32-20

[leftiye]

Anybody got any data for Lil Gun or MP300, or 2015 in hot loads with 115 gr cast in 32-20?

[frnkeore]

I hope that your asking about hot loads for a gun that can take them, such as a Contender or stronger.

Here is my suggestion.......... use M1 carbine loads. The carbine has a slightly smaller case volume so, your pressures should be slightly lower with slightly less velocity. There is a lot of data out there for the 115gr bullet in a carbine.

I'm pretty sure that 2015 will be to slow for hivel loads but 300MP and lilGun should be fine. If you can find data for 300MP.

Frank

[okiecruffler]

I tried lilgun a few weeks ago loaded hot in my 10" with the Lee soupcan boolit. Accuracy was just so-so. Much better with H110. I have a batch with 2400 to run next week.

[leftiye]

Okie, How much H110 do you use? Are you shooting a Contender?

[leftiye]

Frnkeore, Colt police positive special.:kidding: I've got several pistols and rifles that will handle top loads. Thanks for the idea , I've heard that about using .30 carbine loads before, but have not given it any attention. Considering the almost retarded coverage the 32-20 gets, that's probly a capital source.

[okiecruffler]

Yes, I'm shooting them out of a .308 bore Contender. My standard answer online as to how much H110 I'm shooting in them is "a lot". Some forum owners, and probably rightfully so, have taken offense to me posting recipes that are beyond what you find in a manual. I've never looked at 30 carbine loads, my loads may well fall in those limits somewhere.

[JeffinNZ]

For a hot load in my .32-20 Martini I use a 100% density load of H4227.

[quilbilly]

I also have a T/C Contender 10" with a 308 bore. I am using 9.4 gr. of 2400 for about 1400 fps with the Lee 113 gr rnfpGC. This is a lukewarm but not a hot load but the barrel loves it even if coyotes don't.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I bought a Colt SAA in 32-20 many many years ago. I was looking forward to shotting it, that is until I pulled the trigger. If my memory is right I had loaded 5.5 grains of Unique behind a 120 grain lead bullet. I had not anticipated the DB level of the muzzle blast coming out of that gun barrel. I thought my ears would never stop ringing. Even though the gun was in fine condition I sold it. I aquired another Colt SAA years later in the same barrel length and also in 32-20. I tured it into a 44 special and it remains that today.

[leftiye]

Yep, the smaller the bore the sharper the pitch of the report. When I first got into .357s and .44 mags., the .357 blackhog did much more hurting to my ears. The .32 just kicks it up another notch. Used to be "Sonic" earplugs that allowed one to hear normally, but shut down when guns were fired. Sounds like I should try to find something like that. I believe that I saw a newer earplug of that type recently. For hunting that is, at the range, foam plugs, plus earmuffs if needed. (note, not needed with my .327 mag.)

[leftiye]

I was/am thinking that Lil Gun might be the"magic" powder in 32-20 seeing how well it works in the Hornet. For Paco Kelly's loads, the H110 and 296 rule the hottest loads (as usual in mag pistols), but I don't want to go that hot. I'm looking for a 1600 fps load with a powder that will burn well in the 20,000 to 26000 psi range (with as low of pressure as possible and still with good ignition). Lil Gun doesn't have the burning suppressors that H110 and 296 does and is supposed to be possible to reduce the loads without the ignition problems that make reducing H110 and 296 dangerous to reduce. Plus, it starts out producing higher velocities at lower pressures than H110/296. I'm guessing that Lil Gun's bad rap for high temperatures will not show itself at these lower pressures.

Paco made the statement (and frnkeore did earlier here) that one can use starting loads for the 30 Carbine to start in developing 32-20 loads, and Hodgdon gives 14 to 15 grains of Lil Gun for 115 grain bullets (jacketed) in the Carbine.

Powders like 4227 and 4759, and 1680 while in the correct burning speed range are bulky and this limits them because of lack of space in the cartridge results in high initial pressures, but they don't continue to produce as high pressure as they burn. I'm not sure how to say that, but perhaps it's just that they are too slow burning to give an ideal pressure curve. I once figured out that H110 is actually faster burning than 2400, but that this same thing occurred with 2400 - the powder took up so much more space for a comparable charge weight that high pressures initially limited the charge that was possible to use, and 2400 lost the race. H110 being more compact, more could be in the case without causing unacceptably high pressure upon ignition. Any way, I'm hoping that this same situation with Lil Gun being a very compact, dense powder as well as not having ignition inhibitors will make possible lower pressure loads with disproportionate velocity yields.

MP 300 might be very good too, and might be in the same charge weight range. I have a email out to Alliant asking about data for MP300.

[leftiye]

Called Alliant today about 300 MP. Waste of time, they don't have any data, and no clue. Maybe someone who has Quickload and a bit of time could run 14 grains of 300MP and a 115 grain boolit, and give me an estimate of pressure and velocity. I'm starting to find conflicting pressures between different sources of data. Maybe I should get quickload myself. Sounds like it would be a big help in situations like this.

[frnkeore]

Sorry, Leftiye, QL doesn't have data for 300MP, at least as of 3 months ago.

According to most sources, it's slightly slower than 296 so, I believe that you could use the same starting loads and go from there with a chronograph. Use pistol primers to get a better idea on pressures.

Frank

[BABore]

The latest version of QuickLoad doesn't have 300-MP listed.

Here is what I came up with for my 30 Badger (search). It has the same case capacity as a 32-20. The capacity in grains of water are 21.70.

For 120 GC boolit;

12.5 grs of 2400 39,410 psi
15.5 grs of WW296 38,443 psi
16.0 grs Lil Gun 38,609 psi

I took 300 MP up to 17 grs compressed and case head expansion, primer condition, etc were similar to the above loads. I had high hopes for 300 MP and Lil Gun as well. For me, best accuracy was with 12.5 grains of 2400 and a CCI 500 primer. Velocity from a 21 in bbl runs right at 2,000 fps. 5-shot, 100 yd groups are 1 1/4". One of the best plinking loads is a similar wt PB boolit over 7.0 grs of AA #7 and a CCI 500. Velocity is 1,350 fps.

Hope this helps.

[uscra112]

15 grains of LilGun is a caseful, assuming 115 grain boolit and .300 seating depth, which may be a bit more than actual. Quickload calculated 34,690 psi. Seat .050 deeper and it goes to 40K !

Hope you're using this is a strong gun !

[leftiye]

Actually, I'm not using it at all. Hodgdon gave 14 grs. of Lil Gun as a start load. I thought the 300MP might be similar, and was trying to check this out. As with sex, any data is better than no data, and this does give me a place to guess from. More importantly, it tells me to guess lighter on the powder.

It also seems to verify hodgdon's start load of 14 grains of Lil Gun as being a useable load, and more importantly, that it can be reduced some without going too far and sacrificing uniform ignition.

Thanks for the info, and your time. Any data that is close is always helpful to get a handle on this type of problem. Once you figure out what you can start with without major misfortunes, then one can work from there. There was little to none information on these powders, but knowledge of powders said they might work exceptionally well in this application. I have copied these posts for my loading data and manual. Thanks again.