.32 Winchester Special loads

[Judah Ben-Hur]

Just picked up a Winchester 94AE in .32 Win Special and would like to do a little reloading for it. Not much out there for factory stuff around these parts. It does seem to shoot the best with 170 gr. Federal Hi-Shok vs. the 170 gr Winchester and Remington Express loads at the present time. Just need to get the dies and improve on what I've got so far.

What powders and bullets have you had good results with?

 

[sundog]

You're right, there's not much available factory stuff. In fact, compared to other cartridges, there's not much available for reloading components either. BUT, that's not all that bad. It just won't take as long experimenting. My favorite load in a home cast RCBS 32-170-FN over IMR3031 or surp WC844 (see loads on http://www.castpics.net/RandD/load_data/load_data.htm). For the 170 grain jacketed stuff I like IMR 4064 best. Don't know about your Mdl 94, but the older ones had a 16 twist bbl which treated the cast bullets really well. sundog

 

[Wil Terry]

My Marlin Half Magazine Rifle Has Done Right Well With,

The W-W factory load and my handloads with the Hornady and the Speer 170GR bullets. Matter of fact I have been downright amazed at how well it shoots everything. I used data from hornady and Speer's loading manuals.

 

[Judah Ben-Hur]

Your right about not much out there for it. Sometimes too many choices is not a good thing. It is a 1 in 12"" barrel. I have already made one trip to Cabelas, and trips to 2 different Gander Mountains and they didn't have factory ammo, dies, bullets, or trim pilots. I finally found a shell holder, trim plate, and pilot the other day at Gander hidden behind other stuff. They did have a RCBS die set before I bought the gun but it is gone. Probably tucked away good, I couldn't find it. I will get it from Midway along with the 170 grainers. A local store has enough factory ammo to keep me satisfied until all the other stuff arrives.

These sites (hood) have got to go. Shooting 6 inches low with no more room. Looking at the dayglow types, any ideas? No one answered on another forum.

 

[sundog]

Mine is an older Mdl 94. It wears a Ly tang site and I trimmed that big ole globby gold dot up front with a file and removed the gold dot. Now the front is just a nice slim post -- much, much 'mo betta' indeed. I've generally regarded factory irons on lever guns as a whole lot less tha adequate. Also check out the Marbles tang sites as they have the advantage of being windage adjustable.

About twist. With a 12 twist you could handle more cast boolit than I do at 170 grains, maybe up to 200. 8mm's would work, too, if you know anyone who casts. All you have to do is slug the bore and size accordingly. Point is, don't feel restrained. Advantage is that you can often get as good or better perfomance, especially in a lever gun, at a whole lot less wear to the barrel. I shoot only cast in my .32 and 30-30 and they outperform jacketed loads. sundog

 

[Judah Ben-Hur]

Thanks for the replies. I stay away from the cast part of the hobby. I don't shoot enough to get that involved with it. I wouldn't know where to begin anyway or who to find around here.

I did find some 170 gr. Speer bullets today at a local gunstore. Just need to get the dies and I'm all set. The sites is still in the research mode. I can always just put a bigger sheet of paper out there to catch the groups until the sites get fixed.

Too damn cold to be shooting anyway. Time to fire up the snowmobile and get warm.