loads for 1889 marlin 32/20

To my limited knowledge, you shouldn't be using any modern "smokeless" powders in a gun that old. 1890 was way before steels were standardized, and black powder chamber pressures were much, much lower. The one exception MAY be Trail Boss which is supposed to mimic some aspects of black powder.

Since the first rule of dealing with any antique is "Do no harm", you had better quadruple check every step. IMHO, firing a gun that old places you and the gun at risk. You're both too valuable to loose on a whim.

Trail Boss powder with lead bullets. I used it in my Winchester 1873 whch is a slightly weaker action than the Marlin. You can find data on Hodgdon's website.

that or maybe VV Tin Star

bubba15301 said:

gonna load 9 grains of 2400 and a 120 grain cast rnfp

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That would be a good load for a Contender.. or a Marlin CL

Your gun, I'd use 4.5 gr of Unique under a 100 or 115 gr cast.. and never a jacketed bullet

And I'm surprised Walkalong hasn't chimed in.. he's got a couple 32-20's..

Lymans 3rd only shows a 115g heaviest and at very low charge weights then flat states to not use their loads in a rifle designed for Black Powder.....

Sure would be a shame to blow up a piece of history...

load data from Lyman 3 115g cast GC #2 alloy 1.555 OAL

Red dot 3.2 min 4.1 max

700x 2.8 min 3.9 max

Green Dot 3.5 min 4.5 max

PB 3.2 min 4.9 max

Unique 4.2 min 5.5 max

SR7625 3.5 min 5.5 max

No pressure data listed at all but from the loads listed and the warning to not even use these in a OG Black Powder rifle???

I would not use 2400 if it was my rifle.

Link to an article by Paco Kelly from the Lever Gun forum.
http://www.leverguns.com/articles/paco/3220wcf.htm

2400 is not a good idea in that rifle.

to Mac listen, you shall...

you're running 20,000 cup + in a rifle designed for about 9,000..

switch to BP and a 100% load density, or you're gonna wear the rifle bolt in your cheek next week.

Trail Boss

order it online if you can't find it local

Red Dot, Green Dot and Unique will all work good in it.

Just don't get carried away with the charge weights.. start at around 3 gr of the Dots, 4 gr Unique

When I used to shoot an original Colt Lightning Rifle made in 1893 for Cowboy Action, I used 4 grs of AA#5 with no problems and my velocity out of that 26" barrel was in the 900 fps. range. LM

I have blackpowder ,pyrodex, and 777

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Those 3 are the only powders i would feel safe loading for that grand old levergun. You should use what it was made to shoot...