Phil,

That is an interesting tid bit of info! Do you have a user name or contact info for the person?

Merwin

32 ballard xl -  It's definately going to be rechambered to center fire, tough choice on rebarreling, relining or just rechambering.  It would be nice to have a commonly obtainable caliber for brass.

slumlord44  -  I've seen pictures of cases made for .22 blank ignition.  

Thanks for that update.  I had read somewhere, eons ago, that pure lead and black powder worked best as the base had to be bumped up to groove diameter for best accuracy.  I appreciate the correction.

Cat Whisperer - The mold number notwithstanding, the bullets are .314 diameter.  The HEEL portion is about .299, which may explain the number.

32Ballard - You weren't wrong, as far as the later incarnation of the .32 Colt is concerned.   It was changed from the externally lubed heeled bullet to an internally lubed straight bullet, and that bullet was necessarily about .015" undersize for the bore.  It was soft and hollow-based, so it would flare up on firing to fit the barrel.   Didn't do anything good for accuracy, but as the round was mainly used in pocket revolvers for close-in defense, that probably wasn't considered important.

Cat_Whisperer, a lot of your questions can be answered by looking at a copy of the SSE article I wrote about shooting the various little .32 cartridges. I think it may have been August or September of 2010. Give Brett Boyd a holler and see if he'll send you a copy. It might be more information than you need, but it will get you on the road to shooting your little rifle. I've measured bores from .3065" to .315" for the .32 short/long/extra long family, so your Stevens might "seem" small but work just fine. Good luck with the little gun.

B. Isaacson