Haemmerli 280 --- 32 WadCutter

Greetings,

A friend stopped by the Kave yesterday. He sought information regarding the loading of 32 WadCutter ammo for good 50 yard grouping.

He has one of the later Haemmerli 280 pistols, the one that has a screw in front under the muzzle.

Using my gauges, we found that the groove diameter is 0.329" and the bore 0.3075".

Thinking I misread the gauge, I checked it against the standard and all was well. I then checked a factory Pardini barrel and it measured 0.314" groove diameter.

Also, the profile of the chamber is much different than the earlier model 280. It is very much like a Walther GSP chamber.

It appears intentional. Larry Carter gifted me some old Haemmerli barrels a while back. Once I remembered the "safe place" I stored them, the 32 barrel he gave me measures just like my friends. 0.329" groove, 0.3075" bore.

So, if there are any fellow 280 owners out there, I would like to know what groove diameter your barrel measures.

Meantime, trying to sort out a way to get the barrel mounted in my barrel tester.

Cheers,

Dave

I had 3 of the later model 280’s and I always posted these shot better than every other out there. I found a 25 yard test target and If I can find it I also shot a 7-8 x at 50 that same day

Greetings James,

Do you recall the barrel groove diameter?

The test target that came with my friends 32 had a five shot group at 25M you could cover with a US Nickel.

Also, it is helpful to quote what ammunition you use. Factory or reloads.

Details help tremendously.

Cheers,

Dave

That would be a game changer as most factory ammo is around .312

The Walther l saw at 314 was badly leaded.

fc60 wrote:Greetings James,

Do you recall the barrel groove diameter?

The test target that came with my friends 32 had a five shot group at 25M you could cover with a US Nickel.

Also, it is helpful to quote what ammunition you use. Factory or reloads.

Details help tremendously.

Cheers,

Dave

Dave it was under .310 bore
They were my reloads 
Starline brass
Speer 98 wadcutter 
1.7 N310
My test target was the same size as your friends

Greetings,

Saturday being rather nice weather, I tested the 280 barrel with the bulge.

I used my usual load of a Bumped Speer 0.3143" bullet, Lapua cases sized 0.334", Remington 1 1/2 primer, 1.65 grains of Bullseye powder lot #669, followed by a 0.325" taper crimp.

I fired four targets at 50 yards.

Target #1 below...



Target #2 below. Starting to show a group...



Target #3 with no major flyers...




Final target #4 has opened up, again...



Bear in mind that this barrel is BULGED about 1 1/2" from the muzzle. Also, the 0.329" groove diameter with a 0.307" bore diameter makes it quite unusual.

Recall the factory test target of five shots could be covered with a U.S. Nickel.

I also made a chamber cast with "ReproRubber" and found the dimensions essentially the same as my earlier 280 with the 0.3135" groove diameter barrel.

After firing 45 shots, there was some Lead fouling at the start of the Leade (Typical of most barrels). Looking further down, I could see Lead streaking on the tops of the lands (bore diameter) for the first one inch. The grooves did not have any visible Lead fouling. Interesting to note that there was no visible fouling in the "bulge".

Now, do I want to spend the big bucks and order a custom Krieger barrel to conduct further testing?

These people are near you,. Maybe they have a barrel that will work.  They do have “303” barrels with a .311 groove in various twists??

https://mcgowenbarrel.com/bore-groove/