I suppose the purist cartridge collectors would tar & feather me for this, but I did it in the name of science
A couple days ago I was gifted a handful of old original cartridges. Among them was this .56-52 cartridge made by the WRA Co. I noticed the bullet had what looked like some kind of pliers marks and it was loose. So I pulled it out and found it partially filled with modern black powder that weighed 37.3gr. This is far below the normal 45gr charge. Since I've recently been reloading other large bore rimfires, I decided to reload this one.
The case was first cleaned in a small ultrasonic tank. Then a very small tool made from a straight pin was used to scrape the old dead priming compound from the rim. Then a bore brush was used on the inside. Then the outside was gently cleaned to give the old soldier a fresh look.
I use the Prime-All kit to reprime all these old rimfires. The powders were mixed and placed in the case. A few drops of acetone were added to make a slurry. It was then packed into the rim recess with a rubber tipped dental too. After drying, any excess compound was dumped out.
The original bullet was rough, but I wanted to save it for posterity. So for a replacement I used a Smith carbine bullet. In the lathe, the bottom band was turned to .508" to make the heel. The resulting heel has the same diameter and depth as the original. It weighs 358gr, a little less than the 383.7gr original bullet.
Lastly, it was time to load it. Using a bulk measure, I poured 45gr of Swiss 2F through a 24" drop tube. The weight equivalent was 48.7gr. I didn't have a way to crimp the bullet, so a couple drops of Loctite was applied to the heel. The bullet was seated, compressing the powder maybe .030".
I hope to get to the range this week to test fire it across the chronograph to see how it does. More to follow