.32 Winchester Special

[hurricane92]

I just acquired 1956 Winchester 94 in .32 Winchester Special. Along with the rifle I received 500 Meistercast 170 gr, plain base, flat nose boolits sized .323. Powders I have on hand that might be suitable are Unique, SR 4759, and XMP 5744. I can only find loads for GC boolits in my loading manuals and I hope someone might have a load I can use. My hunting days are behind me and this is just for fun at the range.

[redneckdan]

Keep the velocity below 1200fps or so and the plain base should work fine. I'd probably use the unique. I don't have any data handy at the moment. If no one has replied by the time I get home tonight I'll dig out my cast bullet hand book.

[StarMetal]

You may try a wad under the base of the bullet providing the bullet doesn't go pass the shoulder/neck junction. Some good ones are like cutting wads out of those stryo-foam trays meat comes on from the grocery store. They come in different thicknesses too. Another is the poly lids from coffee cans...like say the black ones from Folgers. Also fillers like Dacron help some. Now if you use any of these, and this isn't to scare you away from them, do not pack them atop the powder leaving an airspace between them and the bullet base. Dacron is spongy and will fill the space between the powder and bullet base. The wads mentioned here first will always be at the base of the bullet unless you seat the bullet below the neck...don't do that. What these will do is is keep the powder combustion off the base of the bullet. They seal off the gases some too from getting past the base and gas cutting. You can try loads with and without them to compare the results. They tend to keep your bore cleaner also. You'll be using reduced loads so fillers won't be of a concern there, as they due raise pressure. Never use them in a max load, always work up.

Joe

[GrizzLeeBear]

I've shot my 1936 Marlin with 7 grains of Promo (Red Dot) and a plain base 321297 (177 gr) boolit. Groups around 1" at 50 yds. With 6 grains I got evidence of unstable boolits, oval holes in target. The 7 grain load gets the velocity and rpm up a little to stabalize this weight of bullet and groups better with round holes. I'm guessing a little over 1100 fps.
With Unique I would start at 8 grains and work up to 10 grains.

[hurricane92]

Thanks for the advice. I'm a bit reluctant to use a filler, but the wad appeals to me and I plenty of raw material. Is there any method of attaching a wad to the base of the Boolit.

[StarMetal]

Thanks for the advice. I'm a bit reluctant to use a filler, but the wad appeals to me and I plenty of raw material. Is there any method of attaching a wad to the base of the Boolit.

It's not absolutely necessary that you need a wad, but they do offer a tad more protection. You don't need to attach them to the base of the bullet. Just make sure they don't seat past the neck. Those styro foam trays I spoke of you can just about use the case to cut one out, that is after you primed them and filled with your powder. Or you can take a junk case and turn it into a gasket cutter sorts. You sharpen one of the edges. Sharpening the outside edge is exactly like a gasket cutter. If you sharpen the inside you will get a slightly larger tighter fitting wad which I prefer.

Just give them a try and compare results, plus looking at the bore seeing if there is a difference there too.

Joe