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Old 08-13-2024, 08:32 PM
BARgunner BARgunner is offline
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Default Reloading .32-20 suggestions

I’m getting ready to reload some .32-20 for a modern Single Action with a 4 3/4” barrel using a 100gr FNRP hard cast bullet. I have Unique, True Blue, 2400, Enforcer and W231 available. I’d prefer to use the W231 or True Blue and want to keep it around 900 to 1000fps. I haven’t found much in the way of load data that isn’t for use in a rifle. In the past, I’ve used Enforcer which is very similar to 2400 and wasn’t particularly impressed with the results.
Any suggestions on the listed powders, preferably W231, True Blue or Unique?

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Old 08-13-2024, 09:11 PM
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You can’t go wrong with 3.2-3.5gr of 231. I save the 2400 for my 32-20 rifles.
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Old 08-14-2024, 10:38 AM
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This is from the RCBS Cast Bullet Manual #1
32-20 Handgun - Ruger Blackhawk - 7 1/2" bbl.
bullet - RCBS 32-115-FN ... this data is for a 115 gr. bullet
it will be safe to use for the 100 gr. bullet , you will have a few more fps with the lighter bullet ... but will be safe load .

231 powder

starting load - 3.5 grs, 231 @ 737 fps

maximum load - 4.0 grs. 231 @ 845 fps

Hope this info helps you get started shooting that fine revolver !
Load Safe,
Gary
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Old 08-14-2024, 10:41 AM
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Is your “modern” SA a Ruger or one of the Colt clones? Strength of these designs varie a lot.
Froggie
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Old 08-14-2024, 07:37 PM
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Is your “modern” SA a Ruger or one of the Colt clones? Strength of these designs varie a lot.
Froggie
It’s a Cimarron Arms Single Action. It’s the same size as their .357 Mag and 45 Colt. It should handle a stout load in .32-20.
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Old 08-14-2024, 07:42 PM
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I use Unique, AA#5 and W231 in my 32 WCF reloads. All work very well.
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Old 08-14-2024, 07:44 PM
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Reloading info here:

Reloading The .32-20 Winchester - Reload Ammo
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Old 08-14-2024, 08:32 PM
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That will do. Thanks!
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Old 08-14-2024, 08:42 PM
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I've use many powders in the .32-20 with cast bullets of 90 - 117 grs. in weight. Best powder for accuracy has been Unique, but it's never worked well in my powder measure. I'm out of Unique and I'll buy no more even if it becomes easy to find again. I'll do load development with some other powder like 231 or something similar. Accuracy is more important to me than other considerations. No real need to use jacketed bulets in this cartridge, though they will work.
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Old 08-14-2024, 09:01 PM
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I've use many powders in the .32-20 with cast bullets of 90 - 117 grs. in weight. Best powder for accuracy has been Unique, but it's never worked well in my powder measure.
With one of these you won't spill any powder and it works well with all of them including Unique:

Lee Precision, Inc. - Auto-drum Powder Measure
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Old 08-14-2024, 09:33 PM
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A few things to keep in mind with .32-20:

1. Cartridge case mouth and walls are very thin when compared to most more modern calibers. Easy to crush or collapse a case during bullet seating or crimping. I like to use the Lyman M-die sizing, flaring, and crimping case mouths as separate operations to avoid overworking or stressing the cases.

2. Dimensions of chambers, throats, bore and groove diameters are all over the charts depending on the firearm manufacturer. Very little standardization exists. Finding the combination of bullet dimensions and die set-up can be a challenge, and what works nicely with one firearm may be disappointing in another. My old Colt Bisley SAA and Winchester 1892 might as well have been made on different planets. Both are over 100 years old so I keep everything on the mild side.

3. I noticed your comments on powders so I won't bore you with a lot of details, but I've used Unique just about exclusively in .32-20 for many years with cast bullets (113-grain RN-FP-gas check, with or without the gas checks). Many powders in the middle of the range for burn rates should do just as well in a revolver with moderate pressures considered.

4. I see nothing to be gained by pushing the upper edges for performance with this old, thin, rather delicate cartridge design originating in the black powder era.
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Old 08-14-2024, 09:53 PM
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This 32-20 thread is one of the longest threads I have ever seen here.
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Old 08-14-2024, 10:48 PM
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I’ve got quite a bit of Unique so I’ll probably start with that and the load data provided in the link from a previous post gives me the info that I need.
Thanks for all the input!
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Old 08-15-2024, 09:58 AM
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If you are having trouble finding Unique ... Testing has shown me
AA #5 (Accurate Arms ) is just a tad slower than Unique ...and might be easier to find ... It should be very good in 32-20 loads .
It (AA #5) meters like water and clean burning in 357 magnum and 41 magnum lead bullet (mid-range) loads .
My local dealer had a big supply of Accurate and Ramshot powder's last trip ... I bought more AA #2 , #5 and #9 ... figured I'd get em while the gitting was good !
Gary
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Old 08-15-2024, 10:09 AM
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Originally Posted by BARgunner View Post
I’m getting ready to reload some .32-20 for a modern Single Action with a 4 3/4” barrel using a 100gr FNRP hard cast bullet. I have Unique, True Blue, 2400, Enforcer and W231 available. I’d prefer to use the W231 or True Blue and want to keep it around 900 to 1000fps. I haven’t found much in the way of load data that isn’t for use in a rifle. In the past, I’ve used Enforcer which is very similar to 2400 and wasn’t particularly impressed with the results.
Any suggestions on the listed powders, preferably W231, True Blue or Unique?
4 to 4.5 grains of Unique should give you what you're looking for. That's the load I use on the off chance I'm not shooting black.

You should consider a case full of 3F black powder too! My 32-20s all shoot best with the black stuff.
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Old 08-15-2024, 07:07 PM
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Love .32 caliber guns and Ruger NO1’s and found a Ruger No1 Rebarreled to 32/20. Use 3.2 gr of 231 for the 95 gr SWC and 3.0 gr of 231 for the HBWC’s. Mainly shoot at 50 ft indoors with the Ruger, that’s the club we have the Tuesday morning retired guys shoot at.

Using 231 can produce accurate rounds. I mainly shoot lead bullets. May hot rod some jacketed rounds in the future. Have a Dillon 550 caliber conversion and a Lee factory crimp die for sale. Larry
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Old 08-15-2024, 07:30 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gwpercle View Post
If you are having trouble finding Unique ... Testing has shown me
AA #5 (Accurate Arms ) is just a tad slower than Unique ...and might be easier to find ... It should be very good in 32-20 loads .
It (AA #5) meters like water and clean burning in 357 magnum and 41 magnum lead bullet (mid-range) loads .
Gary
I have a bunch (over 4 pounds) of Hercules Unique but I keep finding ways to use my AA #5. It's pretty decent stuff.
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Old 08-15-2024, 08:55 PM
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4 to 4.5 grains of Unique should give you what you're looking for. That's the load I use on the off chance I'm not shooting black.

You should consider a case full of 3F black powder too! My 32-20s all shoot best with the black stuff.
Black powder sounds interesting and I’ve got several pounds of 3F. What type of primer do you use? I would think something with a little more oomph than a standard small pistol primer. Maybe small pistol magnum or small rifle primers?
I’ve loaded BP cartridges before so it’s not something new to me and the more I think about it, the more intriguing it sounds.
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Old 08-15-2024, 09:10 PM
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My readings over on the ASSRA forums tell me that black powder does better with the lower power primers. Mags are not needed and small pistol primers are preferred over small rifle. Many of the single shot rifles shooters using black powder will even use large pistol primers in their rifle cartridges, instead of large rifle, adding a paper punched disc of newspaper thickness under the primer to make up for dimensional differences between the two primers and to tame the force of ignition. Black powder ignites easily. Go figure... but they swear by it and win matches.
My own favorite 32-20 loads are with a 115 gr Lyman 3118 and 3.5 grs of Bullseye for both my S&W HE and my Stevens 44 and model 92 Winchester. These are more in the 800 fps range but are very accurate and easy on the brass. A good tight crimp is recommended for good accuracy.

John
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Old 08-15-2024, 10:44 PM
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Love .32 caliber guns and Ruger NO1’s and found a Ruger No1 Rebarreled to 32/20. Use 3.2 gr of 231 for the 95 gr SWC and 3.0 gr of 231 for the HBWC’s. Mainly shoot at 50 ft indoors with the Ruger, that’s the club we have the Tuesday morning retired guys shoot at.

Using 231 can produce accurate rounds. I mainly shoot lead bullets. May hot rod some jacketed rounds in the future. Have a Dillon 550 caliber conversion and a Lee factory crimp die for sale. Larry
What size Lee FCD and how much?
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Old 08-16-2024, 12:05 PM
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Black powder sounds interesting and I’ve got several pounds of 3F. What type of primer do you use? I would think something with a little more oomph than a standard small pistol primer. Maybe small pistol magnum or small rifle primers?
I’ve loaded BP cartridges before so it’s not something new to me and the more I think about it, the more intriguing it sounds.
I've found no real difference in primers. they all light it off. I have a Model 92 that has a pretty stout firing pin, so I use standard SR for that, just to resist piercing. For my revolvers, I use regular SP or SPMs, depending on what I have.

These WCF cartridges are great because they have thin walls and bottlenecks...they seal the chamber and keep things tidy when shooting black powder. I've gone to only shooting black powder out of my 32-20s and 44-40s, just like they were designed for. they just seem to work better that way.

Edit: one other note: I've gone to "big lube" style bullets for BP cartridges, and lube them with SPG. You'll be disappointed if you shoot regular smokeless-lubed bullets with BP. After a few shots, your accuracy will fall of a cliff, requiring you to clean the barrel.

With soft bullets, a big lube groove, and proper BP lube, you can shoot the WCF cartridges all day without cleaning and without losing accuracy.

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Old 08-16-2024, 06:35 PM
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I’ll have to forgo the BP as the bullets I have don’t have a big lube groove and are hard cast. Back to Unique and 231. I’ll work up some test loads with both powders and see which one this revolver prefers. Lots of good advice and I appreciate the responses.
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Old 08-28-2024, 04:00 AM
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I worked up six loads each for both W231 and Unique and the most accurate was W231. This is the first time I've used W231 for any loads and I was impressed by how clean it burned and how well it metered from my Dillon powder dispenser. I used 100gr FPRN hard cast bullets, CCI No. 400 (SRP) primers and new Starline brass. My revolver is Cimarron Model P Single Action with a 4 3/4" barrel. The winning load was 3.7grs of W231 for an average of 769 fps. Off of a good pistol rest, I got a 5 shot 1 1/4" group at 25 yards. I'm really pleased with those results. Windage was right on the money but the elevation was low which I expected because of the tall front sight. I'll have to take it down some to get it shooting to point of aim. I hope to get that done next week. I can see where this round would be a great varmint round out of longer barreled revolver or a rifle. I can also see why there are quite a few folks out there enamored with this cartridge. I appreciate all the advice from this thread. Thanks to all of you who responded with suggestions.

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Old 08-28-2024, 04:42 PM
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I had a Cimarron model P like yours, except with a slightly longer barrel. Mine also shot low and I had to carefully file the front sight down to correct it. I suspect they used the same barrel/front sight combo as for their 45 Colt Models, just bored a smaller hole through it.

John

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Old 08-28-2024, 08:45 PM
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I just found my Navy Arms/Uberti SAA 32-20 as well as my M&P 32-20 that had been “misfiled” after a gun show. I’ve about decided to thin the herd a bit, so these two may go away leaving me with just a Ruger Buckeye Special Blackhawk 32 combo. I’m finding it hard to conceive of just one 32-20 after all these years. IIRC, I got my first M&P 32-20 in the Fall of 1979! A bunch of rifles and pistols in 32-20 have passed through my hands!

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Old 08-28-2024, 08:55 PM
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I haven’t found much in the way of load data that isn’t for use in a rifle.

Where would you find 32 WCF load data for use in a rifle? That has to be some obscure data because I have never seen it.
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Old 08-28-2024, 11:14 PM
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I found it by searching for 32-20 reloading data. Most of what I found on the web was discussions for rifle loads.
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Old 08-29-2024, 08:55 AM
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For all those interested, attached is the reloading data sheet from Ken Waters Pet Loads for the 32-20 revolver. He also notes in his article that a good crimp helps with consistency with all loads.

John
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Old 08-29-2024, 09:13 AM
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I found it by searching for 32-20 reloading data. Most of what I found on the web was discussions for rifle loads.
Never seen that. Maybe a link would be a good idea?
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Old 08-29-2024, 10:20 AM
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I have one 32-20, a Colt Bisley. I've tried multiple loads but is consistently shoots best with 4grs HP38/231.

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Old 08-29-2024, 11:38 AM
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The old Lee second edition has it. Separate pages for rifle and pistol. Still think it's the most useful manual I ever bought.
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Old 08-29-2024, 12:37 PM
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Hey 470Evans, not much of a single action person but that Colt Bisley is beautiful. Nice shootin also, Larry
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Old 08-29-2024, 12:46 PM
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The old Lee second edition has it. Separate pages for rifle and pistol. Still think it's the most useful manual I ever bought.
Why would anyone load for rifle when they own a pistol?
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Old 08-29-2024, 02:54 PM
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He said that all the data he was finding was for rifles. I think it's a great dual purpose round. I've got three rifles and five pistols. The rifle rounds are light enough so that if I mix them up I won't destroy any of the pistols.
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Old 08-29-2024, 04:37 PM
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Originally Posted by 470Evans View Post
I have one 32-20, a Colt Bisley. I've tried multiple loads but is consistently shoots best with 4grs HP38/231.

Is that 115 gr Lyman bullet you note on your target a 3118/311008? I’ve got a moderate supply of 231 and treasure my old 3118. I might still be be shooting my M&P 32-20 a little but really need a good load for my R***r SA with cylinders for 32 H&R and 32-20.
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Old 08-29-2024, 04:44 PM
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He said that all the data he was finding was for rifles. I think it's a great dual purpose round. I've got three rifles and five pistols. The rifle rounds are light enough so that if I mix them up I won't destroy any of the pistols.
I've searched the internet for years for 32 WCF Reloading data. I can't imagine finding any rifle information - I never have. That's why I asked for a link - I have never seen any.
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Old 08-29-2024, 04:45 PM
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That bullet is a Lyman 311008 powder coated and sized to .312.
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Old 08-29-2024, 06:20 PM
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Reloading Data .32-20 Winchester / .32 WCF (Rifle) (Using Hornady Bullets) Metallic


Load data is subscription based but it showed up as the 3rd thing listed in my google search. Since the 32-20 is a rifle cartridge. I error on the side of caution and assume all published data is for a rifle unless stated otherwise.
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Old 08-29-2024, 08:04 PM
BARgunner BARgunner is offline
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Never seen that. Maybe a link would be a good idea?
I never saved any links that had to do with rifle loads. I was only interested in revolver loads and velocities.
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Old 08-30-2024, 01:48 PM
Green Frog Green Frog is offline
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470Evans, don’t cry, but back in the ‘70s a friend of mine found a rather doggy 32-20 Bisley Model. Back then you could get parts, but complete guns were hard to come by. Soooo, he found enough parts to convert it to a 45 Colt. I think he may even have swapped out the the grip frame and hammer. Sad, but true. However, since Fred Schmidt did the work, the finished product was a sweetheart!
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