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My New .32-40

The Goose

The Goose

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Just picked up a Winchester 94 made in 1910 and chambered in .32-40. Luckily it came with 20 rounds of loaded ammo, but they were reloads of unknown origin so I pulled the bullets and dumped the powder. I had already ordered a set of RCBS dies and have tons of 170 gr. gas checked cast bullets from my buddy Patriot (Richard). I loaded up my 20 cases with 16 grs if 5744. This is a cool old round and cannot wait to hit the range. As I sadly watch the snow come down. IMG_20171209_143717217.jpg IMG_20171209_154724488.jpg IMG_20171207_083859534.jpg
 
Hey Goose you can make them out of 375 win I have a few levers chambred in 32-40 I'll see what I have for brass I can spare.Nice find very accurate cartridge congrats.
 
I’m jealous again!
I’m a sucker for the old long straight walled (or nearly straight walled) cartridges.
What velocities are you estimating for that?
 
My grandfather's load was 14grs of 2400 with a velocity of 1600 with a 170 gr cast he had shutzen and a single shot Creedmoor rifle chambered in the same caliber as a kid I saw him shoot some pretty far distances with those rifles.
 
1919FAN said:
My grandfather's load was 14grs of 2400 with a velocity of 1600 with a 170 gr cast he had shutzen and a single shot Creedmoor rifle chambered in the same caliber as a kid I saw him shoot some pretty far distances with those rifles.
Click to expand...

The .32-40 was Harry Pope's favorite round. That says something.
 
If you want to avoid the mess of cleaning a lever action after black powder, you might consider Blackhorn. It has worked well for me in .45Colt. It's non-corrosive and can be dispensed through a measure made for smokeless powder.
 
So a little update. I did some research on forming .33-40 brass. The three most common parents are ,.38-55, 30-30 and 32 special. Only complaint seems to be that they are all just a tad short. The exception is that Starling makes a special run if .38-55 brass that is longer. The other factor that comes into play is that reducing the .38-55 or expanding the .30-30 can slow down the process. Lots of issues with wrinkling and grooving. The .32 special is already the right case mouth diameter. I have been in touch with a couple of guys who shoot Shuetzen and use .32 special cases and it saved them a lot of money. So obviously the slightly shorter case did not hurt accuracy. So the next question is will it feed reliably through a lever gun. I picked up some .32 brass to check it out. Forming was incredibly easy. Just lube up the case and run it (albeit slowly) up into the .32-40 sizing die. I made up a half dozen dummy rounds with the 170 gr cast bullet. They functioned perfectly. Of course it remains to be seen how well they actually shoot, but I would say that it looks promising. I know there are other potential cases, but the .32 is cheap (@ 50.00 per 100) and easy to form. I will get back with a range report.
 
Does it really hurt if the brass is a tad short? This caliber headspaces on the rim, correct?
I've done a little improvising with this caliber (a fellow shooter has recently acquired a .32-40 rifle) and have found the 180g FPGC (from Norm in NM) seats beyond the crimp groove. The .30-30/.32 WS case will be just about perfect as to crimp groove alignment. There are caliber specific bullets for the .32-40, I assume.
Not actually having the proper dies as yet, it has been very hard to get bullets seated concentrically in the .32-40 brass.
Perhaps it's just me, but I suspect the shorter, reformed .30-30 cases may be a bit sturdier around the mouth...?
If this shooter ever acquires the proper dies, we will give it another go.
 

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