I have and old highwall in good condition with a ''had it'' 32/40 barrel ,id like to rebarrel it to something bigger [since reboring is seemingly out of the ?]something older e.g a 405win ,how large can i go ? would it take a 50/90 ? or is that stretching it ? or 45/70 ?if someone can help me out here with some advice who knowledgeable on H.Walls, Thankyou

You can have it rebored to any of the calibers you mentioned as long as the barrel is the more common large-shank thread, nominally 0.935" dia thread. Your original barrel is probably made of relatively soft steel and so jacketed bullets will wear it faster than a modern barrel. Please ensure that the nose of the firing pin is a close fit in its hole in the breechface. If reboring to the higher-pressure 405 then I'd also make sure that the nose of the firing pin was smaller than 0.075" dia while still maintaining a close fit in its breechface hole. Will probably require bushing for the 405. I usually use 1/16" or 5/64" dia noses with a protrusion of ~0.040" and these dimensions seem to work fine, at least for me they do. Also please ensure that the link isn't worn to the point where it doesn't retract the firing pin before the firing pin nose hangs up in the primer, that's a common problem with the old walls.
Regards, Joe

Look on the barrel underneath the forend. Should be a number there going from 1,2,3,4,5 That will tell you the size of your barrel. Frank

Thanks ,how do you tell if it is a ''Large shank thread'' or not ? is it possible without removing the barrel ? i havent got the rifle with me at the present moment

If the number is a 1, it's a small shank. If it's a 2, it could be either a large or a small shank, I've seen both. If it's a 3 or larger number then it's a large shank.
Regards, Joe

As said, the barrel is probably older steel and would not last as long with jacketed bullets, ergo rebore is iffy unless you are committed to an older cartridge and lead bullets.

De Haas told an interesting story. He rebarreled no end of Hi Walls to modern cartridges, usually bushing the firing pin to a smaller point, and later was much condemned by collectors for "ruining" these guns. He said that when he was doing this work, no one wanted the old black powder guns and you could buy a Hi Wall in the wooden, velvet lined case for $15.00... he kept them shooting.

You have the ".30/30" rim. Obviously, you could re barrel to the .30/30 family with no action work. .219 Zipper. .219 Don Wasp of match fame. .25/35. 7 Waters. .32 Special. .38/55. .375 WCF.

The slightly larger .30/40 and .303 British share a similar rim. Blown out straight it is the .405 WCF. It has been necked to about anything you can imagine. There was a .35 WCF that went no where fast. .405 necked down.

Next with which I am familar, .45/70. .33 WCF was on .45/70 case. .40/65. .38/56. The .38/56 Improved treads on the heels of the .375 H&H factory loads.

Another thought, the .348 was formed on the .50/70 rim. It has been used, regular and improved, for about anything from 7mm up. The .450 and .500 Alaskans done on the 71 lever actions were real bear thumpers...

Mr. De Haas seemed to think there was plenty of strength there. Decisions, decisions. Luck.

The 38-55 cartridge would be a natural fit for your Hi-Wall. I have one in that caliber and it's a joy to shoot.

I've owned and shot high walls in calibers from 22LR to 50-110, and currently own one in 300 Mag and another in 33 WCF Improved among others. BTW these are all old original flat spring actions, their strength is not an issue with me.
Regards, Joe

Depending on what you want to use the rifle for there are a number of calibres that would make a fine rifle. iiranger has already mentioned several options but there are others. The 7x57 R or the 7x65R would both make an excellent deer rifle. the 3040 imp would be a step up in power. The9.3x74 necked down to 338 is often called the 338 Poachers Pet and in a strong action gives up little to the 338 win. The 35 WCF in a strong action comes close to the 35 whelan . If you want more power there is always the 9.3x74. If you want to stay with non metric calibres and want more power try the 375/348 Imp .I have one in a Siamese mauser and it gices up very little to the 375 H&H.

+1 on the 38/55

The 38-55 is good but the standard SAAMI chamber stinks. The .38-55 is NOT a .375 so count on using cast bullets.

I recently had a High Wall rebarreled. Some previous owner had a bad reline job done to the original 45-70 barrel being extremly off centered at muzzle.

Only option I had seemed to rebarrel and I had John Gallagher rebarrel it back to 45-70 with orginal barrel markings, rust blue entire rifle, and refinnish the wood. Also added a tang rear sight and globe front. Not only beautiful, very accurate also.

Joe A.

Unless you enjoy recoil, I would suggest staying with smokeless equivalents of black-powder loads...and therefore with moderate sized cartridges (as compared with the really big "hell-bangers").

For me, something like a .40-65, on up to maybe a .40-82 would be a big enough cartridge and still be fun to shoot a lot...and being a single shot, you can have it throated for whatever bullet weight you prefer without having to worry about OAL.

Well, you COULD rechamber the 32/40 for one of the 8mm's. Like the 8X57JRS or the 8X65RS.