American Handgunner July/August 1977

-NOW HANDGUNNERS WHO HANDLOAD CAN PUNK AND HUNT WITH A NEW WILDCAT.. .ir Lrn wrn-IIIIond of all, the finished round should allowHE DAYS when almost every shooterT could afford to burn up two or threeboxes of .22 rimfire ammo in a few shorthours have gone the way of the nickel cupof coffee. Some 20 years ago when I shotin competition, I used to buy matchammo, and even then, I felt that the 45cents I was charged per box of 50 roundswas akin to highway robbery. Burning upthat much standard velocity rimfireammo is now almost as costly as keeping astring of polo ponies was in those days.Now, thanks to Dave Corbin, we have aneasily reloadable .22 centerfire wildcat forhandguns that, ballistically, is just a shadeunder the performance level of the WinchesterMagnum round and a whisker betterthan the high velocity .22 Long Rifleround.Dave. who ramrods the D.R. CorbinÂeither easy re-chambering or barrel replacementon many of the available .32ACP autoloaders. He also wanted a roundthat would not send its bullet over andbeyond the nearest horizon; one thatwould not blast the ears off the folks overin the next county; and one that neitherdeveloped a muzzle blast to singe the hairoff a woodchuck nor delivered arm-breakingrecoil; last, but certainly not least, theround had to be reasonably accurate forwill encounter enlarged primer pocketslong before you'll find either gun failuresBy ANDY BARTON or other cartridge - case failures because ofhigh pressures.For this handgun wildcat conversion,~anufacturin~ Co. (Box 44, North Bend, OR 97459), is a super- Dave selected, with malice aforethought, the Model 1922distilled gun crank, machinist and engineer, and the handload- Browning. The M1922 is the military offspring of the Modeling gent who in the last year or two has put bullet swaging back 1910. The mechanics of the Browning .32 ACP gun are suchinto the realm of reality for handloaders. In creating the .22 that a new slide bushing, longer barrel and the longer M1910Flea, Dave was first of all looking for a cartridge that would re- slide could easily be accommodated on the M1922 frame, andquire a minimum of case forming, rim or base alterations; sec- should the experiment bomb out, the gun could be converted