Antique Black Powder cartridge firing pistols, revolvers & rifles are brought back to life thanks to a simply elegant idea of reaming out an off-center primer pocket that is sized to seat 6mm blank cartridges for primers! By loading the cartridge so the off-center primer's rim is in line for a hammer to strike it, an old gun chambered for a long obsolete cartridge can be brought back to life.
This is the first post of a series documenting my personal black powder cartridge & muzzleloader gun reloading process, including my tools, reference books and components.
*The photographs I am using to start this post were taken by the person I have bought the Heeled bullets from.
I will be replacing these photos with my own, once I have photographed the steps of my reloading process.
My Reloaded .32 Short and .32 Long Rimfire cartridges will be used with my "safe to shoot" single action spur trigger revolvers, including the Smith & Wesson no.1½ "New model", Colt "New-Line" 32 and Remington-Smoot "New model" no.2, and maybe the Norwich "Protector".
It has taken me a while to accumulate all the necessary reloading components, and now I have 25 of the custom machined Brass Cases for .32 caliber Rimfire Pistols, Revolvers & Rifle's , and ten more slightly larger cases for .38 calibre Rimfire guns.
Both cases have off-center primer pockets that accept 6mm/.22RF Blanks, and are filled with Pyrodex or Black powder, then the powder is compressed by seating the projectile.
The custom machined reloadable brass cases cost me approximately $10 each after shipping is included, but it's not so expensive considering that they can be reloaded 30 to 50 times, depending on how well they are cleaned and cared for.
In my little reloading components stockpile, I have several hundred of two different styles of cast bullet, based entirely on the original .32 caliber Heeled Bullet design , and weigh between 90 to 100 grains....I also have four or five 100 round boxes of Hornady .310" and .315" Lead Roundball, which are a good substitute for the heeled bullets.
I think that the .310" Roundball weighs 45 grains and the .315" Roundball weighs 50 grains. They are both about half the weight of the bullets and should achieve a higher muzzle velocity than the heavier bullets.
I only have one box of 100 Hornady .375" lead Roundball to use for the .38 caliber rimfire cartridges, but it will be a while before my .38 caliber rimfire revolver is restored back to shooting condition, and even then, I think it would be safest to shoot the Roundball, instead of a bullet, with a light load of black powder.
I have put together a compact, Field Reloading kit, which includes several repurposed vintage and modern reloading hand tools for depriming & case conditioning, and small, bench vice for seating the 6mm Blank cartridge and then to seat the projectile and compress the black powder load.
Future "Handloader" posts will look at 12 gauge shotshell blank reloads with 2½" Magtech Brass shells and my .44Special/Russian reloading kit and with my Lee Hand Press + RCBS 12ga. "Cowboy" reloading Dies
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