What did you do at your reloading bench today?

[BigAl52]

If I could find a 25-20 in good shape I would buy one. Its a fun round.

[Vaquero]

It is, I shot mine off the porch while the wife went to fetch the grandson.
In the shade with a fan blowing on me... still sweating like crazy.
Ten rounds and I came back in the house.

RP

[The Happy Kaboomer]

Nothing..........

[Mr. Neutron]

Ordered some reloading components last night from Graf, and today from Mid South Shooters Supply for an Uncle of mine. He has had a John Wayne Commemorative Winchester lever gun, chambered in 32-40. I haven't been able to find any loaded ammo for this gun (neither has my Uncle) in the few "SEARCH" sessions I've tried. So, he wants just a few rounds loaded up to be able to fire. He doesn't care about the "resale factor" of an unfired collectible rifle like this one, as he plans to keep it until it's time to will it his Grandson. It will stay in the family.

I went with new 32-40 brass from Graf rather than attempting to form cases from .30-30 or 38-55. Found some .32 Hornady 170gr. projectiles from Graf. Found a load recipe in my older Hodgdon manual, but if anyone has any info on mild shooting loads for this old carrtridge, it would be much appreciated.

[CT_Shooter]

I went with new 32-40 brass from Graf rather than attempting to form cases from .30-30 or 38-55. Found some .32 Hornady 170gr. projectiles from Graf. Found a load recipe in my older Hodgdon manual, but if anyone has any info on mild shooting loads for this old carrtridge, it would be much appreciated.

Here's data from Richard Lee's Modern Reloading First Edition; 1996.

32-40 170 gr. Data

32-40 Modern_Reloading_1st_Edition_by_Richard_Lee_2.jpg (203.69 KiB) Viewed 1444 times

This is from the same source, but for different weights.

32-40 Reloading Data

32-40 Modern_Reloading_1st_Edition_by_Richard_Lee_1.jpg (265.56 KiB) Viewed 1444 times

[Mr. Neutron]

Thank You Very Much for that, CT_Shooter!!
Those are really helpful, and interesting to compare with my Hodgdon manual's charge values.

One thing I really like about the Richard Lee info above is that he differentiates between jacketed and lead bullets. My Hodgdon simply says "170 Grain Bullets", but doesn't say which type.

Between what you posted here, and what I have, I think I can find something mild for him (my Uncle) to send downrange with that rifle.

Thanks again!!!

[The Happy Kaboomer]

Nothing. Too hot. Loaded enough in cool weather not to have to do it now.

[Mr. Neutron]

Am working on a mild load for the Winchester .32-40 for my Uncle's Winchester 94 John Wayne Commerative rifle this load will be fired from. Got the brass and Hornady #3210 (170gr FP) bullets yesterday Am waiting on a set of dies from MidSouth. I have a question about bullet seating.

On my .30-30, when I seat a bullet to the cannelure & crimp it there, the cartridge OAL comes out perfect (2.540 or so). It feeds, fires, and flings out the cases just fine in my brass and steel framed .30-30s.

With the .32-40 components (bullet & case), I've taken some measurements of the case, and of those Hornady F/P jacketed slugs. The case is 2.125" long. The bullet is .910" long, with a 1/2" (~.50") above the cannelure. Seating this bullet to the middle of the cannelure would net a cartridge OAL of around 2.625"; about an 1/8" longer than any max length I've seen listed.

To use these bullets (we decided to go with jacketed bullets; kinda wish we'd gone with lead boolits..... ), unless there's some other option I haven't thought of, I'm thinking I can either trim quite a bit off the cases, or seat the bullets deeper than the cannelure to meet an approximate 2.500" OAL.

For a mild load given the choice of bullets, would it be an "acceptable practice" to seat the bullet deeper than the cannelure and crimp it somewhere above the cannelure to get an OAL I *think* the rifle will need? I'd think the powder charge might need to be reduced a tad below starting level to do this?

I do plan on making a dummy round to see if it will feed & eject a round before I ever put a primer and some powder in a case.....

Sorry for the long post. I probably over think this stuff. I don't normally load for other folks on the off chance that something might not work out well in their firearm. For my Uncle and this cool rifle, I decided I'd go ahead and break this rule I've stuck to for 30+ years. I've always been cautious when reloading, and never had any sort of problem with my rifle reloads. Would really like to keep it that way......

I will admit to making a potentially really bad mistake with a pistol handload once. For my Kimber in .45 ACP, I accidentally charged somewhere around 5.0 grains of Winchester 296 powder in 50 .45 ACP cases, instead of the Win 231 I meant to charge with. Both powders came in similar looking 1 lb. jugs, and I grabbed the wrong one (grabbed the Win 296 jug, used for my .357 loads). Learned a lesson there....... The Kimber would fire the lead 200gr SWCs, but didn't have enough power to cycle the slide, kinda making it a Single Shot 1911. It sounded like a Goat Fart when fired, and on the indoor range I was "testing" my loads at, the bullets kinda plopped outta the barrel, and skidded slowly up the concrete floor, almost to the target. A buddy I was shooting with laughed and said "If I ever get in a gunfight, I want it to be with you, Jimmie!".

Again, I've been much more careful since......

[CT_Shooter]

I will admit to making a potentially really bad mistake with a pistol handload once. For my Kimber in .45 ACP, I accidentally charged somewhere around 5.0 grains of Winchester 296 powder in 50 .45 ACP cases, instead of the Win 231 I meant to charge with. Both powders came in similar looking 1 lb. jugs, and I grabbed the wrong one (grabbed the Win 296 jug, used for my .357 loads). Learned a lesson there....... The Kimber would fire the lead 200gr SWCs, but didn't have enough power to cycle the slide, kinda making it a Single Shot 1911. It sounded like a Goat Fart when fired, and on the indoor range I was "testing" my loads at, the bullets kinda plopped outta the barrel, and skidded slowly up the concrete floor, almost to the target.

Thanks for sharing this anecdote, Jimmy. But, with my limited experience, it seems counter-intuitive. I would have thought that 5 grains of 231 would result in less pressure than 296, rather than the other way around.

Regardless, I'm glad you're making progress on the 32-40.

[Mr. Neutron]

Thanks for sharing this anecdote, Jimmy. But, with my limited experience, it seems counter-intuitive. I would have thought that 5 grains of 231 would result in less pressure than 296, rather than the other way around.

Regardless, I'm glad you're making progress on the 32-40.

Thanks, CT_Shooter! And again, I truly Thank You for the load info above, as it does help me out. I appreciate that.

On the .45 ACP loads, I think there's a matter of "load density" factor for Win 296 powder. Nobody ever lists a load for .45 ACP with 296 powder that I can find. It's a better powder for .357s. If I recall correctly, it seems like there was more of a danger trying to make reduced loads with 296 in .357 mag cartridges. That powder requires a certain load density or case volume for it to work correctly, and can be problematic if you deviate far from recommended charge levels. Now, please, please, please, if anyone reads this, please do your own research on the Win 296/.357 Magnum loads. It's been a VERY long time since I've loaded for that cartridge, and I tend to forget "more than I ever knew in the first place" about past loads that I no longer have notes for.

I have 3 or 4 different manuals that have charges for Win 231 and 200 grain LSWC bullets, varying from 4.0 to 5.4 grains. When I shot and ran the local Action Pistol matches with my Kimber, almost everybody shot Oregon Trail 200 grain LSWC bullets with around 4.5 to 5.2 grains of 231 powder. This combo burned really clean, with very little smoke. That aspect came in handy for aquiring your next target. Bullseye and Unique were a bit "dirtier and smokier" than 231 Win. At that time, it was a very cheap-to-shoot load that (with a .45 auto/1911) easily met the required power factor, and all components were readily and easily available back then. You could actually afford to practice with these loads! My Dillon XL650 was still set up for the 5.0 grains of 231/Oregon Trail 200 gr LSWCs until I ran out of both of those components recently. Lead bullets were required due to shooting falling steel plates (jacketed bullets tended to bounce back at the range master and shooters sometimes), plus the semi wadcutters cut nice, clean easy-to-score holes in the paper targets. Anyway, the charge of 5.0 grains of 231 filled a .45 Auto case to a near perfect volume, and was accurate & clean to boot. My experience with that charge of 296 in .45 ACP was definitely different.

Back on topic, sorta, has anyone crimped a jacketed .32 cal bullet (or other size, I guess.....) without it hitting the cannelure to achieve a certain OAL?