I don't have a ton of technical experience,  but you bring up a good point on sights. If you are going to stick with a vernier sight, I like the idea of the 36" sight radius to give you a nice 1 MOA adjustment.  Using a scope, tube sight, or more modern sight (like a redfield), I would be tempted to leave the barrel long if the rifle is bench only. 36" might be a tad nose heavy for offhand...

I do like the 32-40, but I am curious about the smaller cases. I like the idea of the 32 miller and the like to better fill the case, but I have also heard plenty of people complain about dumping powder in the action with shorter cases, so not sure on that

Westerner,

It was right on the shelf next to the pixie dust..!

Private seller, one of those things... Timing..

It was advertised as a 32 Caliber... When it arrived it measured (odd # of grooves)(7)-- about .308 bore and .316-7 grooves.

Now I don't have a anvil type micrometer so I am measuring from a slug, which is only approximate. When I get the chance I'll wrap the slug with a feeler shim and measure more precisely.

What interests me about the rifling is that it, at first glance, looks like Metford rifling. There is a picture on another thread here on ASSRA (i'll find the link and modify this post.)

Looking down the Heptagon (7 sided bore) each land terminates at a groove which makes the lands 'look like' the "flats" on a Metford barrel. 

Anyway I have high hopes that the configuration grips the bullet well.

Just for fun I might make a false muzzle out of the excess barrel length.
The Metford Rifles were known for their exceptional accuracy. 

I enjoy the non standard aspect of what I think will be a cool experiment, even if it doesn't meet expectations..!

re:  Assuming the gain twist is meant for bullets... 
Humm, that's interesting... Were they building many small caliber muzzle loaders way back then..?
BTW, there is no information regarding alloy or maker of the barrel 



westerner wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2026 at 1:39pm:

Sounds interesting alright. Perty sure my 8.15X46R reamer is for a .316 bore. Brand new JGS. I sent my oversize reamer to them to have it re-ground for a .321 bore. When I got it back it was for a .316 bore. At that point I just tossed it in the reamer drawer and forgot about it. Long story and I had had enough.