[Buster]

I'm sure most of us who own the .36 Remington have entertained thoughts of shooting the centerfire conversion cylinder offered by R&D Gunshop through Taylor and Co.

Unlike the drop in cylinder conversion for the .44 Rem, which shoots .45 Long Colt, the .36 conversion cylinder is chambered for .38 special. Now it might just be me, but I can't get too excited about shooting .358 diameter .38 specials down a .375 to .380 diameter bore.....

But, what if the cylinder was chambered for a cut down .30-30, .375 Win, or 38-55 case using regular .375 to .380 diameter conicals or even round balls? Wouldn't this be a better way to go?

Looking at the cylinder and the 30-30 case head, it certainly looks like the case head would just fit. Don't know if there would be enough meat between the cylinder walls to provide the proper margin of safety though.

If anyone has contact info for R&D Gunshop, please post it. I'd like to run this idea by them. If they think it might work, I'd be willing to order a custom cylinder to try out. Maybe they could provide one free for test purposes!

 

[Flint]

rem conversion

I haven't seen many bullets of 375 diameter that are the right weight, most being heavy rifle bullets. I use 357/358 diameter Hollow Base Wadcutters, they are made by Speer, Hornady and Remington. They are as accurate in my '51 Navy Uberti Colt (in a Kirst Konverter)as it is in my 357 Rem Outlaw. The original loading was at first a heel type bullet, maybe available as a 36 cal conical (mold, that is, or by Buffalo or similar muzzle loader supply). I might look at Warren. Problem is as with the originals, crimping to a shorter 38 Colt or Long Colt case, and finding a die to do it. Later 38 Colt factory loads were hollow base 357 cal until they stopped making them some years ago. The HBWC works fine, and a shooter at our match yesterday, shooting 2 '58 44's with R&D 45Colt conversions (there are a lot of them being used now, I have 3) was talking about getting a 36 Remington and shooting conversion, because the 36 Rem is a bit smaller and is a nice C&B to shoot.

 

[Flint]

conversion

If the Remington 36 cylinder is large enough, and I believe it is, you could chamber it to 41 Long Colt, which would take an inside-the-case 375 bullet.

 

[Buster]

Idea for .36 Centerfire Remington Conversio

That sounds even better, Flint. Maybe it will happen.

 

[Dakota Confederate]

Idea for .36 Centerfire Remington Conversio

Why not just use the hollow base bullets out of a Rapine mould so yuou can still use it as a cap-and-ball as well?

 

[bfoster]

Idea for .36 Centerfire Remington Conversio

Buster,

Flint's wrong about the 41 Long Colt. The outside lubricated bullet for these is .410" maximum diameter, the inside lubricated bullet is a nominal 0.386-7" diameter (the bullet usually casts about 0.389 from my #386178 blocks).

The correct ammunition for this application is the 38 Long Colt, outside lubricated. The Lyman mould for this bullet is #358160. Outside diameter, as cast, is 0.378".

Neither mould referenced has been made in years, but both can be found with patience.

Bob

 

[Flint]

36 conversion

bfoster, thanks for the correction and update. I got my information from a bad source, apparently. Should have remembered the boresize of the original 38Colt..... Anyway, he'll have trouble enough trying to find the dies and brass etc for the conversion he wants to make... I just use a 148 gr HBWC in a 38 Special case, and it works fine.

 

[bfoster]

Idea for .36 Centerfire Remington Conversio

Flint,

Actually, brass and dies aren't a problem.

Starline makes first class cases at a reasonable price (or you could simply use 38 Short Colt cases).

You may be able to use 38 Special dies to load the 38 Long Colt. There are two possible areas of trouble here. First, the seating stem must be long enough- this isn't likely to be a problem in a die set that is not designed to handle the 357 Magnum as well as the 38 Special. Where you are likely to run into trouble is in the crimping operation. When loading heel bullets the crimp must be started before the bullet is seated. The reduced diameter of the heel bullet must just clear the pre crimp, seating causes the step between the small and large diameter to further close the crimp. It's likely that the feature that causes the crimp to form in the 38 Special die will be cut too deep into the die to work with 38 Long Colt cases.

CH4D stocks dies for this and many other odd cartridges at a reasonable price. Were you to call Dave at CH4D and let him know that you'll be loading heel bullets he may well be of help to you in selecting a die that will make the requisite pre-crimping of the cases as easy as possible. Also Huntington lists RCBS dies in 38 Long Colt, but they are listed in group "H" and therefore will be on the pricey side.

The biggest problem that you'll face is finding heel bullets. Unless you can find a commercial caster with the correct mould you'll be casting bullets. NEI does offer a 171 grain heel bullet that probably would work, but this is on the heavy side (normal weight for the 38 Long Colt's bullet was ~150 grains). Also, I don't know if NEI is back into full production following the passing of the founder, Walt Melander. You may be into "custom" mould territory if you want something like the old Lyman/Ideal #358160, a mould that produced bullets designed for this application (Ideal numbered heel bullets by the base diameter).

regards,

Bob