I've been looking at a Remington #4 rolling block rifle in 32 rimfire, thinking about redoing it in 32 H&R mag. What's the board's opinion of the safety of this? Do you think it's wise to use smokeless powder in one of these rifles or should it be a black powder shooter only? I know I could use a Uberti action and be safe, but not sure about the old original ones.

Don't do it!

I converted a Model 4 to 17HMR and the breech block could not take it. I am now going to rechamber to 17M2 and hope that it will be OK. The model 4 is not a very strong action, take care.

Marcos (elalto)

I have a buddy who did the exact conversion you are thinking about. He also sleeved the barrel. replaced all the screws and springs. He then had it case hardened since he had cleaned up the surfaces.

The conversion worked great, but he keeps the loads very mild.

DeHaas "Single Shot Rifles" does not recomend this. He sais 22 mag max in the solid frame action. The #4 uses screws instead of pins to
take the force. Look for a #2 .
Good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by Elalto:
Don't do it!

I converted a Model 4 to 17HMR and the breech block could not take it. I am now going to rechamber to 17M2 and hope that it will be OK. The model 4 is not a very strong action, take care.

Marcos (elalto)

Is is not true that 22, 22mag, 17HMR, and 17M2 are all with the same case head and all with the same max pressure, ~20 kpsi?

I asked the NRA one time about .22 rf pressure,
They gave the same answer 20,000 psi.
I'm not sure what that means. For example
when they reach that (high velocities) do they
then play around with bullet weight, and powder
speed?.\
How does the guy load a 17 hrm lightly?.
Good Luck!

Just convert the block to centerfire, 32 S&W or 32 S&W L, should work. Mild smokelss loadscan be made up or if you really want to bring back the past, load some BP rounds with FFFg. You did not say which .32 rimfire your rifle is chambered for. The rimfire and centerfire rounds were nearly always the same diamentions, the only difference was the priming system.

32 S&W, 32 S&W L, and 32 Mag., all can be loaded with the same die set. How ever if you load the 32 S&W, the bullet seating die will have to be shortened, .35". As the die sets are usally set up for only the Long and the Mag. This is what I had to do, to reload for my 32S&W pistols.

Hog Killer

I did a Stevens Favorite. It was 32 RF. First convert it to center fire. At this point you can shoot 32 Long Colt. It is the same dimensions as the Rimfire. Trouble is that it requires a heel bullet. Once I got fet up with heel bullets I rechambered it to 32 S/W Long. Shot fine, ammo was no longer a problem. I would not do the 32 H/R mag. I think you will shoot it loose or at worse yo could be hurt if the breech block breaks.