Windchester 32 Special>A real honey I got!!

[OverMax]

I have a winchester 94 in 32 Special made around 1957. I want to start casting for it to help save its rifling from store bought jacketed boolit ware. Without slugging its bore. Does anyone have an idea what dia. lube-sizer die I would use? If it turns out to be 322 dia. Would it be better for me to use a 323 / 8mm mold and squeeze its boolit down to 322 dia. Or just use the standard 321 dia. mold and and run my boolit's thru a normal RCBS 321 dia. lube-sizer die? Guidance would be Most Welcome.

[stocker]

Why wouldn't you want to slug the bore? It's a simple process, doesn't harm anything if done correctly and will get you off on the right start. Best cast boolit results are often with an oversize boolit of .001 to .002 larger than groove diameter. Look for a mould that will drop boolits at .323 or a bit larger so you can size down if required to the oversize diameter. In my own 32 special I size the RCBS designated 32 special boolit to .323. My mould drops at .324+/- a bit depending on alloy.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I have a winchester 94 in 32 Special made around 1957. I want to start casting for it to help save its rifling from store bought jacketed boolit ware. Without slugging its bore. Does anyone have an idea what dia. lube-sizer die I would use? If it turns out to be 322 dia. Would it be better for me to use a 323 / 8mm mold and squeeze its boolit down to 322 dia. Or just use the standard 321 dia. mold and and run my boolit's thru a normal RCBS 321 dia. lube-sizer die? Guidance would be Most Welcome.

You can make the 8mm boolits work but the nose has to be sized down. It is extra work. You would be better off getting RCBS' 32-170-FN. I think RCBS is the only Co. that makes a mold for the 32 Winchester Special. You could go with a custom mold though, but quite expensive. I have tried Lees C324-175-1R but I had to size the nose down, using a .309 sizer. If you don't size the nose down it will jam hard into the rifling and you won't be able to get the action to close all the way. If you seat the 8MM Lee boolit deep enough to work in the 32 special you will get higher pressures.

[sundog]

Ranch Dog would appreciate your business, also. He has a VERY good design for 32 Spl.

[OverMax]

stocker said:Why wouldn't you want to slug the bore? I thought there might be a given dia.for a pre-64 models boolit cast. Since so many are still in use. And I've never slugged a barrel before to be quite honest about it.


45-70 Chevroner said: I think RCBS is the only Co. that makes a mold for the 32 Winchester Special. Probably these days. I think your correct Sir. I have a couple of older Lymans molds here that cast non-gas checked type boolits. I'm sure they were designed for the 32-40s usage. One mold casts a 151 gr. the other 115 gr. I could probably reload for. But I didn't want to use either of them because of their non-gas check designs.

[L Ross]

I shoot a Lyman 321297 sized to .323". They drop at about 185 gr. in my 32 Win. Spl. and 32-40. Nice nose, feed well, hit hard. 321" won't group worth spit, .323" makes all the difference in the world.

Duke

[OverMax]

L Ross said: I shoot a Lyman 321297 sized to .323". After reading your thread Duke. I got to think'in. Gee I'm going to need that brand new RCBS 321 lube-sizer die I've never used maybe. So this morning I decided to do a little search into my stored stuff that's been hidden away in the back of a closet. After a 1/2 hour or so I found another dusty old plastic storage container with stuff I haven't seen in years i.e. many years. Tore into it. Stacking some on the floor to get it out of the way. Near its bottom I came across a little old Speer plain jane boolit box. I opened it and wa-lla found not one but two {hardly used} old lyman/Ideal single cavity molds. Still covered well with (3 in one oil.) That's how many years I've had them and completely forgotten. No Break Free or CLP found in stores yet back when those molds were stored. One reads: 321297 the second:321427. I guess it pays to hang on to old stuff sometimes. Never can tell when you'll need it. "Xmas in June" for me. Yup ain't that something. :D
My thanks to all who participate in this thread. You all gave me options and threaded your first hand experiences to help me. I appreciate that. Perhaps a day will come when I'll have the opportunity to return the favors.