Marlin 1893 .32-40

[pacecars]

I have been looking for a Marlin 1893 for a little while and found a nice looking one with a smokeless steel half round barrel in .32-40 and decided to take the plunge. Never had a .32-40 but it looks like it ought to be a good cast bullet gun

[marlin1895]

looks like a nice gun. use 38-55 brass for reloads. full length size in a 32-40 die. lot cheaper than buying 32-40 brass which is scarce & high priced

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello pacecars,

Nice find, I've been using 30-30 brass. I run them through a 32 special die, then followed by a 32-40 die.
30-30 brass might be a little short, but I use an RCBS 32-170-FN mold and its nose is longer then the 32-40 bullet.
I went with what would feed in my 1893. I have a picture of a John Wayne case with factory bullet along side my load.
I did shoot a Doe at about 60 yards with it once, clean kill. Definitely a fun one to play with.

AntiqueSledMan.

[Wilderness]

Yes, looks like a good one.

I get best groups from mine with #32359, 122.5 gns in really soft alloy, sized .323". Most accurate load I have used has been 4.5 gns Green Dot. Velocity 1030 fps, group around 1.5" at 50 m for 10 shots. Similar results with 5.5 gns AP70/Universal. I expect 5.5 of Unique would be almost identical.

Re brass, I make mine out of .30-30s - outside neck turn as .30-30 to eliminate uneven neck expansion, neck expand with Lyman M32 die, FLS in Lee die (Anhydrous lanolin case lube) and NE again, fireform. Cases grow .020" or .030" in sizing, but give some of that back with fire forming. End result is cases around 2.050", depending on what you start with. Then I neck size by using a Lyman .32 Special FLS die.

Shock, horror, cases much too short for .32-40 (2.125"), but they work OK. It may be a surprise to learn that many/most .30-30 chambers are very long also, and nobody complains about standard cases being too short for them. My 1949 Marlin 336A .30-30 has a chamber length of 2.150", and my 99 Savage .30-30, including some spare headspace, is about 2.140".

An aside: To measure chamber length (any calibre), start with a FLS case and trim off about half the neck. Then lathe up a brass plunger that is a resistance slide in the neck. On the front end of the plunger leave a flange of the same diameter as a fired case neck (or chamber neck size if you have a chamber cast) and face off the outer end square. With plunger in the case neck, and the total length of case and plunger greater than expected chamber length, insert tool in chamber and close action. The plunger is pushed back into the case by the end of the chamber. Open action, eject tool (this is where the resistance fit becomes important - so you don't lose the measurement), and measure chamber length with vernier. This may save you some unnecessary and possibly detrimental case trimming, especially when you realise you can live without crimping.

[Drm50]

I bought the neatest little 93 carbine you ever saw. 32/40. Bought dies and brass and couldn’t wait to shoot it. My loads wouldnt chamber. Back home to check out the mistake. Turned out the gun had been punched to 32Win. Took it back to shop and got my money back. Tried to buy rifle but they wanted same money.

[pietro]

.

Nice grab - congrats ! !

The .32-40 was made for cast boolit loads, so if the bore's good, it should be a good shooter.

.

[ATCDoktor]

I bought this Marlin 1893 chambered in 32/40 a couple of years ago and it’s an exceptional shooter.



It’s was put together from parts and expertly finished by a member of the Marlin Owners forum.

The barrel he used was New Old Stock with a pristine bore and it is quite accurate

This was the first 10 rounds fired at 100 yards using Winchester head stamped 32/40 brass, 14.5 grains of IMR 4227 and a 165 grain .321 cast boolit (velocity averaged 1450 fps).



Fired 3 rounds, then tapped the rear sight to the left and fired another 7 into about 2.5 inches.

I’ve run boolits as fat as .323” through it but the .321’s shoot the best in mine.

.323” 180 grain Flat Point and 14.5 grains of IMR 4227.

[Bushrat]

I bought an exact copy of that rifle, for my first deer rifle. That was the fall of 1962, paid $15 for the rifle and a box of ammo. I bought it at a small general store in Paradise Montana. It was used but pretty clean. Owned that rifle two times over the next five years, I often wish I had it back.

[2152hq]

Nice looking rifles.
I've always liked the 1893. The 32-40 is a classic cartridge
I assembled one recently from misc parts, a SRC, but had to use the 30-30 bbl in the bunch.

I'd have liked to have used the 32-40 carbine bbl that was in the parts but it's only 14 inches long!

[fordwannabe]

2152hq If you can get a factory letter that the gun came with a 14 inch barrel you can get an exemption from ATF and that would be a VERY valuable gun.

[quail4jake]

Great find, unusual combo of 1/2 octagon barrel, 1/2 mag and carbine butt. You will like the .32-40 to load cast boolits, it was intended for that in 1884. It would be great to get starline brass but that's just not reality anymore sooo...you will likely be converting .30-30 or .38-55. I have done some converting and the only thing I can add to help is: anneal! and carefully since you'll want your demarcation line almost to the web but don't want to anneal the base or web itself. I learned to go slow and partially size then re anneal until the new dimension is met, I trim as I go too to just meet the trim length on the final sizing then anneal the neck as usual. I converted .45-70 to .38-56 and cracked some initially but after meticulous annealing made cases that have now lasted 8x. I do anneal the necks every other loading or so. Good luck, love those old Marlins!

[marlin1895]

when i make 38-56 brass i use r-p brass 45-70. i tried using winchester brass but even with annealing i still cracked necks. i do not anneal the r-p brass & had good luck with them.