32-40 Brass

[Deaconllb]

First off hope this is the place to post this is not remove to proper forum thanks Was just on midwayusa and they have 32-40 brass in stock so may not last long first time I have seen this in 2 years

Thanks Deaconllb

[DonMountain]

Wow! $39.99 for 20? I don't think so.

[Green Frog]

There is no really good forum page for this topic, so this is probably as good as any! The only alternative I can think of is the Case Forming page so people won't have to reform some other caliber of brass.

As for the price of essentially $2.00 per shell, that's probably about what the market will bear. I've been shooting this caliber for nearly 30 years now and have watched supplies (and prices) go up and down the whole time. The best price I've ever seen for factory marked brass was nearly half that, but it's been a while since I've seen that price! The only alternative is to buy one of the calibers of brass that can be reformed to 32-40 and spend a lot of time messing with getting them altered. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, but I don't want to waste all that time doing it again!

All in all, thanks for the heads-up Deaconlib, and folks who want to keep their old schuetzen rifles etc will be able to buy what they need. Heaven knows I spent enough time in the early '90s trying to gather up enough brass so I could feed my old high walls!

Froggie

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I have two 32-40 rifles and a large supply of 32-special brass. I simply run that brass through the 32-40 sizer and while it is slightly shorter that 32-40 the rifles don't seem to notice. I tried using some old 32-40 brass but despite the fact that I annealed the cases they still split in several places. I will not bay two bucks a case for any out there.

[725]

Just takes some effort to form other brass to.32-40. Not perfect but no performance issues at all.

[lotech]

Winchester will make this stuff every few years. It's good brass and will probably last a very long time for cast loads.

However, reformed .30-30 brass works just as well. It's very easily re-formed in one step. It's a little short, but I've seen no difference in accuracy, velocity, or load data when compared with regular .32-40 brass. I don't know how many loads I got from one batch of re-formed brass while waiting on Winchester .32-40, but it was quite a few. I did not anneal it.

[bob208]

not me . with the .32-40 I form out of .30-30 have won more then one match so no need for $2 cases. with the .25-35 joining the list and the .32 win. spl. getting close. I pick up all the .30-30 once fired I can.

[Chill Wills]

I think with the great availability of Starline 38-55 2.125" brass, and the ease of reforming it would meet the need for completely correct size brass, the only down side is the head stamp is incorrect. For me, a minor detail as the two cases are obvious by their mouth diameter.

[gwpercle]

Wow! $39.99 for 20? I don't think so.

Holey Moley !!!! Glad I am a pack rat and enjoyed sweeping up the local shooting range , the buckets of brass may help me in retirement.... $2.00 each....I know I got a 5 gallon full bucket somewhere !

[Green Frog]

Back to the idea of using the proper, original 32-40 brass, this has been what worked best for me... I admit I haven't tried shooting my very oldest rounds in my 32-40s... they were too expensive and may have age hardened. OTOH, if I can get a supply of modern made proper brass in 32-40 with the appropriate head stamp, well that is a good thing.

BTW, Gopher Slayer, how old was that brass you split, and what kind of chamber was it in? Although I don't habitually use my oldest brass, I have yet to split the first case no matter what loads I use nor how many dozens of times it's fired through my original Winchester or the newly rebarreled Winchester with Green Mtn bbl and Clymer reamed chamber. I've never annealed a case, including the ones I formed from new Winchester branded 38-55 cases.

Froggie

[GOPHER SLAYER]

Back to the idea of using the proper, original 32-40 brass, this has been what worked best for me... I admit I haven't tried shooting my very oldest rounds in my 32-40s... they were too expensive and may have age hardened. OTOH, if I can get a supply of modern made proper brass in 32-40 with the appropriate head stamp, well that is a good thing.

BTW, Gopher Slayer, how old was that brass you split, and what kind of chamber was it in? Although I don't habitually use my oldest brass, I have yet to split the first case no matter what loads I use nor how many dozens of times it's fired through my original Winchester or the newly rebarreled Winchester with Green Mtn bbl and Clymer reamed chamber. I've never annealed a case, including the ones I formed from new Winchester branded 38-55 cases.

Froggie

I don't know the age of the 32-40 brass but it was marked REM-UMC if that helps. The barrel was made and chamber cut by Bo Clercke who was an outstanding gun smith. The rifle does not split more modern brass. I cringe when I see someone buy old 32-40 UMC brass with the idea of actually loading and shooting the stuff.

[Green Frog]

I don't know the age of the 32-40 brass but it was marked REM-UMC if that helps. The barrel was made and chamber cut by Bo Clercke who was an outstanding gun smith. The rifle does not split more modern brass. I cringe when I see someone buy old 32-40 UMC brass with the idea of actually loading and shooting the stuff.

Now we're on the same page. That old UMC and REM-UMC brass is old enough that age hardening and other factors having to do with aging had probably done it no favors! There is enough modern brass in 32-40 or from which 32-40 may be easily formed that there is little or no reason to use those antiques.

As for your chamber by Bo Clerke... well, say no more. He was one of the true luminaries of the early resurgence of Schuetzen back in the day, and I would take any work he did to the bank! So we're back to old, brittle brass as you had already determined.

There was enough 32-40 brass made by Winchester in at least 2-3 batches over the last 15-20 years that no one should have much difficulty finding a shooting sized supply... if one wants a few thousand, that might be a problem. Even at the "extreme" price of $2.00/round, a lot of 50 would be $100 and for most disciplines in which the 32-40 is used, this would be a lifetime supply. The most I ever remember needing for a single event was for Ram Bash at the Fairfax, VA club... but I just reloaded some at the bench to finish the event. Love me a portable Lyman TruLine Jr rig!

Regards,
Froggie

[Deaconllb]

I Have used 30-30 7x30 waters and 32 Winchester to resize but I wonted some proper head stamp brass so I bought some when you think about it is high but not as high as 80.00 for a box of 20 loaded on GB.

Deaconllb