A few years back I took a Martini Cadet in trade for some gun work. It had been re-chambered to 32-20 and appeared to be in decent condition. The guy that had it couldn't get it to shoot without key holing and didn't care to shoot anything but factory ammo. Go figure. It languished in my safe for a couple of years. Then, I sold my '85 Low Wall. Fella that bought it placed a higher value on it than I did at the time. Now, I've got a hat full of hand loaded 32-20 and a Cadet that key holes. OK. Step One: Slug the barrel. It mics at .3195". Hmmmm, a 32-20 cast bullet mics .314". That's .0055" under. Now wonder it key holes... Step Two: Fire form cases. Cool! They're already loaded!
Step Three: Find a bullet and a load. Using Wayne Blackwell's most excellent "Load From a Disk".
www.loadammo.com, I came up with the following:
Use this data at your own risk!
I found a 150 grain .321 cast bullet from Western Bullet Company (LBT#321.150). Just right at .0015" over and soft lead.
Do Not Resize The Brass. Use a .323 Lyman 'M' die to expand and bell the neck. If you have access to a lathe and some good 320 and 400 grit emory cloth, you can take the expander plug down to .322 or so. Doesn't take much to get it there. Be careful.
Primer: CCI Small Rifle
Powder: 10.0 grains of IMR 4227
Finger seat the bullet to the top groove and then a moderate amount of crimp with a Lee 32-20 Factory Crimp Die. (Note: the Factory Crimp Die will not work on 310 Cadet length cases.)
It chronographs at 1150-1200 fps depending on the temperature.
I got 1-3/4" groups out of it at 50 yards with 65 year old eyes. A hoot to shoot. When asked what caliber it is I tell them it's a "321 Roscoe". It's usually good for an, OH???
The Cadet cleaned up nicely too. Under a lot of hand and cheek grime was some really nice wood.
