A Tale of three 32-20 projectiles

[Leslie Sapp]

I've been working on a load for my newly acquired 1889 Marlin.

Knowing the older rifles ran to a larger bore size, I pulled some old factory Remington and checked the sizes.
The jacketed bullet was .3125, larger than I expected, but the lead one was .309! I don't own a 32-20 of any vintage that is that small. Since some of this ammo came with the gun, that could explain why the grooves were completely filled with crud except for the last 3 inches of the bore.:)

After soaking and cleaning for a day or so, I slugged the bore of the rifle and it came out to .3145. I beagled a 311316 mold up, and got a 50/50 ww/range scrap combo to drop at .316. This thing has potential, if I can find a tang sight I can afford. This is about the best I can do with aging eyes and open sights, but I'm sure it shoots better than I can.

[Wayne Smith]

Looks like you have a winner! What range? Care to share load? I tend to keep my loads comparable to the original and not try to push the old girl. (Mine is a Rem. 25)

[Leslie Sapp]

That was only 20 yards, off hand. I'd like to get a good peep for it and see what it will really do.
I'm shooting a very moderate load of Unique behind a 311316 tumble lubed with 1/3 ratio Beeswax/JPW, shot as cast.
This is my first experiment with tumble lube, as I don't have a .316 size die for my Lyman 45 yet. I've only run about 25-30 of these though the gun, but the bore cleans right up and it seems to shoot well.

[Leslie Sapp]

Does anyone recognize that lead bullet Remington was using? It looks almost like a .22 long rifle bullet.