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Beanhead
11-01-2018, 08:35 AM
I have recently purchased a Marlin model 1893 in 32-40. The bore seems to be in good shape with good rifling and no noticable pitting and slugged .321”
I have reformed brass from starline 38-55 cases trimmed 2.120” and tried a few different loads with the lyman 319247 sized .322” and have had poor sucess so far.

I have been reading that folks like the gas checked RCBS 32-170. This bullet is made for the 32 special so the crimp grove is not in the right spot for the 32-40 but folks claim to fix that by using 30-30 brass trimmed to 2.030” allowing the bullet to be set back further and still crimp in the groove.

I have refomed some 30-30 cases to 32-40 and trimmed them as short as 2.020” and with the RCBS 32-170 seated as deep as it will go to a COL of 2.500” it will cycle though the action but will not chamber correctly. I have marked on the bullet with a sharpie and loaded the round into the chamber. With a little resistance the bolt closes and the bullet ogive gets pushed into the rifling a few thousandths. Im scratching my head and wondereing how other people are getting this combo to work.

The reason im wanting to load this bullet is because Im thinking that the old bore may give me better acuracy with a gas check. I currently buy all my boolits from Montana bullet works. Thanks for any advice

725
11-01-2018, 08:59 AM
following this with interest.

Green Frog
11-01-2018, 08:00 PM
See whether you can find a Lyman/Ideal mould #321232. Cast medium soft with about 25:1 lead to tin and use a moderate charge of 4227 (I'd start somewhere around 14.2 grains or so.) That should do it! :D

Froggie

PS I use 4759 as my go-to powder, but I wouldn't want you to get frustrated by starting your quest looking for a discontinued powder. [smilie=b:

AntiqueSledMan
11-02-2018, 07:13 AM
Hello Beanhead,

I have loaded & shot the 32-40 from my 1893 Marlin (Special Smokeless), using both 30-30 and original 32-40 Brass. My notes have a trim length for the RCBS 32-170 cast of 2.045" I only have 4 empty cases (fired), they measure from 2.025 - 2.035". I also have 1/2 box of the John Wayne 32-40 which I just seated the cast bullet to 2.5". I'm not sure where I came up with the trim length of 2.045".
The photo shows an original 32-40 trimmed to 2.045" with the RCBS 32-170 seated to 2.5", a John Wayne factory jacketed, a John Wayne not trimmed with an RCBS 32-170 seated to 2.5", and a 30-30 reformed & trimmed to 2.045" with the RCBS 32-170 seated to 2.5". I had no issues chambering, did have a tumbling issue with the cast bullets but the John Wayne jacketed shot fine. My lead mixture is 7 parts wheel weight & 1 part 60/40 solder, so I mixed 3 parts wheel weight & 1 part 60/40 solder and the tumbling disappeared. I have to believe I would have changed my Recipe Card if I had changed case length. Also I should state that my load was with Hercules RX7 (which is listed as a starting Jacketed Load), not the current Alliant RX7.

Hope this helps, AntiqueSledMan.

yeahbub
11-02-2018, 12:38 PM
You might try paper patching a conventional .30 cal cast (like the Lyman 311041) up to the correct diameter. They cast close to bore diameter and are just the ticket for patching up to .32/8mm. They'll also tend to smooth the bore over time.

Reverend Al
11-02-2018, 02:24 PM
I shoot a similar '93 Marlin in .32-40 (along with a '94 Winchester SRC and several different single shot rifles) and I haven't found it to be too fussy to load for which seems common for the cartridge since it is very inherently accurate to begin with. I shoot several different cast boolits in them, but my "go to" is an old plain base Rapine mould of about 165 grains which I size to .321" for my Marlin. It performs very well with SR4759, 2400, IMR4198, and other similar powders in the medium fast rifle powder burning rate range. Most of my loads use reformed .30-30 cases since full length .32-40 cases are nearly impossible to source any longer and I don't really want to reform any of my .38-55 brass to get full length cases. I have thousands of rounds of .30-30 cases on hand that i can work with and have never found that the slightly shorter finished case length on my reformed .32-40 "shooter brass" affects iron sight accuracy in the least.

Beanhead
11-02-2018, 09:56 PM
Antiquesledman,
I may possibly have some RCBS 32-170 boolits that are out of spec or the chamber of my rifle is out of spec. You and a guy over on the Marlin forum along with others seem to have no trouble getting that bullet to work with a OAL of 2.50” Im at that length and cant close the bolt without force.

To you guys that suggested other moulds, I have some lyman 319247 bullets that I tryed with
IMR 4198 and had poor success. Maybe I could try this bullet with about 14gr of IMr 4227? I also have Aliant 2400 on the shelf that I could try if someone could point me to a safe starting load.

Reverend Al
11-03-2018, 03:08 PM
My "go to" load with 2400 and the 165 grain Rapine plain base boolit in all of my .32-40's is 12.0 grains (no filler) ... your results may vary, but you could give it a try.

Green Frog
11-03-2018, 08:33 PM
I have a couple of examples of the 319247 (which runs about 165 gr +/-) but find my 32-40s (of which I have had 4) seem to start doing well at about 175 or 180 grains and continue on up to about 200 grains. Of the available powders (now) IMR 4227 gave me the best results in fixed ammunition like you would need in your Marlin lever gun. I must admit my experience was with Winchester high walls and a Ruger #1, but once the lever closes, the results should be at least comparable.

Froggie

DonMountain
11-03-2018, 08:39 PM
My John Wayne Commemorative in 32-40 Win likes the converted Fiocchi or Winchester 30-30 brass with 26.5 Grains of IMR-3031 and WLR primers under the RCBS 32-170 FNGC sized 0.321" loaded to an OAL of 2.520", which crimps in the converted 30-30 brass cannalour and just touches the rifling in my gun. If I used converted 38-55 brass I would have to either trim the brass back 0.10 inches to the length of a 30-30 case, or buy a mold for a different bullet. The RCBS 32-170 was designed for a different cartridge as someone said previously. I killed three deer with this load the year before last. And none of them had to be tracked.

Beanhead
11-03-2018, 11:08 PM
Today I reformed some 30-30 brass to 32-40 and trimmed it to 2.045” I seated the RCBS 32-170 to an OAL of 2.50” The bullet was seated deeper than the crimp grove but neck tension seemed to hold it. I used the roll crimp die to remove the bell from the case mouth. The bullet was kissing the rifling but the bolt closes and with 17grs of IMR 4198 I was able to get a four shot group of 1.25” at 30 yards.

I would still like a lighter load for plinking though so I will try some lyman 319247 with IMR 4227 and with Alliant 2400

AntiqueSledMan
11-05-2018, 06:50 AM
Hello All,

The 32-40 cartridge is a fun one to play with. 30 years ago when I picked up my 1893, I searched for brass & information about loading this old girl. Things were a lot tougher back then. I did find some John Wayne ammo at the ridiculous price of $6 each, wish I'd bought the whole case now. Then I discovered I could form the 30-30 brass to shoot in it and went to town. I also contacted the Marlin Firearms Co. in hope to get some answers on my 1893, it has a 20" Octagon Barrel, with a Rifle style forearm & nose cap, and a serpentine butt plate. The couldn't tell me much about my particular rifle but referred me to the Buffalo Bill Museum of Cody Wy. I think it was $50 to run a check and I didn't believe it was worth spending on a $100 rifle.
Marlin did send some literature about the 1893 so here is a scan of the 32-40 from Marlin.

Enjoy, AntiqueSledMan.