.32-20

Alk8944,
What is your favorite powder for loading the .32-20?
I had a good load with SR4756 but that powder went the way of the dodo.

Curl
 
No ring in barrel. I fired it. No unusual sound. It was first time I shot it. Seemed kinda quiet but ammo & revolver type are both new to me.

As a general rule, I think of the 32-20 as a relatively loud round. If I pulled the trigger on one of mine and it were "kinda quiet" I would, as you rightfully did, stop shooting and check for something wrong.v :confused:

I agree with previous posters who suggest only using mild loads with lead bullets and leaving the hotter, jacketed stuff for later guns with stronger, more consistent steels. Your 1899 deserves a little more tender treatment. If ever a gun cried out for hand loading with cast bullets, this is it! ;)

Regards,
Froggie
 
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Trail Boss powder for me and 93 grain LRN. I always keep the bullets light in these old revolvers, since pressures will be lower at any given velocity. No need to have heavy bullets since they will all go through paper. Actually have a box of 76 grain LRN bullets for 32 S&W DAs and am thinking of trying them out in my 1899s.

One possible reason why you see bulged barrels in 32-20s vs 38 Special because the 32-20 barrels have very thick walls. I bet many 38 barrels would have split and needed replacement, while a 32-20 barrel would absorb the abnormal pressure spikes.

Lastly, I am in the camp that one should not use jacketed bullets in a 120 year old gun. Pressures are higher than lead bullets of equal weight and charge. The only good reason to use such a bullet for target shooting is if you want high velocities, which you definitely do not want in your 1899.
 
Only ammo I can find available on line is Winchester 100 grain lead flat nose. Would this be ok?

Depends, if it is older stock it may be the rifle ammo. But I do not believe any manufacturer today is making 32-20 in the rifle loads. The rifle loads are definitely not safe for 100 year old gun.
 
According to HMS
Those are self defense loads running at
980fps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Depends, if it is older stock it may be the rifle ammo. But I do not believe any manufacturer today is making 32-20 in the rifle loads. The rifle loads are definitely not safe for 100 year old gun.

The "rifle only" load used a 80 grain jacketed hollow point bullet and the head stamp had "HV" stamped upon it.

Some Remington ammo used jacketed soft points. These are OK in older guns, as they are not loaded hot. You can also find lead flat nose and plated lead flat nose loads.
 
I'm loading 115gr lead flat points over 3.2gr of 231. Also 85gr Hornady XTP over 3.8gr 231. I shoot the 115gr lead flat points most often. Mild load with little recoil.
 
Not to beat a dead horse but I gotta bring up another question. Just won a Winchester 1892 born in 1907 in an auction. What's the consensus on shooting those jacketed rounds in the rifle?
 
Not to beat a dead horse . . .

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I am sure it would be OK to shoot that ammo since the lever action Winchesters are strong actions. My take on the differences between copper and lead is that lead is s lubricant, while copper offers no lubrication, so traveling down the barrel with increased friction. Pressures can be higher and wear can be higher than lead.

I believe the biggest reasons to use copper is for increased expansion of the bullet to provide improved killing power when hunting game, plus copper provides protection against leading in barrels. It is now understood that with the proper lead alloy, you can shoot up to 2000 fps before leading becomes a problem and above that velocity, copper can be deposited in the rifling which is even harder to clean than lead fouling.

I am sure that you will never "shoot out" the riflings in the barrel of an 1892 Winchester, so light use of jacketed bullets will probably be fine. If you intend to shoot that rifle at cowboy action events lead is the only bullet allowed. If you intend on putting lots of boxes of ammo through the old lever-action doing target shooting, lead will do the least harm to the rifle.
 
I have an old Marlin in 32-20 from around 1905. The bore is a little rough, and it shoots jacketed bullets much better than cast bullets.
 
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