New to me M1889 Marlin

[ndnchf]

I thought you fellas might enjoy seeing the model 1889 Marlin I just picked up. It's a 32-20 made in 1894. It has an original Lyman tang sight. Best of all the bore is near mint. It should be a fine shooter with black powder or mild smokeless loads with cast bullets.

[enfield]

I have an 1889 in 38-40, they are a very nice rifle, I think they work slicker than the Winchesters ( I have not tried a 1873 though ) and the 32-20 is one of my favourite cartridges, you are a lucky fellow.

[TXGunNut]

Wow, congrats!

[castalott]

Here is a video you might like..... This guy is a member here , I think....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCe0wiKBNEI

Man, leverguns are neat......

Dale

[scaevola]

Nice, very nice. That should be a lot of fun to shoot.

[50target]

NDNCHF, nice gun. I have an 1889 in 32-20 myself. I came with a Lyman tang sight like yours. It has the best trigger of any gun I've encountered. It does have the round barrel but in 26" length and heavy and the bore is as shiny as the day it left the factory. She is one of my favorites. You will like yours too.

[ndnchf]

Thanks guys, I'm really looking forward to some range time with it.

50Target - our rifles are nearly twin brothers! What load does your rifle like?

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Nice 89 Marlin ! Not sure if I have held a 32 WCF Marlin 89 with a pristine bore. That would be a massive plus. That rifle is shooting ready to my eyes.
Biggest fact I learned with the old Marlins (and new) is check that throat diameter area. Do not be surprised to find a throat / lead area that will take a .313 or larger boolit. This was purposely done with old rifles so follow on shots with cheap sooty BP would still chamber. Even the best BP will leave some fouling although far less than the cheap made types and musket powder.
Check that muzzle carefully. Sadly many great bores are hindered by worn end of the barrel muzzle damage. Always use a rod guide. These old soft steel barrels wear fast when rubbed with rods.
Never shoot any jacketed in that barrel. Lead has a wear factor of near 0. I would rate jacketed as 3-5. Shoot 1000 lead boolits and your barrel is polished. Shoot 1000 jacketed and you may have a smoothbore.

I use 115 grain boolits in my caliber .32's. The lighter ones will not penetrate large ground hogs or raccoons unless you gut shoot them. Plus with BP the 40-1 115's will bump up better than lighter boolits to seal off the barrel.
Smokeless is where that fat throat really needs addressing. I load and shoot the fattest 115 grain bullet the chamber will allow. Lead is very soft metal and will easily swage down as it enters a thinner groove barrel along the way. But to small a diameter boolit can easily allow nose tilt and that is as bad as hot gas blowing past the boolit base. Hopefully with a pristine bore there has not been any erosion at the throat and small diameter boolits can be shot well. After years of life with 32 WCF and several old 32's you tend to accumulate fat molds.

Have used a lot of Unique in my 32's. It takes up space, needs no fillers and will always ignites even pointed straight down. Start at 4 grains and work up at .2 (2 tenths) of a grain. You will find an accurate load before you reach 5.3 grains which I call max in 100 year old firearms. That will be near 1300 fps. If you need more velocity look for a newer steel rifle or a Dan Wesson revolver in 32-20. Those are sweet companion revolvers for hunting ground hogs.

If that was mine I would load up 35 rounds with 3F, a 115 grain 40-1 boolit of proper diameter and fire those at 50 yards as carefully as possible to see how accurate that barrel is. Then spend the rest of your days with smokeless and try to beat that group. That little exercise will change your whole idea about BP and it's faithful accuracy level. I leave my BP cases "untumbled" and never resized. A slight crimp to hold the boolit in place and the BP column under the boolit will never let a boolit get deep seated. Gets no better than that.
Mike in Peru

[ndnchf]

Mike in Peru - Thanks for all your advice. I've been shooting and loading for BPCRs since 1981, so I'm pretty familiar with them in general. But this is my first .32-20 (along with the .32-20 #2 Remington rolling block I just got also), so this cartridge is all new for me. Agree with all your comments.

I have loaded up a variety of rounds with 2400, Goex 3F, Old Eynsford 2F and 5744 with both 115gr, 98gr and 103 gr bullets. Relating to your last paragraph, I cast about 50 bullets in an original Ideal loading too/mold combo in 40-1. They came out at 103gr., and .311" diameter. I loaded them over 18gr of Goex 3F. Another load was the 98gr RCBS SWC over 20gr of 2F Old E (drop tubed and slightly compressed). I'm looking forward to trying these loads in both of my new .32-20s.
Steve

[missionary5155]

Good morning Steve
I can smell the fine aroma of a nice old Marlin speaking out across some Fredericksburg green spot. Wish I could be there with you to enjoy the day. Are there pictures of the #2 Roller ? Disregard... Found the photo in Single Shots... Nice !!!
Mike in Peru

[ndnchf]

Here is the Ideal loading tool/mold, bullet and cartridges made from it. The Ideal literature says its a copy of the UMC factory bullet.


http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y493/ndnchf/BPCR/IMG_20150730_200840_edit_zpsslyhb9o5.jpg (http://s1277.photobucket.com/user/ndnchf/media/BPCR/IMG_20150730_200840_edit_zpsslyhb9o5.jpg.html)


http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y493/ndnchf/BPCR/32%20tool1_zps9o9qmpsu.jpg (http://s1277.photobucket.com/user/ndnchf/media/BPCR/32%20tool1_zps9o9qmpsu.jpg.html)

[missionary5155]

Greetings
Have that similar tool (not so pretty) I use to cast for a 73 32 WCF. Mine drops on the heavy side (about 116+ ) with 40-1. That boolit into the shoulders of a ground hog or raccoon will end their waltz across the bean field corner.
Mike in Peru

[TXGunNut]

Wow, cool mould! Wish my 32-20 wasn't so far down my project list, really like that cartridge.