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Old 05-30-2017, 06:42 AM
Plain Old Dave Plain Old Dave is offline
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Default 32-20: An Adventure

I have waxed eloquently about the gun that'll shoot plum through a man, and have just got done with a very disappointing experience with Clays. It doesn't seem to work particularly well in this caliber, or 313s are oversized, or maybe some combination of the above. 3.0gr, and 100gr 313s are inconsistent, and by that I mean 80-90% are decently accurate with maybe a bit more recoil and blast than the anemic factory stuff. But every now and again I would get flattened primers and a couple had excessive blast and recoil that would remind you of full-house 357s, primers flowing back into the hole enough to lock the gun up, and cases stuck hard enough that you'd have to hit the ejector rod on the shooting table pretty hard to eject the cases (but the normal ones would pry out with my thumbnail and no special effort. Needless to say, I'm pulling the lot down and doing some investigating. May just be that you have to use National Match procedures (weigh EVERY charge) with Clays in the 32WCF, and I greatly prefer more forgiving powders. That said, what are some more forgiving powders besides Unique for the 32-20?
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Old 05-30-2017, 08:11 AM
47knuckle 47knuckle is offline
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Default 32-20 loads

I load for 4 32-20's, 2 fixed sight M&P's and 2 target model M&P's. I have settled on a single load of Georgia Arms .312/100 grain RNFP bullets and 3.0 grains of Bullseye. I find in my file a page I tore out of the Oct 2000 American Rifleman suggesting Titegroup at 2.7 to 3.2 gr, Bullseye at 2.4 to 2.8, and 231 at 2.8 to 3.2. All loads used Bull-X 100 gr LSWC bullet.
I've fired 100's of JFP 100 grain bullets thru these guns, but at the suggestion of some of our forum members have stopped using jacketed bullets on my older S&Ws.
Hope this helps you out.
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Old 05-30-2017, 08:31 AM
Ivan the Butcher Ivan the Butcher is offline
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I have a 1902 M&P made in 1902, a Colt Police Positive Special made in 1919 and a Marlin 1894 made in the 1980's. I shoot only cast/lead bullets in the revolvers and my primary bullet is the Ideal 3118, 115 RNFP sized to .314" (My mold is from the late 1970's and is a Lyman with a gas check so the number is different.) But the 115/117 bullet mold was developed specifically for 32 WCF. The powder I use is WW 231/HP-38 (same stuff). I have also used the Hodgdon powder Trail Boss on 105 gr LRNFN bullets, but they aren't as accurate! It is probably the junk/scrap lead is too hard and the size is too small, because Trail Boss is great in everything else I've tried it in! For pistol use I keep the lead bullets in the 750-800 fps range and have very good accuracy!

Ivan
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Old 05-30-2017, 08:53 AM
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When loading small charges of Clays,2.1gr to 3.2gr I've found a Lee Auto Drum Powder Measure drops more consistently than a Lee Auto Disk Powder Measure.

Drop about 25 or more loads of the 32-20 Clays 3.0gr and check each drop on a good scale.See how much the drops vary from your powder measure.

Other powders may be more consistent.
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Old 05-30-2017, 09:09 AM
2152hq 2152hq is offline
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I use RedDot in 32-20.
I load 115gr lead bullet. (Commercially cast and purchased)
The charge I use is 3.9gr of RedDot.

It's listed in my Lyman (& I'm told the older RCBS) cast bullet manuals. I don't have the book nor my reloading notes handy but I recall that he min/max charge range is something like 3.5gr/4.1gr.
Vel is published at around 850min to 950max.
VERIFY ANY LOAD DATA WITH PUBLISHED DATA BEFORE USING..

I use the load in my Colt SAA (1903mfg) revolver and have used it in a Winchester 92.
Very accurate in the 92, so-so in the Colt but it has a very poor bore and a ring in it!
Nice pleasant load to shoot.

Last edited by 2152hq; 05-30-2017 at 09:11 AM.
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Old 05-30-2017, 09:14 AM
old tanker old tanker is offline
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The classic Ken Waters' load of 115 grain Lyman 311008, as cast, and 6.0 grains of SR-4756 powder works well in my revolvers.
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Old 05-30-2017, 05:50 PM
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I have always used only 3.5 grains of Bullseye and a 100 grain .313" lead bullet as my standard .32-20 load. I have never used any other. The older Lyman manuals have lots of .32-20 recipes.

Last edited by DWalt; 05-30-2017 at 05:52 PM.
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Old 05-30-2017, 08:35 PM
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I'm not a big fan of lead so use the Rainer 100 grn plated bullets. I think most pistol powders will be fine. I've used Bullseye, 231, Acc #5. What I realized one day was that my 32-20 loads were right there with my 38 special rounds. I do load a little hotter for my Win 1892s. True there's not a lot of published loads but it's pretty easy to come up with a safe load.
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