Question for the 32-40 shooters

[wcp4570]

I recently pickup a nice Winchester 1885 Limited Series 32-40 and I'm collecting items to shoot this rifle. The rifle has a 16 twist and as best I can measure the bore with a 35 cal cast bullet, drive it into the muzzle, it looks like I have a .321 grove and .315 bore. Being a slower twist will this rifle stabilize 180 grain bullet? Just this morning I bought a 321297 single cavity mold off eBay. I also got an Accurate mold with the rifle, its number 31-156C. Looking at that mold on Accurate web sight it can be ordered bore size from .295 to .325. I have not cast with it yet but I'm hoping for a .322 or .323 and weight unknown. I will cast this mold soon to determine weight and size, I'm hoping for the best because it came with the rifle.

So I'm hoping some 32-40 shooter will chime in on the 180gr bullet for my barrel twist. Thanks in advance for any and all comments.

wcp

[marlinman93]

That's the twist rate the .32-40's have used for many decades. All my old 1800's .32-40's use this 1:16" twist and even 200 gr. bullets work fine. You shouldn't have any issues.

[wcp4570]

That's the twist rate the .32-40's have used for many decades. All my old 1800's .32-40's use this 1:16" twist and even 200 gr. bullets work fine. You shouldn't have any issues.

I was hoping that a little heavier bullet would work for that twist. Thanks for the input.

I've put a Burris 6x24 scope on it to see just how accurate this rifle will be. I would like to find either a Unertyl, Lyman or Fecker target scope for this rifle but if I can't find one it will probably wear a tang sight of some sort.

wcp

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello wcp4570,

I haven't shot my Marlin 1893 in years, but when I did I used 30-30 Brass resized to 32-40 with an RCBS 32-170-FN bullet sized to .321".
I did have a tumbling issue with the W.W. bullets, so I mixed some 40-60 solder with my W.W. and the keyholes disappeared.
Cases ended up shorter than the 32-40 brass, but I also trimmed cases to make O.A.L. 2.500" to operate in the Marlin 1893.
The crimp groove left more bullet exposed then the original 32-40 bullet.

AntiqueSledMan.

[lotech]

I bought one of the Miroku 1885 Winchester .32-40s ten or more years ago. I've used several bullets; all have been accurate. The 200 grain SAECO (designed as a breech seater but I loaded it in the case) may have been the most accurate, but the Lyman design #319247 plain base is the bullet I generally use loaded to around 1400 fps. The RCBS 170 grain gas check design is also a good one as is one I have by Accurate that is very similar to the RCBS style. Wheelweight alloy has worked fine. A .321" size die will work, but I prefer a .323" even though most bullets are only lubed rather than sized with this one.

[pworley1]

Mine does well with the #319247 mold.

[marlinman93]

Which mold works best depends on bore diameter, which is as important as what weight it shoots well. I like bullets to be .001" over groove diameter, which has given me best results in group size, and eliminating leading.

[Green Frog]

My experience with 32/40 has been limited mostly to original Winchester barrels ,one Green Mountain barrel installed on an original high wall, and a Ruger #1 with a Douglas barrel. AFAIK, all have had the long-used 1 in 16 twist. I mostly shoot breech seated with a mechanical seater, so tapered bullets with a base band of up to .323 have worked fine for me. One of the most commonly used bullets was that old 319247 that ran about .320 or .321 with my alloy and I shot a bunch of them early on, but like you I decided I needed to go heavier. For fixed ammo, I like 185-200 grain bullets, shot as cast or for easy loading in the brass sized to .319 or .320. I’d have to say one of my all time favorites was the long discontinued Ideal 31952 in the 200 grain configuration. Out to 200 yds it shot much better than I had any right to expect.

By the way, my powder of choice has always been the now discontinued IMR4759, but I once had some reloads someone had done with a 195 grain bullet and 4227 powder. They shot about as well as any fixed rounds I ever tried. If I were going to load up some fixed ammo for my 32-40s today, I’d probably go with some of my 4759 stash and cast up some 185 or 200 grain bullets and have at it. I’d lube and load the bullets as cast if they would work that way, otherwise I’d size them to whatever the gun liked, .319-.321. When I first started, all I had was a 319 sizing die, and it did well for me.

Froggie

[GOPHER SLAYER]

32-40 brass is hard to find so I fire form 32SPL brass. You then run it thru a sizing die and you have brass. It is a little short, but my two 32-40 rifles don't seem to notice. I use 4227 powder. I have a Hoch mold that casts a 165-grain bullet. I never tried anything heaver.

[Gtek]

180-203 boolits 25-1 with Javelina plus/minus 14 grains of 4227 breech seated, ran about 1400 and less than an inch all day.

[marlinman93]

32-40 brass is hard to find so I fire form 32SPL brass. You then run it thru a sizing die and you have brass. It is a little short, but my two 32-40 rifles don't seem to notice. I use 4227 powder. I have a Hoch mold that casts a 165-grain bullet. I never tried anything heaver.

I've just run the .32 Special through my .32-40 dies, and load them up. I didn't think a .32 Win. Spl. case would fit in the chamber of a .32-40 rifle? I think the shoulder will stop it from chambering.

[lotech]

Regarding the scarcity of .32-40 brass... when I bought my Winchester 1885 reproduction some years ago, I waited about two years before brass became available and that was during a time when there were no shortages on other components. I used reformed .30-30 brass like others have done. Even if it's a little short, accuracy and velocity were identical to the Winchester .32-40 brass that I eventually got. Apparently, Winchester only makes this stuff every few years. I hope I now have a lifetime supply of .32-40 cases.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I've just run the .32 Special through my .32-40 dies, and load them up. I didn't think a .32 Win. Spl. case would fit in the chamber of a .32-40 rifle? I think the shoulder will stop it from chambering.

Been doing it for years without a problem.

[wcp4570]

I appreciate all comments from bullet weight to brass to powder. I got lucky when I bought this rifle and the fellow said he was sending some brass, dies and a few other things. Well the brass wound up being 220 pieces of Winchester 32-40 and over 100 formed 30-30 pieces of brass. I am looking at purchasing another mold from Accurate and was thinking about the 32-180T with the body being .322 all the way down. But there is talk here about breech seating (which I've never done), I was wondering, when breech seating does it require a taper bullet like the accurate 32-180D? The taper design seems like it would be a real headache to get lubed in a 450 without making a big mess. My last question is, when breech seating the bullet is it difficult to get the base of the bullet and case mouth aligned when chambering the charged case? I assume that the brass is not resized and maybe a slight bell on the mouth to make this all happen? Sorry for the silly question but like I said I've never done this before.

wcp

Edited to say I did a search for breech seating and found a lot of information about this technique. All my question are answered about breech seating.

[marlinman93]

Breech seating is pretty tough to do without a tapered bullet, so it doesn't require it, but will be a lot easier if you do use a tapered bullet. A breech seating tool is a must, and I use a Cleave tool that has a very long handle that can be configured to work right or left handed. It makes breech seating extremely easy. I also use a re-de-capping tool Jerry makes, that allows me to quickly remove and install primers. If I take my Harrell's powder measure to the range with me I can shoot the same case all day long.






Jerry's tools are true works of art. I have several for different rifles, and also a few extra re-decapping tools.

[marlinman93]

Been doing it for years without a problem.

Sorry, but I just tried both a .32 Win. Spl. case, and a .30-30 case, and both stopped way short of chambering in my .32-40 Ballard. Only went into the chamber about 1" before the shoulder hit and stopped it.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I've just run the .32 Special through my .32-40 dies, and load them up. I didn't think a .32 Win. Spl. case would fit in the chamber of a .32-40 rifle? I think the shoulder will stop it from chambering.

marlin, you are right. When I said fire- form I was actually thinking about fire forming 30-40 Krag or 303 British for a 40-Krag rifle I have.

[Green Frog]

Back to bullets… that 321297 mould has only 1 drawback IMHO, that being the gas check. They are not legal in ASSRA competitions and really unnecessary for most other applications. A similar bullet is the 321232 which was also designed mainly for the 32 Win Spl but has been used successfully for years in the 32/40.

As for tapered vs cylindrical bullet profile for breech seating, it requires more brute force to seat a cylindrical bullet in an “un-throated” chamber but it can be done, especially if you use a mechanical seater instead of just pushing it in. In an ideal situation you have a chamber throat that is cut at a slight taper and a bullet that closely matches it. Placing the bullet into the chamber is like putting a metal stopper into a sink (like in Chemistry lab). It takes virtually no effort to get it in yet there is a water tight seal in the sink and an airtight seal in your chamber. Most folks go for cramming a larger bullet in by brute force… I do it all the time with my bench gun.

As for lubricating a tapered bullet with your Lyman 450; it just doesn’t work very well. For tapered bullets most of us pan lube or use a “lube pump” with an insert bored specifically to fit that bullet. I use a pump on the old Charlie Dell design which was based loosely on Harry Pope’s design. For more questions about breech seating, using tapered bullets, etc, etc, you might wish to visit

https://forum.assra.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl

and see how we do it in ASSRA matches. When I used to compete with my original high wall 32/40 in Schuetzen configuration I had on my bench a rest to hold the rifle while loading, a Jake Simmons re and decapper, my powder measure on a stand, a box of carefully cast and sorted bullets, a Charlie Dell lube pump, a mechanical breech seater, and one 32/40 case I reused all day (and all season). Not fast, but with great potential for accuracy.

I used to tell people I got into the Schuetzen game not for the shooting but to play with all the gadgets and gizmos!

Froggie

[FergusonTO35]

On the topic of this cartridge, anybody ever try .32-40 load data in .30-30 with same weight boolits? It looks to me like the .32-40 performance would do well on just about anything under 100 yards and be pretty cheap to load.

[marlinman93]

On the topic of this cartridge, anybody ever try .32-40 load data in .30-30 with same weight boolits? It looks to me like the .32-40 performance would do well on just about anything under 100 yards and be pretty cheap to load.

.32-40 loads in a .30-30 with equal weight cast bullets should work just fine. The case volume of a .30-30 is slightly smaller, so expect a little more pressure, and a little higher velocity. But as long as you're not hotrodding it everything should be pretty close.