Who cast for a Uberti 1873 winchester 32-20

[GARD72977]

I have a 24" uberti 32-20 on the way. I need to order some casting stuff. What molds feed well in this gun and what size bullet are you shooting?

I was going with the 1885 single shot but every time I went to Buffalo Arms website I would look at the 73. Just could not take It any longer.

[bob208]

I have real 73 in .32-20. I use the lyman 311316 they run big so I run them through a 312 sizer. I use pistol load charts it has a good bore I have never slugged it . it does shoot good .

[TXGunNut]

I use a NOE 314008 over a few grains of 231 or a case full of FFFg BP in a vintage Winchester 1892. Should feed just fine in your 1873. Those 1873 Ubertis are some beautiful rifles, wouldn't mind having one myself. Looking forward to the range report.

[GARD72977]

I have read that the bore is .311 guess I should start at .312

[cajun shooter]

Gard72977, I would not shoot any size bullet by relying on what you have read. It takes very little time to slug a rifle and know the exact bullet size needed.
Uberti makes some wonderful rifles as I've owned and shot a few of the 73's in 44WCF during SASS matches. They did however have some tooling problems and made some 44WCF rifles that had .430 bores instead of the standard of .427 I know you have a 32-20 but it still should be checked. Take Care David
Later David

[northmn]

I have a 94 Marlin and use either the Lee 120 gain 30 cal bullet as cast or the 100 grain pistol tumble lube bullet as cast. One thing to remember is that almost every loading manual states taht 73 Winchesters and their remakes should not be laoded overly hot. Winchester loaded some hot loads for the 92 and dropped them because folks were using them in 73's and revolvers. Saying that I enjoy my 94 using very moderate loads. If I need a deer rifle I use a deer rifle.

DP

[TXGunNut]

Saying that I enjoy my 94 using very moderate loads.-Northmn

Very true. The 32-20 is a sweet plinker or small game round. Makes little sense to me but some folks would try to hot-rod an Amish wagon.

[GARD72977]

The gun came in but its too cold to shoot. I ordered some boolits from midway sized to .312 so I could shoot it now. I have some loaded with Trail Boss that should make 770+ with the 24"bbl. I don't have a good place to shoot at home but did take 4 shots into a dirt pile. The TB makes very little noise.

I have never slugged a lever gun What is the best way?

[northmn]

Best way is to get a lead ball slightly oversize, lube it and drive it through the barrel with a brass rod. Pure lead works the best as the alloys get harder. Also an odd number of grooves gets tricky to measure as there is an opposing groove in the bullet when you try to mike it.
Before I would go through all that first shoot a few loads. If it works don't fix it. I used the 120 grain mold when I bought the 32-20 because I had it and really did not bother slugging the barrel so much as measuring the cast bullet. It was close, as in 311 and with Lee Liquid lube it shoots very well with no leading. The 100 grain pistol bullet is listed as a 311 or 312 for 32 revolvers and it shoots well also. I slugged the barrel on my 38-55 because I was getting shotgun accuracy with Winchester cases. Turned out it did not like Lee Liquid lube. 30-30 and 32-20 work very well with the stuff. Still can't say why.

DP

[Canuck Bob]

Here is an article by Paco on the 32-20. Please note the 73 should use what he calls level one loads. He loads hot for the strong modern designs like the Winchester 92.

http://www.leverguns.com/articles/paco/3220wcf.htm

[GARD72977]

I took it to the range today and had a lot of fun. The corny showed 750fps. It was droping a foot and a half at 100 yds but still easy to hit with. The trail boss was so quiet that you don't need hearing protection.

I loaded some .312 lead bullets and had no problems. I need to shorten the OAL a little and that should increase the FPS a little.

Im considering loading it with black powder. Just not sure about cleaning it. The say the 73 is one of the easiest to clean.

[northmn]

When cleaning black in a lever you might want to leave a fired case in the chamber as one of the problems is getting gunk into the action. Best way of course is to disassemble and breech clean (why single shots were so popular in BP days) Also consider getting a bore protector for your cleaning rod to eliminate muzzle damage. For general field cleaning I would leave the case in the chamber and swab it out. Another trick I have found with breech loaders over the years is to keep a few of those light smokeless loads handy and fire a couple off before cleaning. Not a purist thing but it does assist in cleaning.
Original BP loads for the 32-20 were in the neighborhood of 1100-1200 fps. Modern cases might be less.
Steve Garbe had an article on BP and small bores and found them to be very fussy. I have found either Swiss or the Grafs BP to give less fouling in small bores like my 25 flintlock.
DP

[Wayne Smith]

Do you currently load BP? Mine is in 44-40, but the principle is the same. These are thin brass bottle neck cartridges. They seal the bore when fired. You don't have to worry about getting BP residue in the action unless you put it there cleaning the barrel. Clean it barrel down and you won't have any problems. Just a hot water mop will probably clean the bore. If you have some leading then look up how to deal with that.

Make sure there is no air space between the BP and the boolit base - a compressed load is good. You might want a wad, I don't use one in the 44-40.

[northmn]

Basically getting gunk in the bore when cleaning is what I meant. The barrel down should also work. I generally like BP in singleshots anyway. As to hot water. Used that for years when I shot ML competition plus I have tried other formulas based on some sort of alchemy. Water is good. I do think some of the commercial solvents may be less prone to rusting if one does not pay attention but they can be pricy. You have to clean the cases also with BP. I have not used Trail Boss but there are other powders that the 32-20 can be used with. Mine is not overly fussy and I have been using up some pistol powders that I no longer have a use for. It doesn't use them up very fast.

DP