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possible
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1885 Winchester in 32 RF
Jul 11th, 2010 at 6:57am
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Does anyone know of a way to convert an 1885 hiwall rimfire action to a centerfire action?
Thanks.
  
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Aussie_Hunter
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Re: 1885 Winchester in 32 RF
Reply #1 - Jul 11th, 2010 at 7:37pm
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I have a Remington #4 rolling block in .32 rimfire and have just purchased some cases from Dixie Gun Works that allow me to shoot it by using a blank or drawn .22 cartridge as ignition. Havent had a chance to use them yet but looks like a good solution and allows you to keep your rifle original. Try and get .32 long cases as they sent me .32 short.
  
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Re: 1885 Winchester in 32 RF
Reply #2 - Jul 12th, 2010 at 6:12am
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possible wrote on Jul 11th, 2010 at 6:57am:
Does anyone know of a way to convert an 1885 hiwall rimfire action to a centerfire action?
Thanks.


Bush the breech block and replace the firing pin.  Better yet, just replace the breech block with a CF block, since the .32 RF may be drilled a little eccentric and require a special link.  Any good SS gunsmith should be able to accomplish quite readily.

Froggie
  
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uscra112
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Re: 1885 Winchester in 32 RF
Reply #3 - Jul 12th, 2010 at 10:07pm
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Harry Pope just had different length links so he could use his personal high wall as a centerfire in the summer and then shoot .22 rimfire in the winter (indoors).

Not a major project at all.

  

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Re: 1885 Winchester in 32 RF
Reply #4 - Jul 12th, 2010 at 10:20pm
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uscra112 wrote on Jul 12th, 2010 at 10:07pm:
Harry Pope just had different length links so he could use his personal high wall as a centerfire in the summer and then shoot .22 rimfire in the winter (indoors).

Not a major project at all.



If my reading of Smith is correct, the foregoing is incorrect.  Pope's RF>CF conversion involved an eccentric axis pin (the one you remove to drop the lever) to move the (altered) block assembly up or down.  It was deemed by most to be too complex to mess with.  I'm away from my records and research right now, but one or two froggie synapses have fired and this is what they dredged up/

Froggie
  
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Re: 1885 Winchester in 32 RF
Reply #5 - Jul 13th, 2010 at 1:15am
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Green One,

I remember the info on Pope's system as having the eccentric pin as well. Also recall a rough dimensioned drawing of it too, but I have no idea where I stashed the data after running across it.

possible,

Went through one conversion from 32rf to centerfire a long time ago on my brother's Low-wall. We found out that the firing pin hole through the 32rf breech block was angled differently than that used for a 22rf block, something to take into consideration when determining which spare parts to use for the centerfire conversion as this affects the hole spacing required in the new link to obtain a properly centered primer strike. 

Also noted that the longer link increased tension on the leaf-style mainspring. It wasn't too terrible of a job doing the conversion, but it does take some careful consideration before firing up the mill and cutting chips. Of course, that's always true for anything worth doing.  Wink

Regards,
BP


  

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Re: 1885 Winchester in 32 RF
Reply #6 - Jul 13th, 2010 at 8:03am
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There is a drawing of the eccentric link pin in Ray Smith's book the dimensions may be there also.
40 Rod
  
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