32 Cherokee Barrel rebore

I have a 32 Cherokee barrel that I am thinking of having re-bored to a 40 cal. recommendations on rifling type, deep or shallow and rate of twist. Its a 24 inch barrel and would be a PRB gun for punching paper. Also how hard would it be to have the 32 removed from outer barrel and re-stamped 40. Its a good barrel but want a 40 and this may be a cheap way to do it with a platform that I really enjoy shooting.

Contact Bobby Hoyt (712-642-6696) he can recommend the twist for target shooting with a prb. He will re-bore to what ever is safe, and .40 shouldn't bee out of the question with your barrel unless the holes for the sights are drilled real deep. Don't know if he can/will remove the caliber designation, but you can ask.

That is my plan the sight holes should not be a problem as TC used the same barrel for the 45 Cherokee. I will get a hold of him later this week just wanted to have an idea of what would work well before I call him, do not want to take up a lot of his time and do not have any experience with 40 cal.

I have a green mountain 13/16" .40 barrel in my TN rifle, the rifling is 1 in 48, it is just about a one hole shooter at 50 yards with 30 gr of 3F for squirrels or 60 gr of 3F for deer. It has square bottom rifling, strangely, both of my square bottom rifled barrels shoot a wide variety of loads better than my barrels with round bottom rifling.

In my opinion it would be a mistake to bore out the barrel. I say this because the Cherokee .32 is a scarce riffle and most who have one would not let them go. I would suggest that you spend the money on a new barrel and save that one. I know in these parts that riffle would be bought up quickly if one ever became available. YMMV

No-Deer I own several 32 Cherokee rifles and really like the platform this is one of My extra barrels not sure what I will do yet

Contacted Bobby Hoyt what an awesome guy, He is going to rebore the 32 cherokee to 40 cal and going to rebore two 45 Cherokees with bores that have small rough patches to a deeper rifling but keeping 45 cal. thanks for recommending him.

Got home from work to find my 3 barrels back from Bobby Hoyt. Cleaned them real quick and ran out to the range and fired a couple shots out of all three. Need some load development but they look great and were all close to center at 25 yards. The little now 40 cal Cherokee is going to see a lot of range time as I would like to do some 100 yard shooting and one of the 45s will be my deer gun next year as I plan on using it as my primary weapon.

Did he change the .32 to.40 on outer barrel?

No have a gun smith close by who is going to do that for me

Got to the range with the re-bored Cherokee 40. Tried lots of different loads of Swiss 3F and different patches from .010 to .020 with a cast .395 ball. Best group at 50 yards is pictured below using 40 grains .018 patch and Hoppes lube. Second pic is using same except for .020 patch which was a bear to get started. All of the .018 and .020 patches held up well. Supposed to be another beautiful day in central Indiana tomorrow so hope to tighten things up a bit. So far I am pleased with what I am seeing from this barrel.

Got back to the range today with the 40 switched to .015 patch 40 grains Swiss and Hoppes BP lube and things tightened up nicely. 54 Degrees in late December perfect for a range day.

Looking good Bassdog! What rate of twist did he use? Are those square or round bottom grooves that he cut?

Sent you a private message.

Enjoy the heat wave!!!!

Best regards, Skychief.

1 in 48 round bottom rifling. Really wanted a 40 and I like the Cherokee platform for a light quick handling rifle. Have several in 32, 36 and 45 so this completes the set. With 40 grains it shoots really well so far. The next project I would like is to have it browned and primitive sights installed to give it a better look. Don't have any real craftsman skills so will find someone to do it with some experience. Would like to do a Seneca in .40 also but will need to find a pitted donor barrel to buy first.

Thanks Bassdog.

Well got the two 45 barrels to the range today for the second time and did not get a whole lot of accuracy out of them shot almost the same as they did before having rifling re-cut. I need to get a .445 mold and some heavier patching to try. Next deer season is a long way off and I plan on shooting only patched round ball. May have to polish the bore as I am getting cut patches. Lots of work but worst case scenario if I cant get them to shoot accurately I write these two barrels off strip sights, and under rib off and scrap them. But we will see how things go with other options first. Fired 50 rounds and do these little devils kick the snot out of you.

Got a Lee .445 Round ball mold and cast some balls for these barrels and what a difference.Using 60 Grains 3F Swiss, .018 Pushing daisies patch lightly lubed with Hoppes and the .445 Cast balls I was able to shoot a fairly decent group at 50 yards off hand. With some load development I am sure these will be ready for the deer woods this fall.Shooting same load with a .440 ball group was all over the place and never smaller than 12 inches for 5 shots.

Contact Bobby Hoyt (712-642-6696) he can recommend the twist for target shooting

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This number does not work. Does anyone have current contact info?

thanks

Never mind, I found it on the web 717

I may increase the bore on a TC, 54 to 58 (1/60). What are the advantages and disadvantages between round and square rifling?