand what I'm trying to say.lol I've never been very good at trying to write what I'm thinking!
Anyway my back-up plan.......I just found some 32 colt shorts ( and bought them) on the gun nuts buy and sell!!!! And the guy I got them from said he can get more. I bought 3 box of shorts and one bag of new case. So if anyone else is looking, he told me he can get more. If anyone is interested pm me and I'll sent you his email.
I might be trying too hard to make a "new" shell case for my new/ old gun. But the way I look at it is if you want to use it, fire it, over and over again, with out spending $3.00 a round.( there is a guy on here right now who wants that for two box of 50 , $300.00). Than I have to come up with something. My son (14 years old ) loves the little gun. Yes I could go out and buy a new .22 or something like that, but to get him involved in shooting a 60+ year old gun and love'n it. There isn't to many words to describe the way that makes me feel!!!
Anyways have a good night to all, and I 'll be home by the end of the week,so may have a chance to start on my little project.
 
friend of mine has one converted to 32 S&W long. Ammo is easy to get and you can reload...Nice little gun. Its best choice. if dont want to ream it out then .32 colt is fine. All is needed is to re-locate the firing pin.
 
I fancy myself to be somewhat of an expert on these guns now that I have reconditioned about twelve of them.
This 1915 started out life as a .32 rimfire....A new .22 barrel, stock, screws, hammer, link, extractor, firing pin, sights and just about everything else, it is now better then when it left the factory.
 
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Al flipping, very nice Stevens! Just received my 25 rf Steven, on Friday. Good "parts" gun. The wood is good to excellent,the firing block is in good shape. The barrel looks like some one used it for a walking stick!!! The bolt that hold the level in the main frame has bushings on it.But anyway I bought it for the firing pin block. It's the same as the 32, (size) so I can relocate the firing pin to take the 32 colt center fire shells I just bought. And leave the original alone just in case 32 rf every become available, at a price that makes senses.
Al, I thought of doing the 22 conversion, how does it work, did you have to make a new shell extractor arm?
 
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