92 Marlin

[bailey creek]

I am thinking about rechambering a Marlin 92 from 32 Marlin to 32 Smith and Wesson.

can anyone recommend anyone.

Thank You

Bailey Creek

[Jabez Cowboy,SASS # 50129]

92 Marlin ?????????????

 

 

Jabez Cowboy

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

.32 S&W (you probably want to use the S&W Long, works better) isn't exactly on the top ten of custom conversions so you might have a hard time finding someone with a reamer. You can rent one or buy one. I bought a .32 Mag reamer from Brownells. http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/sid=11595/p..._H_R_Mag_Barrel It will also work for .32 S&W Long, just don't run it all the way in. The 92 was designed to shoot the .32 Long Colt so the S&W Long should go through the mechanism OK. You will also have to slightly enlarge the hole in the magazine tube to accept the slightly larger S&W round.

[Nate Kiowa Jones #6765]

.32 S&W (you probably want to use the S&W Long, works better) isn't exactly on the top ten of custom conversions so you might have a hard time finding someone with a reamer. You can rent one or buy one. I bought a .32 Mag reamer from Brownells. http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/sid=11595/p..._H_R_Mag_Barrel It will also work for .32 S&W Long, just don't run it all the way in. The 92 was designed to shoot the .32 Long Colt so the S&W Long should go through the mechanism OK. You will also have to slightly enlarge the hole in the magazine tube to accept the slightly larger S&W round.

 

 

And you will probably want to load with .309 dia. bullets. The Marlin 92 has a .309 bore for the heel bullets used in the 32 rim fire and 32 colt. Using .311 -.312's will kick the pressure up some.

[Dirtwater Doc 17941]

I had this done to an 1892 about 8 years ago. The gunsmith who did it for me rechambered it to 32 S&W short to minimize the action rework and cutting the magazine tube. Joe is,unfortunately, out of that business now.

 

The rifle worked great! When I used it you could barely hear the report or the impact but it was smooth and fast. I lost much of the brass in the grass since the cases are so small. I, regretfully, sold it to a gent in Washington who had had one as a kid and was looking for another.

 

I hope you find a smith to do the job but recommend keeping it to 32 S&W short.

 

DD

[Cypress Sam, SASS #10915]

I have two of the Marlin Model '92's that I rechambered to shoot .32 S&W long. They will work with .32 S&W (short) also. I made a different ejector for the shorter cartridges.

 

Gun Parts Corp was selling new .32 Colt/rimfire barrels for the Marlin Mod 92 a few years ago. I bought one of these since the original barrel was pretty pitted. I rechambered it using a .32 H&R mag reamer but only reamed it deep enough for the 32 long cartridge. Since the case head is the same diameter for both 32 Colt (original caliber) and .32 S&W, you don't have to do anything to the bolt face or the rest of the feed mechanism except for widening the loading port on the mag tube.

 

I measured the heel-based .32 Colt bullet from an old cartridge and found it to be .312". I didn't slug the bore though. After reading Nate's comment, I will slug the bore to make sure that I'm not shooting a bomb. I've been using it off and on for several years though with .312" bullets with no apparent problems. That doesn't mean I'll keep doing it after I slug the bore though!

 

Good luck with your project. It's fun to take the gun out to a match and have people come over to look at what appears to be a .22.

[Cypress Sam, SASS #10915]

UPDATE UPDATE!!!!!

 

I slugged the bore of my Marlin Model 92 and found that Nate is correct. The bore measured .309". In the future I will resize the bullets to .308 (because I have a die that size) and keep them separate from my pistol bullets.

 

I don't think the action is all that strong anyway and anything that might increase the pressure is not good.

 

My original mistake was in thinking that the bullet size in a heel based bullet was the same size as the case diameter. Evidently that is not the case with the .32 long colt.

[Nate Kiowa Jones #6765]

UPDATE UPDATE!!!!!

 

I slugged the bore of my Marlin Model 92 and found that Nate is correct. The bore measured .309". In the future I will resize the bullets to .308 (because I have a die that size) and keep them separate from my pistol bullets.

 

I don't think the action is all that strong anyway and anything that might increase the pressure is not good.

 

My original mistake was in thinking that the bullet size in a heel based bullet was the same size as the case diameter. Evidently that is not the case with the .32 long colt.

 

 

Hi Sam,

You are correct, the action isn't that strong. Like the 22 version the lever is all that holds the bolt in battery. There's no locking bolt. Those .312 bullets have to be pushing the pressure up. The fellers that had me convert their 92's found a mold for 309. M1 carbine bullets.

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

Maybe I'm missing something. What would be the point of re-chambering from .32 Colt to .32 S&W? .32 Long Colt is no longer manufactured, but .32 Short Colt is still available. http://www.winchester.com/Products/handgun...c=32+Short+Colt Neither the .32 Short Colt nor the .32 S&W make SASS minimum power factor. Re-chambering to .32 S&W Long makes some sense as it is a usable main match caliber.

[Nate Kiowa Jones #6765]

Maybe I'm missing something. What would be the point of re-chambering from .32 Colt to .32 S&W? .32 Long Colt is no longer manufactured, but .32 Short Colt is still available. http://www.winchester.com/Products/handgun...c=32+Short+Colt Neither the .32 Short Colt nor the .32 S&W make SASS minimum power factor. Re-chambering to .32 S&W Long makes some sense as it is a usable main match caliber.

 

The ones I did were converted to S&W long. The ejector had to be set back some in order to eject loaded rounds.