32 Winchester Special question

[Char-Gar]

I got my round tuit today and cast up some RCBS 170 FN bullets for my Winchester 93 in 32 WS. For you guys that shoot this round, what is the prefered sizing diameter. My barrel measures .315 X .322. I have sizing dies in .323 and .325. The bullets fall from the mold .317 X .325 .

[drinks]

Mine is .321, I have best results with .323, using the Lee C324-175-1R, 20gr IMR4227, 1700fps and 25gr IMR4198, 2000 fps+.
I plan to try Rel 7, starting at 25gr and working toward an eventual 35-38 gr.
I also got 2000fps with 35gr BLC-2, but the case is getting pretty full.

[felix]

Charger, try 10 rounds of each size with same load. Suggest 30 grains of H335 equivalent. Go with the boolit size giving the best accuracy.

Drinks, RL7 in the later lots have speed somewhat just above the 4198s, so be careful with that lever gun. Suggest 25-28 grain range for trials. Keep loads below 40K cup for gun longevity. Headspace tends to increase too fast with the heavier loads. No, the gun won't blow up.

felix

felix

[drinks]

Felix;
The IMR4198 and the Rel 7 I have on hand, show consistantly , that I have to go 3-5 gr over the 4198, with Rel 7 to get equal velocities, this is from .303 Savage, .35 Whelen, .45-70 and others, I have to assume the pressures as I can chrono, but do not have a pressure tester.
The pressures should be lower with the slower powder, Rel 7, with equal velocities.

[felix]

Good news, Drinks! You already checked out the RL7 you have on hand. ... felix

[Char-Gar]

Felix..I will do just as you suggest. I have a brand new can of H335 and so 30 grainst it will be.

My 94 carbine is a 1959 vintage, and is as tight and bright as new. Somebody installed a Lyman 66 rear and a recoil pad, but other than that it is as new. When I got it, I did the obligatory cleaning with Sweet's 7.62 and got not one trace of color from the barrel. That tells me how little, if any, it was fired.

Griffin and Howe had it for sale for a year or so, but when they put it on their sale list and droped the price to $300.00, I picked up the phone and laid some plastic on them.

Thanks again..all you guy for your help.

[sundog]

Charger, this is just my observation so don't jump out there and go for it from the git go - start where Felix suggested. I have been able to push that boolit more accurately at a little higher powder charge of 844. I shot alot of rounds, incrementing the charge, running across the chrono, and measuring 50 yard groups. As the increments increased the group size decreased, then as it passed the 'sweet spot' the group again to increase in size. I backed off to the load on published on castpics. Lot of fun working that up. I supposed if I changed the alloy, the results would vary a little. The RCBS boolit is a good'un in a 16 twist Mdl 94, and you can push it pretty hard. I run mine thru a .325 die so I essentially have a GC'd and lube boolit in 'as cast' diameter. I've also shot them .323 and can't really tell the difference. For me trying to size to .321 is tough work on the sizer so I don't bother. It's certainly a wonder to me why the .32 Spl never got more popular????? Other very good powders with cast are 2230-C, Data 73, and IMR 3031. Sounds like you have a nice rifle. Have fun.

I wonder what kind of performance could be obtained with a .32 Spl in a good solid bolt gun? Just a tad faster twist and slightly longer boolit, going up to maybe 210-220 grains, and a full case of something like 4895 or 4064. Hmmmm, maybe time to build another rifle.... sundog

http://www.castpics.net/RandD/load_data/load_data.htm

[Char-Gar]

Sundog..Thanks for the counsel and I will indeed work up the loads. However, I am more interested in all the speed I can get with decent accuracy and pressure that does not exceed max for the caliber.

I have plenty of rifles to play with to see if I can get all bullet in the same hole. However I never seem to have one rifle that is ready to go at a moments notice. I want one rifle that is ready, sighted in, and ammo loaded to pick up when I head for the brush or desert.

I bought this rifle because it offers about 10% more oompf that the 30-30 and is cast bullet friendly. I want to get a good load that will pitch that 180 RCBS FN out of the muzzle at 2.1 - 2.2 K fps. Sighted in to place the bullet 3" high at 100 yards, I should be just fine out to 200 yards. That is all I can ask out of such a rifle.

This will be my grab and go rifle..dedicated to that one purpose. This one will be a tool, the others can be toys.

Now to the subject of wildcats..If I was going to wildcat a rimmed cartridge in a good strong action I would pick the 30-40 Krag as the parent case. It has a powder capacity the same as the .308 Winchester and a very long neck for holding cast bullets. A 35/30-40 with a long 250 cast bullet in a strong action ( A good P-14 Enfield will do) should be a piss cutter for cast bullet hunting.

[felix]

The 32WS is a perfect pick up gun without question. Want more? Just get the '06 capacity case for power perfection in 35 caliber. 14 twist for 275-300's; 15 twist for 230-250's; 16 twist for 200-230's; 18 twist for 150-180's. ... felix

[beagle]

Charles..I've had really good luck with the .321" in my old Marlin 336A with the 32-170-FN. Probably the best bullet available these days for the .32 Special./beagle

[felix]

I second the notion....rcbs 32-170, actually a 180 grainer with WW. ... felix

[versifier]

Sundog,
IMHO, the .32 special never got more popular because they were mostly shot with factory ammo, and with factory fodder, there "ain't a rat's ass" of difference between it and the .30-30 in terms of killing power. Now, when it comes to loading your own, considering the variety of choices available for in .30 vs. .32 jacketed bullets, there isn't enough difference there to seriously consider it there, either. BUT, as you have happily discovered, there's a whole world of difference if you cast for it. Even in light of the fact that the .30-30 is one of the most cast friendly cases there is, the .32 does better with the heavier ones. Not much difference to a deer hunter, but with bigger critters, there is honestly some room to argue. What percentage of shooters cast? Pitifully few. Yes, there are a lot of 8mm Mausers out there, but if we're talking cast bullets, the smaller case will do most everything that the bigger one will, and with more accuracy, too. It took several years (and I'm still testing) to get a load for my .308 (or my -06) anywhere near as accurate as the load I found for my .30-30 the first day on the second test. The two comparisons mirror each other perfectly. The jury's still out on my Mauser.... A .30 or .32 rem bolt would be a lot of fun...