crank
Junior Member
Posts: 92
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Post by crank on Jun 18, 2012 20:20:27 GMT -5
Wandered into the same pawn shop I got my 1907 in and was talking to the kid behind the counter and he asked if I would be interested in another .351. Knowing that my friend was wanting an affordable one I told him I knew someone that would. He said it would be available for sale real soon and would get it to show me. He handed it over and something was wrong, I looked at the barrel and surprise! it's a real clean 1905 in .35WSL. We reached a very agreeable price due to the lack of the magazine and I put a deposit on it. I will now have one of each of the centerfire Self Loaders and a model 63. I will try to get it paid for and run the paperwork in the next week or two. I will be glad to post photos once I have it in my clutches ;D. Mark
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crank
Junior Member
Posts: 92
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Post by crank on Jul 12, 2012 16:47:44 GMT -5
Well, there was a slight delay getting the 1905 and now it is waiting for me to pay the balance and start the miserable 10 day wait. However, it was for a good cause. I wandered into the local Turner's Outdoorsman and to make a long story short, in 9 days I will be the new owner of a butchered Krag that looks like Lizzie Borden decided to re-model the stock and a Winchester 1903. The 1903 is nice and is in "shooter" condition. I have decided that I am going to create the smallest WSL centerfire, since these are great, but useless rifles due to the ammo. I sat down and studied dimensions of the original cartridge and a .25ACP should cycle without any changes to the feed, the breech will be a simple change to center-fire and Lothar Walther has the correctly sized barrel available as a rifle length blank. The only part that I will be debating on is if I want to try and use a boring bar to cut the chamber or just buy a reamer from JGS (yes, someone makes one!). I know this isn't about a 1905, but it all happened after doing the rounds to put money on the 1905, so close enough. I will be standing by for screams of outrage from 1903 lovers, but stop and think, how many of these rifles are sitting around useless. I can't take credit for the concept, about 25 years ago, I met a gent at a gun show that had a Remington Model 16 that was converted to .25ACP and said it was a fun shooter. Ever since, I have wanted to find a suitable donor to do the same and now this 1903 fell into my lap. I know that I can buy very expensive modern ammo, but where is the fun in that and it is so much fun to have other shooters wind up with confused looks when they have no idea what the heck you are shooting. I have a Remington No.4 rolling block that I relined and altered to 17HMR, that stops them in their tracks when they see the brass. This actually won't be a terribly expensive or difficult conversion and I have brass and bullets already, I will just need dies. Please pass me my tin-foil hat.
Mark
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Post by oldshooter on Jul 15, 2012 11:37:38 GMT -5
homesteadfirearms.com advertises .22 Winchester auto for $130 a brick.
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crank
Junior Member
Posts: 92
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Post by crank on Jul 15, 2012 14:48:07 GMT -5
oldshooter, I knew about the bricks from Homestead, but once it is fired you have useless brass and will it ever be made again? I don't do things because they are the easy choice, I do things that make people stop and think. I have waited years for the opportunity to get a suitable donor (Rem 16 or Win 1903) for a reasonable price, so here we go. If I wanted easy, do you think I would dabble in the following .219 Donaldson Wasp .22WRF 25-20 .25 rimfire soon to be converted to CF using shortened Hornet brass 32-20 .32WSL .35WSL .351WSL .401WSL .41 Colt Long 38-40's of all shapes and sizes 8mm Roth 1907 ad nauseum.... Yes, I own normal calibers that can be bought in most stores, but they are not as much satisfaction. So, again thank you, for the referral for ammo, but you will have to excuse me I believe that windmill is trying to harm a maiden! Come Sancho!
Mark
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Post by oldshooter on Jul 16, 2012 14:36:30 GMT -5
One of the old time gun writers shortened .22 VeloDog brass and converted a Colt Woodsman to centerfire to get a very low recoil pistol for rapid fire centerfire events. He said it worked fine but got him some nasty looks at the matches. I regularly shoot .32 wsl .401 wsl, .22 Hornet, .233wssm, .45-70 gvt, and muzzle loading, but enjoy the convenience and price of .308win .243win, .22 wmr, etc, and I always appreciate any tips on a good deal on rare ammunition.
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crank
Junior Member
Posts: 92
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Post by crank on Aug 1, 2012 14:03:42 GMT -5
Picked up the 1905 yesterday, I was quite surprised when I checked to see how different the .35 cal magazine well was, compared to a 1907 .351 magazine. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it snapped right in! I will try to get a family photo of all l my WSL's later this week.
Mark
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crank
Junior Member
Posts: 92
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Post by crank on Nov 5, 2012 22:29:28 GMT -5
I finally got my brain working at the same time as I had the family photo close at hand. Hopefully this will load properly
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Post by mtmarfield on Nov 27, 2013 18:45:17 GMT -5
Greetings, "crank"!
You're my kind of handloader! I consider 'oddball' cartridges to be pleasant challenges. Keep us posted on your .25ACP 1903!
Be Well!
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Post by airforcemajor on Jan 28, 2014 18:57:51 GMT -5
crank, I am a new member here with a 1903, 1905 in .32, 1905 in .35, 1907 and a 1905 upper and lower with a 1907 barrel/breechblock assembly(I have not disassembled the '05/'07 mixmaster nor have I fired it yet). Did you get anywhere on converting your 1903 to .25ACP? I just purchased a beater '03 myself and had considered trying to convert it to .22LR but your idea interests me greatly.
The only concern with the conversion I have is that the energy of the .25ACP is about half that of the .22 Winchester Auto; did you/do you plan to load a hotter round?
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crank
Junior Member
Posts: 92
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Post by crank on Feb 6, 2014 13:09:30 GMT -5
I apologize to all for the long absence. I just finally got the .25ACP 1903 completed and it has been test fired, but not to the range yet. You can see the thread I started up on Cast Boolits here: castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?229052-25-ACP-rifle-what-powder&goto=newpost Life has kept me busy and I haven't been playing with my Self Loaders for quite some time. I have also gotten re-bitten with the accuracy bug again, so much of my attention has been on that endeavor. I have gotten a bit overwhelmed with too many projects and aquisitions, so I may unfortunately start to thin the WSL collection to narrow my focus. I will try to be a more attentive member and keep tabs on the forum more often. Mark
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