Reloading the .32 Remington

[Wis-Harpo]

I have a Remington Model 14 Pump in 32 Remington Auto. I am trying to get a load for MBC 170 grain Hi-Tek coated bullets with .321 diameter. They are listed for the 32-40 cartridge, but should work in the Rem .32 which also is .321 dia.

I loaded them with data for regular copper hunting bullets, and got large puffs of smoke in all 3 loadings. The loads were with IMR 3031, IMR 4198, and Win 748. The estimated FPS ranged from 1830 to 2070, way too fast for even Hi-Tek coatings. I would like to get down to about 1300 FPS.

The only copper bullets I can use are the Speer 170 grain Hot core Flat Tip. They are very hard to find, that is why I attempted to use the ones from MBC.

Does anyone have any experience with Trail Boss? It is a bulky powder that fills the case with light charges, and gives low velocity. I am open to any powder, as long as I can get lower FPS.

 

[FROGO207]

I have used Trail Boss with my 32WIN SPL using lead bullets. You can use that 32 SPL data when reloading .32 REM with good results. I have helped a friend do the same with .30 REM using 30-30 lead data as well after I sold him the rifle. There is a section on working up a Trail Boss load in IMR manual. The big take away is to not EVER compress it. Many of the older reloading manuals of 30 or more years ago had lead loads for the old Rem calibers. If you can find an older Lyman cast lead handbook there is data in there as well. I will look and see what I have for data using Red Dot/Bullseye or the like when I get the chance.

 

[sage5907]

I have been reloading some 32-40 Winchester for a friend and have been using H4895 with the Speer 170 grain Hot-Cor bullets. Chuck Hawks who posts on the internet suggested a load for the 32-40 between 16 and 22 grains of H4895. I used a load of 18 grains in new Winchester brass formed from 30-30 Winchester brass. The rifle was a Marlin model 1895. Maybe the H4895 would work for you. In the 32-40 velocity at 18 grains was about 1500 fps.

 

[Wis-Harpo]

I was bidding on 3 older ( to some people) reloading manuals on ebay and lost at the last few seconds. They were a Lyman #45 from 1970, a Hornady from 1968, and a Hogdon #21 from 1970. I probably started reloading in the mid 1970's, and for some reason did not have the Lyman manual. The pictures on the ebay site showed the Lyman as having a chapter for obsolete or nearly obsolete loadings for rifle calibers.

I thought about buying older reloading manuals as previously suggested in the post above, and had a bid already in. Now I have to find another listing that includes the Lyman #45 or earlier Lyman.

The .32 Rem has a case capacity of 46.4 gr, or something close to it depending on the case manufacturer. But luckily all my brass is Rem. What is the capacity of the Win .32 Special.? I know they share the same diameter bullet, but the case capacity will be a little different. I assume that the .32 Win will be slightly larger ???

 

[Sam1911]

Does anyone have any experience with Trail Boss? It is a bulky powder that fills the case with light charges, and gives low velocity. I am open to any powder, as long as I can get lower FPS.

You won't find Trail Boss in any older manuals (obviously) but if you're looking for that kind of performance, TB is fantastic.

Read IMR's explanation of how to figure your load and go from there: http://www.imrpowder.com/PDF/Trail-Boss-data.pdf

 

[Wis-Harpo]

Thanks for the info on Trail Boss. I have not looked for this powder before, so I do not know if I can get in my area of south Carolina. It looks like a workable formula.The search is on for Trail Boss !

As stated before I lost the bid for the Lyman #45 manual in a group of 3 different manuals on ebay, but found another listing under" Buy It Now". So I bought it now. It is supposed to arrive on July 6th, so I will see if it listed any loadings for the .32 Rem with lead bullets in the obsolete loading section.

I am on a quest for fun !!! As my father said, " The impossible just takes longer".

 

[Wis-Harpo]

Trail Boss update. Well I got 2 bottles of Trail Boss to try with the MBC 170 grain .321 diameter Hi-Tek coated bullets for my 32 Rem The maximum that can fit into the case below the long bullet is 10 1/5 grains. So I loaded 5 each of 8 1/2, 9, 9 1/2, and 10 grains. All started OK then the shots opened way up. So I figured that the Rem model 14 did not like those loads. I came home and found some leading in the bore, so I used bore cleaner. When I went to wipe down the rifle, I found out that the scope was loose. The rifle was made in 1927, and at some point in time a Williams scope base and rings were installed. The rings are tightened down by round knobs with threaded studs under the base, pulling the ring base downward. Newer shooters have not seen this system, and I had forgot about it until I got this rifle.

So now the 4 loadings have to be re-tested to see if it was the loose scope that caused my problem, and at what point ???

By the way, Midway USA now has Speer 170 grain .321 diameter flat tip bullets for the .32 Rem. I bought 2 boxes. I also have an order in at Powder Valley for 2 more boxes. They only had 1 box, so I am waiting for that order to come in. If the Hi-Tek MBC bullets do not work out, I have enough to do some load work ups, and save enough to hunt with.