Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Winchester low wall conversion

Hoping for information on converting a 32 long rimfire to centerfire? Recently found a pretty nice early low wall in 3 rimfire but no ammo options. Without alteration can I just change the breech block? Where might I locate a breech block?

Thanks Chris

If the bore's good, Bob Hayley of Seymore, TX makes reloadable brass and ammo.

Thanks don't want to shoot it a ton will have to look into it. I was thinking 32 long colt?

He makes cases from other brass, modified to take a nailgun blank. No modification to the gun required, and you can reload the cases yourself. Been a while since I saw an article about him, but the prices for ammo and cases were quite reasonable I thought. He doesn't do internet, so you'll have to look up his number and call. Don't dawdle; he's pretty old!

There was an article on this guy and his "conversions" in "Handloader" magazine a couple of years ago. If I can find it, I'll post the issue it was in and his phone if it's there. Pretty neat and leaves your 'wall original.

That article is "Keeping Old Rimfires Burning" by Terry Wieland and is in the October 2011 (a COUPLE of years ago???) issue of "Handloader," #274. You might be able to get a back copy from Wolfe Publishing Co., the publisher of Rifle and Handloader. One of the two "old rimfires" he was interested in reviving was a Win 1885 Lowall in .32 RF trying to avoid rebarreling or altering it. I didn't find any contact info for Bob Hayley in the article.

You might try to contact Weiland at "Handloader" for Hayley's currrent status and contact info.

I found a source on the internet that has Bob Hayley in Texas at (940) 888-3352. It may be an old number but might be worth a try. His reloadable .32 Long cases weren't cheap but were everlasting with some care.

I would just convert the breech block to centerfire, or swap a CF one in. Then all you need to do is scrounge up a fist full of .32Long Colt cases. But the bugabear with either the .32LC or "reloadable" rimfire brass is the need then for a heeled bullet. I'm pretty sure NOE makes a mould for that heeled bullet. If not, check with the other mould makers.

If it were mine and it had no collector's value I would go a step further and line the barrel and chamber for .32 S&W Long. That would solve all the issues, not to mention that brass is waaaaay easier to find and everybody makes dandy bullet moulds for it. Nobody would ever notice the liner unless they looked closely at the muzzle.

There's a lot of plinking fun to be had with a .32 rifle. You may find yourself wishing for a big pile of cartridges to shoot once you start, and that may be problematic with the halfway measures involved in keeping the bore original for what may be no real good reason at all.

I've got an old .22RF low wall that I converted to .25-20. I had a liner installed and converted the firing pin to center fire. I used the gun to take a pretty nice buck, just to enjoy a old fashioned up close and enjoyable hunt. I would think you could convert yours to .32-20. It's fairly low pressure and brass is cheap and available from Starline Brass.

Here are a few pictures of the old girl.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/galleries/13087446#Post13087446

Thats a nice one, congrats! I'd be in a conundrum whether to alter it to centerfire. I sure like shooting my low wall Winder musket.

I really do not know , but am just asking . . .
How hard is it to find another breech block alter it for centerfire and have a gun that could be returned to original configuration if one wanted/needed to?.

Larry Potterfield does a video on midway that shows how to do this, check it out on there web site