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Hello,
Hell has nearly frozen. I finally after years of near misses and close calls, managed to have an actual proper Marlin 336 .32 Special on layaway. The j-word bullet diameter is a non issue. I do however also intend to feed the 336 a steady diet of cast boolits. What diameter Cast Boolits do 336 .32 Special owners generally favor?
Thanks,
Divil
Those early Marlin 32 Specials had the old conventional rifling. The groove diameter ran about .319 so sizer your cast a little bigger if possible.Quote:
Originally Posted by Divil
I think the rifle I am getting is 1950’s vintage
Sounds about right. It will have the normal rifling, four groove I believe. Like I said the groove diameter should be around .319. Winchester Model 94's in the same caliber run about .321 in the groove. RCBS makes a 170 or 175 grain bullet for you Marlin that should fit well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Divil
Thanks for the info. I will look to acquire that mold once I have the rifle mostly paid off.
For what it's worth I have a .32 Rem. pump I rebuilt.....ammo is non existent mostly.....got brass from Graf's but bullets unavailable, Ordered an Arsenal mould that drops wheelweights at 170...bullet design is very similar to Lymans 311041 and dia is 321. If you insist on jacketed stuff then good luck but I have substuted 8mm RN that miked .329.
Hornady and Speer make jacketed 170 grain .321 bullets that will do fine. Once I can locate them.
Regarding your Remington Pump:
A: Cool Rifle
B: Hawk Bullets makes jacketed bullets meant for the rifle
C: I am going to check out the Arsenal Mold you described. If it seems suitable, I may try and locate a Remington .32 Pump.
Divil: Should you locate those .32's lemme know....had my name on a couple of suppliers lists for quite some time......one batch showed up and by the time I ordered were gone..........cast may be the only reliable method.
Get it home then pound a lead round ball to get your answer. No need to guess on this
Speer 170's are rather easy to find. Just picked up 2 boxes at my local farm and hardware store. That's to go with my newly acquired, Like you Divil, Marlin 336A.
My cast came from an LBT mold from Montana bullet works, Unsized so I can fit them to my groove dia. of which I haven't measured yet. Proper Headstamped brass? now there's my problem, found a few at a gun show but my new Nosler 30-30 brass will have to suffice.
Your gonna love that rifle.
Crash87
I just ordered NOE mold for the .32 WS. My friend's winny slugs out almost exactly at .321. I'll try and go to .322 if I can find the Lyman sizer for my 450.
Strangely enough, my local Dunham's has .32 Special in stock quite often.
Divil you have a PM
I have 3 Marlin 336's, I use the .323 185 grain Flat nose Gas Check from Matt's Bullets in all of them. Two are Ballard Rifled waffle tops that are scoped, uner 1.5 inch groups at 100 yards are normally attained. I am using 5744, a Lyman 8mm 'M' die for neck expansion and Lee dies with a Lee Factory Crimp are used for loading. I prefer Starline brass over Remington. Rim thickness(headspace) is more consistent and closer to SAAMI max, which is a good thing. Many simply resize 30-30, Hornady did make .32 Special brass but I haven't tried it. For a 'perfect' fit, .375 Win from Starline could be CAREFULLY resized for a 'Perfect' shoulder headspace. I like boolits in the 185-200 grain weight for the .32 Special. Excellent accuracy at full power is easier with the .32 Special than many other calibers due to the 1-16 twist rate. Long ago, I filed the flat points off Speer and Nosler 200 grain Jacketed bullets, excellent accuracy, no pressure issues, but velocity was too low to insure expansion. The .32 Special with good 200 grain cast bullets easily matches .35 Rem with factory loads.
Lots of good information here. I scoured the internet and found a single box of Speer 170’s and I have a lead on some vintage Silvertip 170 bullets. In July, I will probably acquire Lee or RCBS dies. I will try to keep some fund’s handy to snag any factory .32 SPL brass I can locate. If Starline goes active on that caliber again, I will order a full 250 cases. I still have to pay off the rifle so I can’t go too nuts in my acquisition of components and dies.
Starline had 32 Special in stock about a week ago after a long dry spell but they are out again. I got lucky and found a batch of 500 new Starline cases on Gunbroker last Fall for $315 delivered which was close enough to they cost directly from Starline and I grabbed it after about 30 seconds of careful consideration. :) Figured that would be a lifetime supply and couldn't pass it up.
My rifle is a Miroku Winchester 94 and I size bullets to .323. Currently using the RCBS 32-170-FN with good results in both accuracy and killing power. Got 3 does with it last year. I have ordered an Accurate mold and expect it in a couple weeks (32-180A). Looking forward to hunting with that one this year.