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Hot Topic (More than 10 Replies) Need low pressure .32 Win Special load- BSA Cadet? (Read 3758 times)
Philtillotson
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Need low pressure .32 Win Special load- BSA Cadet?
Aug 8th, 2021 at 5:42pm
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Greetings -
I am attempting to help my brother get a BSA Cadet shooting again. It is a classic .310 Cadet rechambered to .32 Winchester Special and know it was successfully fired by our friend who rechambered it. We have brass properly prepared and 120 gr cast bullets but can only find load data for 170 gr jacketed rounds over 2100fps. Could anyone please share guidance on an appropriate low pressure load for this fun old rifle? Any help would be greatly appreciated .   Cheers -
  
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singleshotsam
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Re: Need low pressure .32 Win Special load- BSA Cadet?
Reply #1 - Aug 8th, 2021 at 6:57pm
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In the years past I had a similar Martini Cadet in 32 Special. It was quite a handful with 170 grain factory ammo. Knowing that my 32-40 Winchester was a dream to shoot I tried loading some 165 grain cast bullets and my 32-40 powder charge. It tamed the recoil down but never was very accurate, probably due to the rate of twist and my too long bullets. Your 120 grain bullets may stabilize fine. You could try starting loads for the 32-40 with the lightest bullet listed and go from there. Good luck with your Cadet, they are excellent little rifles.
  
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JLouis
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Re: Need low pressure .32 Win Special load- BSA Cadet?
Reply #2 - Aug 8th, 2021 at 7:09pm
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I would assume you are wanting to shoot fixed ammunition and if not I might be able to help.
  

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1isenough
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Re: Need low pressure .32 Win Special load- BSA Cadet?
Reply #3 - Aug 9th, 2021 at 10:42am
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You did not mention the diameter of the bullets you have.  Be sure to slug your bore to get the correct bullet diameter.  My three range from .318 to .320. I shoot a .321 gas checked bullet (Lyman #321427) from Western Bullet and I size my bullets to .318 for the tighter bore and the other two use .321. These have worked quite successfully in 32-40 using 14g of IMR4227, 15.6g of RL7, 15.3g of IMR4198 and 24.8g of IMR3031.  Also, the 100g Lebel bullets (Graf's) make good plinker loads with 4227 and 4198 loaded similar to the above.
  
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JLouis
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Re: Need low pressure .32 Win Special load- BSA Cadet?
Reply #4 - Aug 9th, 2021 at 11:22am
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Don't recall exactly what the load was or for but there was a miss-printed Unique powder load in one of the loading manuals that could or did destroy someones rifle. Maybe someone here recalls what it was and what it was for. Just wanted to mention it should you be looking up any Unique powder loads.
  

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oneatatime
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Re: Need low pressure .32 Win Special load- BSA Cadet?
Reply #5 - Aug 9th, 2021 at 12:51pm
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Or was that Bullseye?
  
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Schuetzendave
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Re: Need low pressure .32 Win Special load- BSA Cadet?
Reply #6 - Aug 9th, 2021 at 1:40pm
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I had a Model 4 Cadet that was rechambered to a .32 Winchester.
Kicked like a mule and I knew the pins would not stand the pressure for long.
I barreled mine to 218 Bee and love this little lightweight varmint rifle that works great for training the young ones.

The twist of the original .310 Cadet barrels (which are rechambered to .32 Winchester) used .323" diameter bullets (not the .321" for .32 Winchester) and had a twist to use 110 or 120 grain bullets.
The bullets listed in the .32 Winchester listing are too long for the twist of these Cadet barrels.
« Last Edit: Aug 9th, 2021 at 1:50pm by Schuetzendave »  
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oneatatime
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Re: Need low pressure .32 Win Special load- BSA Cadet?
Reply #7 - Aug 9th, 2021 at 1:49pm
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Just what pins are those, Dave?
  
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Schuetzendave
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Re: Need low pressure .32 Win Special load- BSA Cadet?
Reply #8 - Aug 9th, 2021 at 2:44pm
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Mainly the pin holding the swinging block in the trigger guard plus the pin holding the trigger block into the receiver can have the pins  pound out the holes they reside in from excessive recoil pressure.
Remember this lightweight rotating block is not encased in a solid metal channel on four sides like a High Wall.
« Last Edit: Aug 9th, 2021 at 2:53pm by Schuetzendave »  
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oneatatime
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Re: Need low pressure .32 Win Special load- BSA Cadet?
Reply #9 - Aug 9th, 2021 at 3:12pm
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Thank you for the explanation.
  
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JLouis
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Re: Need low pressure .32 Win Special load- BSA Cadet?
Reply #10 - Aug 9th, 2021 at 3:27pm
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I recall it as being Unique but I could also be wrong.
  

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oneatatime
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Re: Need low pressure .32 Win Special load- BSA Cadet?
Reply #11 - Aug 9th, 2021 at 5:35pm
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I went searching online for dangerous errors in manuals and found nothing mentioned (especially like the gross error I recalled from the 1960s). The only interesting posting was this: There are mistakes, too. In the Speer #8 manual, some loads were tested with a certain lot of copper crushers and they produced some VERY impressive loads. The problem was that that one lot of crushers came with the wrong tarrage (correction/calibration) tables. We now know some of those loads topped 75,000 psi!
  
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Cbashooter
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Re: Need low pressure .32 Win Special load- BSA Cadet?
Reply #12 - Aug 9th, 2021 at 6:20pm
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oneatatime wrote on Aug 9th, 2021 at 5:35pm:
I went searching online for dangerous errors in manuals and found nothing mentioned (especially like the gross error I recalled from the 1960s). The only interesting posting was this: There are mistakes, too. In the Speer #8 manual, some loads were tested with a certain lot of copper crushers and they produced some VERY impressive loads. The problem was that that one lot of crushers came with the wrong tarrage (correction/calibration) tables. We now know some of those loads topped 75,000 psi!


When Bill Caldwell was the ballistics guy at Speer rumor was he loaded until there was no primer when opening the action,then backed off half a grain and used that as a starting load!those old Speer manuals were HOT!

  
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Re: Need low pressure .32 Win Special load- BSA Cadet?
Reply #13 - Aug 9th, 2021 at 6:47pm
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Lyman 3rd edition cast bullet  handbook 
#321427, 137 grain spitzer gas check
Unique 8.5 @1445-11.5@1760
I shoot 10 grains of Unique with 165 grain FN in my 1936 marlin as a plinking load at 50 and 100 yds.
  
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Re: Need low pressure .32 Win Special load- BSA Cadet?
Reply #14 - Aug 9th, 2021 at 7:26pm
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If memory serves me right I believe it could have been in a Lyman reloading manual but again not sure. Probably should have never even brought it up by not knowing for sure.
  

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