32-20 and 38-40 loads

[Rbstuartjr]

So my father decided he wanted to pull these 2 Winchester model 1892 out of the gun closet and shoot them. They are vintage 1890’s firearms. He asked me to find some ammo to shot them with. I chuckled, being as things are with ammo and living in the Peoples Republic of New York, I told him our best bet is to load for them. So I ordered dies, Starline brass and lead bullets. Down the road l would like to try jacketed rounds but will start with lead.

I ordered 115gn LFP for the 32-20 and 185gn LFP for the 38-40. I see that most like to use Unique for these rounds, but I don’t have any at the moment.
This is what I have on hand for pistol powders, Hp-38, Hs-6, Imr4227, Sport Pistol and Be-86. I reload a lot of 9mm.

From the load data that I could find, looks like 4227 and Hp-38 would be my best guess.
So does anyone have any suggestions and tips on loading these 2 cartridges? These rounds would be for punching paper but also be for varmint hunting as well.

 

[GBExpat]

Chambered in .32-20 I have a half dozen vintage (1st quarter of the 20th century) Colts and S&Ws plus one Marlin 27S pump rifle.

For the revolvers I stick with Trailboss and lead (100gr & 115gr).

While these loads function very well in the Marlin (ORH performance @ ~1075fps & ~925fps, resp.), I also developed some more powerful loads for it.

85gr & 100gr Hornady XTPs over IMR4227 (~1440fps & ~1365fps, resp.) Like the revolver loads, very accurate.

EDIT:
ORH = OneRaggedHole

 

[Dudedog]

From Hodgdon

32-20 From Hodgdon 115 Lead HP38



38-40

 

[Rbstuartjr]

Thanks GBExpat, I’m going to try XTP’s when I get a chance. Dudedog thank you for that. My components have shipped, so hope to load some up next week.

 

[blue32]

If you have lead bullets and HP38 I wouldn't even bother buying jacketed. 32-20 is what got me into casting. Getting 1,200 fps or better out of your 92 will be cake and more than enough for any varmints you might take. No experience with 38-40.

 

[GBExpat]

BTW, Dudedog's posted ScreenCapture shows Trailboss Max Load for .32-20 115gr lead as 2.5gr. That looks low to me.

According to the original directions for Trailboss, you first mark the spot on the case where the base of the loaded bullet will be. Then you fill the case to that spot with Trailboss, and empty the case into you powder scale to determine the weigh. That represents your Trailboss Max Load for that case & bullet combination with the bullet seated to that depth.

With that as 100%, they suggested that you drop down to ~70% to start your load development.

With my 115gr RNFP lead bullets (Badman Bullets) in Starline cases (1.55"-1.59"OAL) I settled on using 3.3gr of Trailboss as my 115gr Trailboss Standard Load. It runs, very accurately, ~750fps (~800fps w/magnum primer) out of the 5"/6" revolvers and ~930fps out of the Marlin.

I can actually "safely" load up to 3.5gr with this combination, but while 3.5 is just as accurate as 3.3, I bow to the fact that Trailboss, apparently, abhors compression (or, at least, may start behaving badly when compressed), so ... better safe, as they say ...



EDIT: Posted just in case you may (eventually) develop an interest in Trailboss, a good case-filling, lower-velocities, plinking/target-load propellant.

I have found the mild-but-accurate loads to be great for walkabout on the farm.

Excellent for both small game/varmints and also for a bit of fun if you run across some of the family kids (both big & small) that would like to do some shooting.

 

[Rbstuartjr]

Thanks GB, for the info on Trailboss. I’ll look about getting some next powder order I place. These guns are going to be doing exactly what you said, plinking , punching paper and small varmint hunting on the family farm.

 

[Rbstuartjr]

So I loaded up my first test loads of 32-20 and noticed in my Lee 3 die set that there is no crimp die. I’m using new Starline brass and neck tension is really good. I looked this up and some people say you need a crimp and others say that neck tension is all you need. On my 32-40 dies, the seating die also applies a roll crimp. This one does not. So what do you all recommend? I’m using 115 LFP with crimp groove. This will be shot of a Win 1892, but probably hand chambered.

 

[AJC1]

You're seating die should also be a crimping die if you remove the seating stem and lower the die body until you get a crimp. I don't know which powder you chose but most of the Magnum powders like 4227 and h110 also known as 296 like a lot of crimp for a better burn. If you settled on the hp-38 load I wouldn't worry about it so much

 

[Rbstuartjr]

Thanks, I figured it out. I lowered the die body and it put a nice crimp on the rounds. When setting up the dies, the instructions for the Lee set says you need the FCD. Then I went back and read the seating die, it explains that it will crimp as well. I just overlooked that part when I was setting them up.