doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Ideas for a project, single shot .38 special

Ran by the local shop today because I thought I remembered an odd single shot on the shelf. As luck would have it there is a BSA Martini there, but it is a .22 rimfire. I see that the nice .357 posted earlier was converted froom a rimfire. What do I need to do to find out if this gun can be converted, and what is involved to do so?
Thanks,
CHAZ

You will have to bush the breach block, alter the firing ping and the extractor.
Regards, Roly.

Isn't there a "small Sharps" action? Did Dakota make that? That would be too much fun. Might not be the cheapest. Cheapest would probably be an old shot out Ruger #3, which you could rebarrel.

CHAZ:

As Nero noted, it's fairly easy to convert the rimfires to centerfire. I have a couple that ended up that way, including one action reworked by Dominic Paisano that will be a light deer rifle if I ever get focused on getting it built.

I have one conversion in .357 Magnum that's incredibly accurate for an iron-sighted rifle and a real pleasure to shoot. Oddly enough, it really likes the cheap Federal 158 grain loads best of any I've used in it.

There are a number of gunsmiths who can do the conversion and do them with some frequency. I'm sure Steve Bertram would do a wonderful job. Bob Snapp, who's supposedly retired, but apparently only retired if he doesn't like the project, was the master of the small frame Martini for decades. David Kaiser, who frequents the American Single Shot Rifle Association's discussion board does very nice work. David bushed a breech block on a BSA Model 15 that had been rechambered to .22 Hornet for me and it's a beautiful job.

Have fun with the project.

Rem

Chaz
There is no need to bush the firing pin, if you use the rimfire action.When the firing pin is moved,just make it smaller.If you have to use a 310 cadet action,you may have to bush it,maybe not.357 is not as high pressure as 22 hornet or 5,6x50R.
Mike

I have two cadets that have converted original barrels. One was bored out to .357 and chambered for .357 Magnum. I used it to ambush deer in thick brush for years. The other is the original bore rechambered to 32 Winchester Special. It will reach out pretty well with accuracy. The only game I've taken with it is a big coyote that had just killed a newborn calf. That's the most satisfactory kill I ever made.

I just wish the rifles had safety buttons.


I admire Cadets and own a bunch of them. But for a man with small hands, that damned trigger is too far away. The other single shots I cherish are Winchester Low Walls and High Walls. A low wall would be fine for a .357, but the lines of the High Wall are so much nicer. I'm building a .30-40 Krag on a Highwall with a round/octagon barrel to keep the weight around 7 pounds. A .357 with a round barrel could be built very light.

Vol423,
If you restock the cadets, you can sneakup a little bit on the trigger,by reducing the depth of the "socket"into which the stock fits. I'm curious about the stability of a 170gr.bullet in a barrel with twist for 120 gr bullet.If the bullet is stabilized,maybe this was not as bad a conversion as I had heard.Do any 32win. bullets hit sideways or leave elongated holes?
Mike

Der Ami,

I've never had a bullet keyhole on me that I've shot at paper. I load for a Winchester 94 and use flat-nosed bullets, so that probably helps because they are shorter. I didn't do any load development for the Martini, just fired the same loads I use in the 94.

Vol423,
If it shoots,it would be a better deer rifle than a 357.I'm glad to find out that what I had heard (and repeated)about the 32spec conversion is not true.
Mike

Many rook rifles (but not all) chambered for the 360 No 5 and .380 can easily have the chamber lengthened to .38 Special.