Original Low Wall 32-20 pressure question

I picked up an original Winchester 1885 low wall made in 1888 in 32-20. I'm currently loading 115 grain bullets over 17 grains of FFg goex or about the same triple 7 with a .030 wad. does anyone know the pressure of 32-20 black powder? I am also looking at loading smokeless in this action. specifically HP-38 which I have on hand. hodgdon load data says starting load at 3.2gr for a pressure of 11,100 CUP, looking up the triple 7 load data from hodgdon 18 grains they put at 12100 CUP. I know there is more going on then just the peak pressure but would that load of HP-38 be OK for a low wall rifle. I plan to mostly stick with black powder but am working on a poor accuracy problem and want to avoid black powder fouling before I decide if I want to have a barrel liner installed.
Thanks for any info.

https://loaddata.com/articles/PDF/32...%20(Rifle).pdf

http://www.assra.com/cgi-bin/yabb/Ya...num=1269380330

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...ssure-Concerns

https://winchestercollector.org/foru...cf-model-1873/

http://www.assra.com/cgi-bin/yabb/Ya...num=1198805027

Thanks for the info M-Tecs. its deferentially pointing me in the right direction. I'm always happy to read and learn anything I can.

Your low wall will have the older black powder era firing pin size. The ones I looked at have been .125 but I have read claims that the early used even larger firing pins??? With the .125" and pistol primers I would not go over 25K in a Hi-Wall or Low Wall. Since your are not close to that pressure just info.

Some of my .32-20 firing data might be helpful.


Factory .32-20 Ammunition in Rifle and Revolver
Ammunition Description___________Colt Police Positive 5”_____Savage Sporter 25”

Rem-UMC 100-grain lead
Kleanbore “Dogbone” box 1930s______898, 44 Sd, 116 ES________1302, 15 SD, 38 ES

Peters 100-grain softpoint
Kings Mills, Ohio 1940s______________870, 28, 71______________1150, 44, 137

WRA 100-grain lead
Red & yellow box 1950s_____________854, 33, 87_______________1263, 18, 53

W-W 100-grain lead
Rounded primer, yellow box, 1970s____800, 11, 31______________1241, 9, 22

W-W 100-grain lead
Flat primer, white box, 1990s_________778, 27, 69_______________1172, 18, 65

R-P 100-grain lead
Bridgeport, CT 1970s________________780, 24, 67_______________1181, 17, 52

R-P 100-grain lead
Lonoke, AR current production________716, 21, 55_______________1140, 12, 35

Column Mean by Gun_______________5” Revolver______________25” Rifle
Average Velocity of Factory Loads_____814 fps._________________1207 fps



Group 1 Standard Pressure Loads for Rifle or Revolver

Bullet, Little Dandy#, Pdr. Chg.____Colt Police Positive 5”______Savage Sporter 25”

Remington .311” 100-grain JSP____930 fps, 16 Sd, 45 ES________1230 fps, 26 Sd, 79 ES
LD#4, 4.9 grains AutoComp

Accurate 31-105T
LD#1, 3.2 grains TiteGroup_________858 fps, 22 Sd, 61 Es_______1133 fps, 30 Sd, 67 ES
LD#4, 3.2 grains Bullseye__________861 fps, 19 Sd, 47ES________1173 fps, 18 Sd, 54 ES
LD#3, 4.5 grains AutoComp________912 fps, 19 Sd, 53 ES _______1260 fps, 21 Sd, 55 ES
LD#4, 4.9 grains AutoComp________ 943 fps, 32 Sd, 71 ES_______1315 fps, 32 Sd, 118 ES
LD#10, 7.5 grains Alliant #2400_____991 fps, 24 Sd, 65 ES_______1348, 29 Sd, 69 ES DO NOT EXCEED!
LD#13, 10.0 grains IMR4227_______985 fps, 25 Sd, 61ES________1280 fps, 53 Sd, 176 ES
LD#17, 13 grains IMR4198________974 fps, 21 Sd, 94 ES________1326 fps, 46 Sd, 138 ES

Accurate 31-114D

LD#3, 3.0 grains Bullseye_________741 fps, 35 Sd, 92 ES________1041 fps, 26 SD, 78 ES
LD#4, 3.2 grains Bullsye__________861 fps, 20 Sd, 54 ES________1173 fps, 18 Sd, 52 ES
LD#13, 10.0 grains IMR4227______962 fps, 27 Sd, 62 ES_______1268 fps, 62Sd, 224ES
LD#15, 11.5 grains IMR4198______777 fps, 43 Sd, 101ES_______1248 fps, 36 Sd, 114 ES

Quote:

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Originally Posted by M-Tecs

Your low wall will have the older black powder era firing pin size. The ones I looked at have been .125 but I have read claims that the early used even larger firing pins??? With the .125" and pistol primers I would not go over 25K in a Hi-Wall or Low Wall. Since your are not close to that pressure just info.

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cool thanks for the info in the firing pin. off hand i think its the .125 but will double check and read up. as for pressure i'm likely to stay as low as i can, i'm always a little paranoid about pressure.

also thanks for the numbers Outpost75. especially as i was looking at both those molds just yesterday. definitely got some thinking to do and probably some powder to go pick up.

For some years now I've used 12,500 psi as the maximum pressure that black powder can generate, when estimating loads in Quickload. Forgotten now where I got that - maybe from the now-defunct site that Ulrich Bretscher maintained. I know of no actual pressure test data from any stateside experimenter. According to a source I just consulted, SAAMI lists 16,000 psi as max for the .32-20 cartridge.

Working backwards in QL, a 1200 fps MV from a 24" barrel with the 3118 bullet in the .32-20 cartridge, selecting powders in the 4227 speed range, the pressure would only be about 8500 psi area. This is very much off-the-cuff, so make of it what you will. But I think I must revisit the 12,500 number.