Marlin 1893 32-40

[Remmy4477]

A friend of mine picked up a very old Marlin 1893 in 32-40.
Rifle is in decent shape, bore is dark but rifling looks ok.

Wondering about the availability of 32-40 brass?
I see it can be formed from several different cases.

Thoughts?

[Texas by God]

I don't see why it couldn't be easily formed from 30-30 or .32 Win Sp brass.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Some folks also reform/resize Starline 38-55 to get a longer case. You might check that Marlin for a 'BLACK POWDER ONLY' on the barrel. The 32-40 is not high pressure cartridge, but the black powder barrels should not use the higher pressure loads and should stick to cast boolits.

[Ruts]

i have a marlin 1893 32 40 it cost me 80 bucks for 20 brass but i live in canada so i dont know how easy it is to get in the states. 30 30 brass is easily made and shoots jacketed well but my worn and corroded barrel needs the longer brass to start cast bullets with ok accuracy

[Hootmix]

Back when I got back into reloading , I started looking for a Marlin 32/40 ,, ended up w/ a 40/60 chaparral ( I knew a guy that knew a guy ,, thingy ),, still think the 32/40 would be a great target round . Good luck w/ your " New rifle ".

coffee's ready ,, Hootmix .

[Reverend Al]

I've been shooting .32-40 for years now in several different rifles including a '93 Marlin and .30-30 cases reformed will work fine, they just come up a little bit on the short side. No problem though, just seat your cast boolits out to the regular COAL with an extra grease groove exposed and they'll shoot better than you can hold them with iron (or peep) sights. If the case length really concerns you then you can reform some cases from full length .38-55 brass and finish up at the correct length. One of my favorite "soft" target loads for my .32-40's is 12.0 grains of 2400 with a 165 / 170 grain .321" boolit. They are easy on the gun, easy on the shoulder, and are low pressure / velocity and won't do any harm if your 1893 model Marlin has a "Black Powder Only" barrel.

[bigted]

Well going to step out on a branch here and mention that i have never seen a vintage gun with the " BLACK POWDER ONLY" written anywhere on them. Gotta remember if a gun was made prior to smokeless powder, then the only powder there was is black powder and nobody needed to be ware of the modern phrase of " black powder only " as black powder was the only powder in use anywhere.

Also ... and someone can correct me here if needed ... the 1893 Marlin was the " Safety Model " and hence was built with the then new smokeless powder in mind.

My " Safety Model " in 38-55 is a nice treat for me. It is almost as smooth as a 1886 Winchester. Mine shoots lights out and small doses of unique are a very fun hoot under my 250 grain boolits from the Accurate molds mold.

If i were to desire 32-40 brass ... first i would try Buffalo Arms as they hsndle lotza kinds of brass, then if no joy, id get 38-55 brass to size into 32-40 as with my experience with 40-65 Winchester formed from 45-70 cases and they grow in length so length trimming becomes needed

[Remmy4477]

Also ... and someone can correct me here if needed ... the 1893 Marlin was the " Safety Model " and hence was built with the then new smokeless powder in mind.

My " Safety Model " in 38-55 is a nice treat for me. It is almost as smooth as a 1886 Winchester. Mine shoots lights out and small doses of unique are a very fun hoot under my 250 grain boolits from the Accurate molds mold.

I had a Marlin 1893 a few years ago that was marked "marlin safety" on top of the receiver.
This particular 93 has no such markings, I found that interesting about this rifle. Only markings are on the barrel, caliber and marlin address with pantent numbers.

[Triggerfinger]

Marlin made 1893's for smokeless and black powder loads. Both models were marked for each on the barrels. I believe the Black Powder were the B models.

[OverMax]

32-40 brass is still available from Winchester. Only problem is its a Special run. {once a year}
The parent brass to a 32-40 is the 38-55. No other cartridge brass available today can claim the same. Only the 38-55.
Although 32 special is the easiest brass to re-swagge to 32-40 or as I call em 32-40 shorts. Such in-a-pinch-swagged brass i.e. 32 Special & 30-30 comparisons: Like shooting a 38 special in a chamber reamed to shoot 357 mag or a 22 long fired in a chamber labeled to shoot: For 22 long rifle only.
They work but don't expect matching performance.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

for bigted
I have two factory Marlin barrels; both 1/2 octagon/round threaded for the 93 Marlin, one is for the 32-40, the other I believe is 38-55, both have the black powder only statement. The true Marlin collectors probably revel in this, but I have seen it mentioned in print and I do have the barrels stored away. If you Google 'Marlin black powder only', multiple results do show up. They were called 'Grade B' models and were made after smokeless powder had been around for a while, 1910's(?).

[bob208]

I use .30-30 brass comes out a little short. I load with 2f goex and use the lyman bullet for the 8mm it is gas check and weighs 165 gr. carries a lot of lude which is good for bp.

[John Taylor]

Marlin barrels for smokeless are usually marked "Smokeless steel". Winchesters are marked Nickel steel which did not come out till 1895 for Winchester so all the rifle in 1894 were in 38-55 or 32-40 because they were waiting on the new barrels