Lyman 3118 in .32-20

[hanover67]

I cast some 115 gr boolits with the Lyman 3118 mold for use in a 1923-vintage Colt Army Special in .32-20. This is a plain base SWC. It is much longer than other boolits I have used of the same weight, so I could not crip it in the crimp groove or it would exceed the cylinder length - I taper crimped it on the forward driving band. As a result, it seemed to be seated quite deep in the cartridge case. I loaded them over 3.5gr of Unique, a moderate charge. The recoil seemed to be greater than with other 115 gr boolits. Despite the recoil, accuracy results were very good.

The boolits were cast with#2 alloy, and sized to .313 for a .312 bore.

Has anybody else used boolits from this mold with similar (or different) results?

[excess650]

I have a 1990ish Lyman 31108 and have used it in my Marlin 1894CL 32-20, and S&W M16 32 H&R Mag revolver. I've also used it in reduced load 30-30s and have no complaints. It never had a crimp groove, so I've crimped onto the front driving band. You could crimp over the front band as is often done with the 358429 in 357s.

[Tar Heel]

That 3118 is a long bullet. I just got in this mold for both the 32 S&W Long and the .32-20. Both bullets work in the .32-20 and the 313110B was specifically for the 32 S&W Long.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/album.php?albumid=632&pictureid=5016

Accurate Mold #313120B on Left for the .32-20 and the Accurate Mold 313110B on the right.

If the 31108 cast too long for your revolver, move on to another if you can rather than deal with the frustration. Just a thought. I'm getting too old to be frustrated when other solutions exist.. :-)

[Guesser]

It is a copy of the original Winchester bullet that came with the Winchester 73 mold/loading tool. It is "the" bullet. My 3118 is an old Ideal, I use it in 5 Colt 32-20 revolvers, 2 of them are Army Specials. I crimp just over the slight band above the upper lube groove. It cannot rightly be called a SWC, more of what today is called a RNFP, which is also not accurately named. Unique and Trail Boss are what I use, great bullet in the traditional sense and probably the best performer for the cartridge in the old guns.

[runfiverun]

if it works well for you and you got the mold.
trim the cases back and roll crimp in the groove.
you only have the one gun, making 100 cases for it will last a long time.

[beagle]

Good idea on cutting back the cases. That should bring things back to normal. I've used that bullet in my Hawkeye .32-20 and .32 Mag and also in my Ruger .30 Carbine. You can't beat it for a bullet in these calibers in handguns.

For a real treat, have one of the machinist gurus HP it for you./beagle

[Tar Heel]

if it works well for you and you got the mold.
trim the cases back and roll crimp in the groove.
you only have the one gun, making 100 cases for it will last a long time.

just have to say ditto. Darn...I wish I had thought of that!

[Bret4207]

if it works well for you and you got the mold.
trim the cases back and roll crimp in the groove.
you only have the one gun, making 100 cases for it will last a long time.

That was going to be my suggestion. I don't use the 008 but I do use the 316 in my Army Special. I'm wondering why it's over length and am thinking brass stretch.

[Guesser]

I don't understand why the cases have to be shortened, if the mold is a Winchester or Ideal there is not a crimp groove. If this is not an original design 3118 then I lost sight of the bubble somewhere along the line. The old Ideal books are explicit in how to put the cartridges together, I'm not understanding how the problem became a problem. I've been casting and loading this cartridge since 1956 and have not the experiences relayed here. I'm confused!!!
Trim to recommended length,----but shorten? why?

[beagle]

Bret, I was kinda wondering about the overall length as well but I'm using that Buckeye and cylinder length wasn't a problem on them as it was on the old Colts.

The .32-20 case can stretch pretty good. I had about a box and a half of old stuff before I broke down and bought some good Starline. This old stuff was trimmed back so that I could shoot it in the .30 Carbine Ruger (which works well BTW) and I haven't payed much attention to case stretching but I could see where it would be a factor with that tapered case.

I'd sure like to lay eyes on that problem first hand and see what's going on. The 311008 should load just fine in there. If not, I'd either trim the cases or load deep and taper crimp. I think a .30 Carbine taper crimp die would do that just fine. Don't know if they make one for the .32-20 or not./beagle