Gerald.
I remember a lot of them were re barreled for 22 hornet and other rimmed 22 center fires. That was back in the 50's and 60's. Only fault was no safety on them. Lot of them had Remington heavy 22 rf barrels on them. They used the old hornet bullets that were smaller than 224. Can't remember the diam but got a box for a hornet and they shot like a shotgun.

 

I recall hearing similar too, just wondering what could be done with one..

 

All you need is a barrel or blank with the proper bore size (.310-.312 for the caliber you mentioned) and a gunsmith or hobbyist to do the work. The .310 Cadet is nominally .320 bore size so using it is a problem unless you have a little hand loading experience. Mine was rechambered to 32-20 and factory ammo tumbled. I was able to get OK accuracy with expanded 32-20 cases and cast bullets for a .31 cap & ball revolver or 8mm Nambu. Finally bought a takeoff Rem 700 barrel in .222 and had my gunsmith fit and chamber it to .22 Hornet. Very handy and accurate little rifle now. BTW my gunsmith charged me $125 for the work, which included cutting off the old chamber, rechambering, rethreading, modifying the extractor, and machining the barrel for the extractor. I fiddled with that rifle for 20 years off and on until I got it where I want it.

 

Thanks for the excellent information Dons...:bthumb:

 

Glad to share.

 

re-chamber, re-barrel, liner ?

I just had a 300 Sherwood / 300 Extra Long drilled and lined to 0.312 and chambered to 32 S&W Long. The extractor needed no work, as the Sherwood and Smith are close enough. The .310 Cadet is a good match to .218Bee / 25-20 / 32-20 rims diameters. Of course, given a good Cadet barrel, leave it alone!

 

Why do anything with it?
What is wrong with a 310?

 

My Cadet is unaltered, and it will stay that way. The .310 is a fine cartridge, and if you learn to avoid using dies, a case will likely last forever. As an experiment, I made up a small reloading kit for the range and taking only one case. I have 30 plastic vials filled with 4.2 Unique, and the RCBS bullet. A Lee hand priming tool without the primer reservoir, and seat aloxed bullets with thumb pressure. I stopped the experiment when that single case (Nagant 7.62X38R) reached 150 loadings. Nothing difficult about loading for it, just as long as this is not the very first cartridge with which to start a reloading hobby! My 25-20 H&R Handi rifle made from a .357 Stub satisfies my need for a single shot. Not as elegant as a Cadet, but it works, and Handi Rifles are commonly found.

 

Amen to that! More than enough Cadets have already been buggered. IMO, of course.

 

It's possible to reload for the 310. Bertram makes brass or you can make it by thinning the FRONT of the rim on 32-20 brass. The 310 uses a heeled bullet like a 22. I bought some years ago from DKT Inc. 14623 Vera Drive, Union, MI 49130, but I don't know if they are still in business. It's also possible to use the .314 hollow base wadcutter from Hornady.

 

hollow-base bullets ?

Hollow-based bullets have been a great way to finesse heeled bullet cartridges. The original Colt 32 Long was a heeled bullet , about .312, if memory serves ; the factory loaded ammo , for many years, used a hollow-base bullet that could be seated inside the case, at about .300 diameter. I use 'em in my Westley Richards .300 Sherwood; think shorts in a long rifle. :Blasting_

 

I bought the Bertram Brass and RCBS 310 dies and bullet mold. I haven't played with it in a while. Not great accuracy but it needs some fiddllng. I'm gonna cast some soft lead bullets and try.

 

310 Cadet is is a very pleasant round, loads of fun - and accurate too! Reloading is ridiculously easy in that most rifles don't even need dies. Decap, seat primer, load powder, seat lubed bullet (with your fingers), done. As already said, 32-20 brass can be converted to work. I've done some pretty good work with it at 200yds, and I believe in I-don't-know-which-gun magazine, Ross seyfried once successfully tested one out to 500 or 600...
Original, non-converted ones in good shape are also collector items, steadily increasing in value. If you want to build something to make another rifle on the action, buy one that has already been messed with. I wouldn't use an original, unmodified one to build a rifle on.
Bullet mould - the best one(s) are sold by CBE in Oz. Lots of choice, very good quality and cast like a dream. Plus brass mould blocks won't rust...

 

Sounds simple enough to get one of these shooting. I have a Stevens 44 1/2 in 22-15-60 that unfortunately, has no similar case that can be used to form brass. I ended up getting 20 cases (turned from solid rod stock) from Rocky Mountain Cartridge for considerable $$, and even then, I had to remove some of the front of the rim to get my action closed on them. Still haven't loaded any up and tried this rifle. . . . . . Winter, Arrrrrggggghhhhh!

What I also wanted to comment on was what a great, non-BS writer Ross Seyfried was. I used to subscribe to both Rifle and Handloader, mostly because of his articles and John Barsness's. I remember the article series he did about the old British small caliber single shots. The rifle and cartridge you mention above as not a 310 in a cadet, rather a 300 Sherwood in a Sherwood? rifle, and a lovely example of early 20th century British riflemaking it was! Seyfried had, or was able to get his hands on, some fantastic old single shots.

 

A friend has one rebarreled to .357 Mag.

 

It's still at the shop, at $37 for 20 pieces of brass I'll let someone else love it.[emoji57] I picked up a MAS45 they had instead. [emoji106]

 

Spoken like a man who would rather shoot than chase reloading components......:bthumb:.

Hank

 

Actually, what I remember was a side-by side test of a W-R Sherwood and a BSA cadet to check out whether the LR sights on the rifles were merely for show, or actually useable at those distances with these rifles. The answer was affirmative

 

You could be right. It was a while back; I'll have to check my back issues. :t

 

Getting slightly offtrack

Just throwing it out there!
If you end up leaving the rifle as a 310 Cadet, keep me in mind if you are interested in a 5 shot Quickloader for it. Just finished them, look great, work well. Will have them in a post shortly, just have to figure out the posting pics issue.

Stu in Oz

 

The most fun with your pants on....

Honestly folks the .310 Cadet is one of the best and most fun as well as accurate rifles you can wish to shoot.

Yes you have to reload to be economical which if set up for success from the start is just interesting and rewarding. The secret is to use pistol powders and work out suitable loads for you range needs.

Hint here is to use the 70% rule and work it up or down from there. Simply by measuring where the projectile will sit in the shell, marking it, filling the shell to this mark with your preferred powder and weigh the load. The sheel will not eject properly if loads are to hot.

Personally my loads are using Bertram brass, CCI 400 small rifle primers,, 4 grains of AP50 and 4.5grains of AP70 powders with Hawksbury River Bullet Company Silverhawke 128grain .323 projectiles loaded by Simplex dies and Super Simplex loader.

The quickloader mentioned here will be on trial shortly as I have ordered one for the Martini Cadet and Sportco Martini also.....thank you Stu.

 

Gerald,

I have an unaltered Cadet. I got dies from CH4D and a bullet mould from Accurate Molds (made to my specs-o.323" diameter and 0.314" recess), with Lee tumble lube. .32-20 cases shortened to 1.125" and the rims thinned from the front so they just enter the chamber. I've only loaded HP-38 to velocities around 1100 fps. With the PH-7 and a Lyman 17, one hole groups at 25 yds and <1" groups at 50 yds are possible when I do my part. It takes a bit of effort up front, but is well worth it-a very enjoyable plinker.

Clarence

 

I bought one once that was chambered in .32 Win Special and had it barreled and chambered in 5.6 X 50R. Had to have the firing pin turned down and bushed. Sweet shooting, wish I still had it.