Friend, you need to check your rifle carefully.
There were THREE .32RF cartridges chambered in some of the old rifles:
1. regular .32RF Long, same as the revolvers used
2. .32 Long Rifle RF
3. .32 Extra Long RF
You can tell which cartridge you want by the depth of the chamber.
In Canada, the regular .32RF Long was available until 1968, so that's the most common one, definitely. The others were long gone even by then.
Yes, you can make up ammo on a lathe, using a .22 Short or BB cap or CB cap for a primer. It's a lot of bother but some would say it is worth the hassle.
What would be best would be if all of us who want these old cartridges would write to the various manufacturers and ask for some. Personally, I need a bucket of .25 Stevens for my Cooey Canuck. I would certainly be willing to lay in a few bricks if the stuff were a reasonable price (say, 2-1/2 or 3 times the price of .22), but a buck and a half a round is 'WAY out of my league.
BTW, cartridges listed above are pretty close as to dimensions although lengths and charges differ. Regular .32RF Long is .791 long n takes 12 or 13 grains of back and 90--grain slug. The Long Rifle case is .937 long, uses 13 powder and 82 lead. Extra Long is 1.150 in length and uses 18 to 20 of powder and the same 90-grain slug as the regular Long. Slugs generally are about .312; Lee makes a good, cheap mould which is close to this.
Figures are from COTW-6, which is darned near as old as the ammo it talks about!
Hope this helps.
.
