This is topic old 32-20 in forum Firearms forum at The New Huntmastersbbs!.
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Posted by NVWalt (Member # 375) on April 26, 2025, 04:25 AM:
Found an old 32-20 barrel amongst all my old Contender stuff and I have a couple friends that shoot 300 whispers,bla,bla,bla. Anyways I got out some moulds and cast up some 160, 170 200 amd 220 boolets and found some old powder,4227, and loaded up some 160 boolets with 10 grains of the stuff and was going to test them out maybe this week sometime. Anyways, I wanted to know if any of you guys,or gals, have ever played with any heavy boolits in that caliber or even anything like it. The case capacity is pretty small and I know slow and heavy sometimes works well in some of those old cartridges and wondered if I could get that result out of that barrel. The twist is either the 1-10 or maybe the slower twist, I know I should slug it and find out but bla bla bla,I'm lazy.
I have an old 357 barrel that really likes very slow 38 special loads and is incredibly accurate with those sub 22 velocity wadcutters, and was going to putz around with the 32-20 and see if I could get the same or near the same results with it.
The 200 and 220 don't want to chamber without the boolet almost reaching the flashole so I pretty much figured that was a no go .But the 160 and 170 seat very well and I think they may be the only thing I got to mess with. I know that squib type loads sometime get some pretty interesting pressure excursions but believe the old contender will handle that if they aren't too extreme. I'd not relish a sprung frame on those old workhorse pistols I have. Anyways, what have any of you experienced doing this?
Posted by TA17Rem (Member # 794) on April 26, 2025, 05:01 AM:
Sorry Walt no help from me as i don't cast bullets or shoot them. I did have a few contenders at one time but shot modern cartridges in them and then came across a XP-100 (2) in 221 f.b. and got rid of the contenders.
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on April 26, 2025, 10:44 PM:
Yeah me neither. I’m an Ackley whore!
Good hunting. El Bee 🐝
Posted by NVWalt (Member # 375) on April 28, 2025, 01:57 PM:
So I went out in the back yard and set up a target to "Test" a handful of loads to see if they did shoot and for signs of pressure. This was just a box with a bunch of circles sharpied on it. I found all the low grain were,never guess this one out,all well, with no primer flattening etc, etc. The powder that did start showing signs and you could also tell by felt recoil,if you want to call a 32-20 a heavy recoil round, and a louder report was the upper ranges of 4227. Accuracy on the low loads was good and with some tweaking I think I could get it dialed in. Well it is shooting and was fun to do. Also I remember when I could shoot straight and you know how great a shot everybody used to was.LOL.
Anyways, it was fun and I got nothing but time on my hands soooooo.
Posted by TA17Rem (Member # 794) on April 28, 2025, 09:28 PM:
well least you can still get out a burn a little powder once in awhile, thats a big plus.
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on April 29, 2025, 11:43 AM:
Yes, it sure is a plus! Ever since my surgery, I haven’t had the gumption. That’s the thing here. Some guys can hunt burning a half a tank of gas when they get back to the house. Not me, it’s always in another state. And that means it’s kind of a Safari. Takes some planning. You don’t just get up, have some breakfast and say; I think I’ll do a little hunting today. Nancy always complained a little when I left the house on a Friday after work, not to return until after dark on a Sunday. “Hey, I don’t even know what state you will be in!” And that was the truth. Sometimes we would be in 2 or 3 different states. And sometimes it was a blur, I’d be beat, falling asleep watching Mission Impossible. I got some memories….
Good hunting. El Bee
Edit: Hell, I don’t think I ever laid eyes on a 32-20? My first centerfire was a 270, and I sure as hell got everything out of that rifle. Another one of those regrets; never should have sold it to a creepy asshole that eventually got into a bar fight in Vernon and killed somebody. He just worked with my cousin Mike Davis in a bakery. I used to get boxes of English muffins from Mike. He’s been gone about ten years or so. Always burned the candle at both ends. Both his parents died in their 20’s and 30’s in the case of his mother who was my aunt, sister to my mother. So, of course, he always felt that he needed to live life to the fullest, which involved cheating on his wife, who was a fine looking woman. Go figure?
El Bee. PS, SHE STILL IS!
[ April 29, 2025, 11:56 AM: Message edited by: Leonard ]
Posted by NVWalt (Member # 375) on April 30, 2025, 01:32 AM:
Leonard, that sounds all to familiar. I would tell the wifey nice I was headed out to say Antelope Valley and would end up maybe somewhere up by Elko or out in the Black Rock country. She just would tell me to make it back as she would never be able to tell anyone where I might be... "He's out there in the brush somewhere."
Ifen your prepared for it it is no big deal but if you weren't then it could be a very big deal. Good memories..She also knew that if I didn't make it home on the day I said I would be home to wait a day or two to get worried. Happened only once and I was a day late because I don't seem to have a very good relationship with what we call time.
I do things on Walt time and it is very much like Indian time.And I did catch hell from her on that one.
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on April 30, 2025, 10:15 AM:
Yes, that also sounds familiar! There was a time that we were stuck in Midas with a bad wheel bearing on a Datsun and auto parts stores weren’t stocking that shit so we called a good friend and asked him to pull the front wheel bearing off of the truck that belonged to the other guy I was hunting with, named Duke. Pat got that bearing up to us about 9 Sunday night, so we figured might as well hunt another night. Showed up Monday morning, called in sick and CRASHED for the rest of the day. Nancy sure put up with a lot! And, that wasn’t even the worst! Don’t get broke down on a reservation and expect the locals to help you.
Good hunting. El Bee
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