Reloading .32 cal. rimfire cartridge ammunition

 

The popularity of .22LR cartridge ammo among recreational shooters caused manufacturers to discontinue .32 rimfire following WW2.

Today, there are countless antique rimfire firearms in good shooting condition, and owners have to be creative in order to keep shooting their old rimfire rifles and revolvers.

There have been  some creative cartridge conversions  discovered and shared that have solved the problem of obsolete rimfire ammo shortages.

The most convenient, in my opinion are the custom machined hand reloadable brass cases, designed to use 6mm Flobert crimped blanks as primers, and 0.310" or 0.315" roundball plus black powder/pyrodex.

There are two companies in Belgium & France that offer reloading kits and supplies form many of the various obsolete rimfire & center fire  cartridges.

A few American shooting supply companies also sell similar 6mm blank primed  brass cases.

 I lucked out and have bought 11 x .32rf short and 14 x .32rf Long cases from a terrific fellow in Alberta, Canada.

They aren't cheap, the last 10 x .32rf Long cases cost $102 including postage, and arrived 3 business days after I paid for them!

I have read that people report reloading these cases 30 times, and they are still in great shape.

The .32 Colt is essentially a center fire version of .32 rimfire, and if I get .32 Colt cases, I plan to ream out the primer pocket to accept .27 cal. Nailgun blanks, which is another handy cartridge conversion that provides shootable .32RF ammo.

This is a tool kit with dies & punches  for use with a Lee hand press to reload .32RF.

Here's a page taken from the 1905 Marlin catalog, when .32 R.F was still available.

These are original factory made .32RF cartridges.

They cost $5 or more per round on the collector's market!

I own an antique Civil war era bullet & ball mold tool  that casts projectiles which meaure 5/16" or .32 caliber.

I have yet to cast my own heeled bullets and roundballs, but plan to do so eventually.