32/40 load development

[carbluesnake]

I have a 1894 Win rifle made in 1919 chambered in 32/40 and I am trying to get a load for it. I am using a Lyman 319247 bullet, cast a little hard (supposed to weigh 165 gr., but mine weigh 159 gr.). The bullets measure out of the mould .321 on one side and .3225 on the other. Using Unique at 7.7 gr., the first 3 went into .6 inch at 25 yards. I got up and checked my target and sat down to shoot the other 2. The next one printed 2 inches to the left, and the 5th shot printed 4 inches low. Rx 7 with 16.0 gr. and cream of wheat filler printed 3 together in .7 inch, with the other 2 making about a 4 inch group. I am a little confused over my results. The gun seems as though it wants to shoot. I know it is not my shooting. Give a little help here.

[35 shooter]

Have you slugged your bore for boolit fit? What about the condition of the bore and crown?

[carbluesnake]

Bore is .321. Bore is very good, and crown is good, I think.

[TXGunNut]

Check the crown and weigh boolits. Could be a lot of things but check the easy stuff first. Loads seem a little light but a good place to start. Sounds like a very interesting rifle. How's the bore look? Have you slugged it?


OOPS, I type too slow, lol.

[35 shooter]

I would try a boolit 1 to 2 thousands bigger dia. for a better fit in the bore. If you don't have any tin in your alloy, you might add a bit to get more fill out in the mould with the boolit you already have? Guess it could be a lot of things, but that's where i'd start.

[frnkeore]

32/40's are hard to get a good case loaded bullet to shoot well. There are two basic problems in the chamber. 1st, there is no real throat, the chamber ends with only a 21.5 deg. angle, 2nd, there is .007 taper in the neck.

With that chamber, the only help is a bore riding bullet. The Lyman/Ideal 321297 will be your best bet. Look on Ebay for one and save your search. That bullet was made for your rifle. Your next best bet will be the Lee 175 gr 8mm mold, sized .001 over your groove size. For the bullet you have, only size about 1/4" of the neck and load it out as far as possible. Make sure you flair the case when loading and crimp it, even if it's in the middle of a band, unless single loading. I would try single loading first w/o the crimp.

A good basic load for your rifle will be 13 - 14.0 g 4227 or 4759, next is 12 - 13 gr 296/H110. If it will shoot, one of those loads will do it. They run +/- 1400 fps. Load it out until will still go through the loading gate but, won't stick or de-bullet in the barrel. You can also try single loading at longer COAL it see if there is more accuracy to be had with OAL. Use a good lube like NRA 50/50 to start, then you can try others.

Frank

[lotech]

With a .321" bore, probably best to experiment with bullets cast from the larger cavity of your mould. Try a softer bullet; one of wheelweight hardness bullet should be adequate for the #319247 up to 1,400, maybe 1,500 fps if you have good fit. Try your Reloder 7 load without a filler. I have not looked up my old notes, but I believe I probably tried Reloder 7 with the same bullet you're using. Best accuracy, however, was with H4895, 5744, IMR 4198, Universal, and Unique, in roughly that order. I've found H4895 to be an excellent powder for the .32-40. If you have access to at least a 50-yard range, test results should be more meaningful than those derived from 25-yard shooting.