Is it possible to bore out a 410 to 32ga.?

A bit more info would be helpful. You would want to look carefully at wall thickness both in the barrels and chambers.

SXS double. I dont have the 410 but if it could be done and not something outrageously expensive, id start looking for the right gun.

I did take an American Arms Silver O/U and added a 32 gauge barrels set to the existing 410
Mike

fun reading

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/search#query=american%20arms%20barrel

32 gauge are not that great performers. You could do the same job with a 3” .410 or even with the 2 1/2” using 1/2 ounce load at 1300+FPS. The 32 is a lot like the 24 in that gauges near it do the same job. In the .410 case there are a lot of loads available but factory 32 are limited.

Battle,
It would be easier to make or buy a 32 ga. insert for a 28 ga, or 20 ga. gun.
Mike

KYJon beat me to the question. Absolutely not wanting to sound derogatory but, why would you want to do that? The .410 can, and will, cover the bases in the 1/2 to 3/4 ounce load range.

Just asking out of curiosity. Stan

I've had two 32ga SXS's. One a Belgium that i didn't shoot cause it was terribly off face a bunch. The other was a Spanish boxlock. It killed quail as good as any small bore i had at the time if i did my part. I had heard that the Spanish 10ga doubles were used to bore out to 8ga. That got me thinking about it. But to be honest I'm not sure thats true either. Thats why i was asking if it could be done to a smaller bore.

Look at the cost. You will need to bore both barrels out to 32 gauge. Then choke them. Then you will need to have it chambered for 32 and then the ejector will need to be altered to work with 32 gauge shells. Then you will need to lay in a supply of 32 shells and then the most expensive cost will to be lay in a few coveys of quail . If 32 gauge guns would bring back the quail I would have two cabinets full of them and gladly loan you any of them.

Years ago I was interested in having a 24 gauge Darne made for me but it was pointed out that 24 gauge ammo was anemic at best and both the 20 and 28 could do what ever it could better and for less money. I hate logic sometimes.

The problem with converting a .410 to 32 ga is primarily primer spacing. The 32 ga ammo is made in Europe primarily for old single shot "Garden Guns". The Fiocchi ammo is 1/2 oz of soft lead atop a brush wad. I think half the load is roughened up judging from the lead left in the barrel.
and.. Fiocchi hulls are not made with reloading in mind. One maybe 2 reloads and the hulls are done. and.. you have to roll crimp. I made a 32 roll crimper from a 28 by soldering in the brass ring from a spent Fiocchi hull. The ring is brass coated steel and can be made to fit.
Ballastic offers a 32 wad with petals. It's too long to fit in the Fiocchi hulls. My 32 was proofed at 70mm in 2003. I have yet to find 2 3/4" 32s in America.
I think of the 32 as a 50 cal shotgun. It's actually a bit bigger, .516? My notes are not nearby. Converting a .410 to greater than 50 cal, that's a lot metal and the primers wouildn't line up.
Better to search for a 32 ga gun.
Oh,

RST was making 32 ga ammo. It is way better than Fiocchi. I don't know about availability in today's market.

I'll have my 32 at the Southern SxS. Track me down.

Joe

The .410 is a 67 gauge...it's a long, long way from 0.410 to 0.525...

The bores on my 2003 Poli 32 measure 0.510".
The chokes are supposed to be IC/Mod. The 32 bore chokes are too big for my .410 measures and too small for my 28 ga. I have patterned it. It is spot on.

Joe

We can do math. If it starts out at .410 bore and needs to end up with a new bore of .510 how much wall thickness needs to be removed? Audience say .050 from each wall for a total of .100. So does your .410 have walls .050 plus another .025? Call it .075 walls to keep the math simple. If they are .040, which would be heavy and thick as heck, you are still going to break through .010 too soon and have infinity walls.

Now for the real math question. If train A leaves the station heading due north at 80 miles per hour and train B leaves the station heading East at 60 miles an hour how long before they meet? I actually had this question on an exam decades ago. There is an answer that I got correct. No one else did and I always thought the question was a test of how dumb the prof was.

I've heard .410 is closer to a 36.5 gauge...

.410 is 67 to 67.5 gauge.

Back in the early years of the .410-bore here in North America our ammunition manufacturers called it the 36-gauge --

Yeah I’ve never heard it called 67 gauge.

A .410 pure lead ball weighs 103.4 grains. There are 7000 grains in a pound.

7000 divided by 103.4 = 67.69825918

Thus, a .410 is a 67.7 ga. (rounded up)

The term 36 bore or gauge is still sometimes used in Europe, particularly in Italy.

It seems to have sprung from a desire to have a “tidy” numerical progression , 20 to 24 to 28 to 32 to “36”, whilst ignoring the scientific basis of number of lead balls of that diameter to the pound represented by the other bore sizes.

Perhaps the gun and cartridge manufacturers felt that buyers would think a 36 bore would have more poke than a 67 bore, and would sell better?

A thought ( probably not worth the time typing it out?).

On the introduction of the Firearm Certificate in the UK for rifled cartridge arms many Rook and Rabbit rifles were bored out to .410 shotgun for which no Certificate was then needed.

Whilst that seems sad now it at least saved them from immediate destruction. Many were not, however saved from the combined effects of the late introduction by Eley in the late ‘50s or early 60’s of non-corrosive .410 cartridges and an apparent reluctance to clean .410 guns.

Many are now deeply pitted, both in chambers and bores. If they retain the original barrel profile they can be worthy candidates for re-lining to an original or modern small game round such as .32/20.

Others have had the forward portion of the barrel tapered or turned down. They may well retain enough metal to clean up to 32 bore if nor to ( more sensibly) 28 bore.

All of which is likely to cost far more that buying a brand new .410 Baikel. As I said at the start ....

If you look at enough German proof marks, you will notice many that gave two different "gauges" shown by the marks. Examples include 12 and 13 or 20 and 19. The one in a circle is the size of the chamber and the other is the diameter of the barrel ahead of the chamber. Admittedly without checking, I think it is possible that a .410 bore chamber is around 36 ga. while the bore diameter, ahead of the chamber is around 67 ga. Seems reasonable to me- what say-you?
Mike

None of the 410s I own have enough metal on the barrel to bore to 32 ga. It would be a truly odd 410 that had enough metal on barrels to bore to that size.

When I have a desire for a larger bore than one of my 410s, I put the 28ga barrels on either my Parker Repro or my Merkel SL. Loads in 28ga can go down to overlap with the bigger 410 loads and up to overlap the 20ga. 28ga satisfies my occasonal "big bore" needs.

A bit off topic, but I recollect seeing that a few Model 1886 Winchester Lever Actions were factory made as 32-bore smooth bore repeaters.

I have no idea why, unless it was for trick shooting at Wild West shows?

Whilst of little practicality,it would be seriously cool gun to have. Has anyone seen or used one?

Don't see any mention of such in the Model 1886 chapter of Madis' The Winchester Book.

I keep wishing I could see Miller type one of his mathematical formulae posts in answer, but since he is no longer with us I will attempt.

The numbers I come up with don't bear that out, Mike. A .410 chamber diameter tapers from .4811" down to ..4630" just before the forcing come begins. Doing the math we get about 47 balls per pound at .4630", and about 41-42 balls per pound at .4811", so that would be saying the chamber bore is somewhere between a 41 and a 47 gauge. Neither is close to 36.

Stan,
You didn't quote where I admitted to not checking.
Mike

I went back and corrected that, but I don't know why you would post a conjecture without first checking to see if it was right or wrong? I don't understand that reasoning, Mike. It's too easy to do a check first. Not trying to show you wrong, but to provide facts, that are so easy to obtain.

My best to you, Stan

Stan,
Because my wife had just said my supper was ready. By the proof house charts 67.49 works out to .410" . Also from the charts, .481 is about 12.22 mm, which by the charts is between 41 and 42 ga. The answer to the question of why .410 shells would be called 36 ga would almost have to be conjecture, unless one of us did it or found documents showing why. This is like trying to explain why several cartridges with bullets from .355" to .401" are all called 38's, using only math.
Anyway, the fun is in respectful discussion.
Mike

True in a sense, but then if it was conjecture it couldn't be shown to be "the answer", could it? I was only wishing to provide facts that showed what gauge the chamber would be. Nothing else.

I do respect you, and I also respect going quickly when the supper bell rings. There are few things that show a lack of appreciation for someone cooking a hot meal than to let it get cold before deciding to eat, IMO.

Hope y'all's bad weather soon ends. There's been a rash of it in my "sister state" recently.

Stan

Stan,
Georgia shared the weather with us, Newnan Ga. lost a citizen also. Thanks for the thoughts.
Mike