Round ball for 32 WCF

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Havicman

Havicman

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So,
I have a Winchester 1892 chambered in 32 WCF. I'm wondering if any one has ever loaded the 32 WCF with a .31 round ball. I've got quite a bit of these round balls and I'm curious if these would work in this rifle. I'm in the process of getting the supplies together to load something with a heavier bullet, eventually. From what I can tell this rifle was made in the 1920s.
 
32 Special has a 0.321 groove diameter. You need something a little bigger to fill the bore and seal off the gasses. I think that a .31 ball wouldn't be very accurate and might cause leading. #0 (0.32") or #00 (0.33") buck would be better options I think.

I use 0.311 balls in my 30-06 and they work pretty well.
 
Laphroaig said:
32 Special has a 0.321 groove diameter. You need something a little bigger to fill the bore and seal off the gasses. I think that a .31 ball wouldn't be very accurate and might cause leading. #0 (0.32") or #00 (0.33") buck would be better options I think.

I use 0.311 balls in my 30-06 and they work pretty well.
Click to expand...

I think he's asking about a 32 WCF aka 32-20, which would have a groove diameter of around .311".

Havicman said:
So,
I have a Winchester 1892 chambered in 32 WCF. I'm wondering if any one has ever loaded the 32 WCF with a .31 round ball. I've got quite a bit of these round balls and I'm curious if these would work in this rifle. I'm in the process of getting the supplies together to load something with a heavier bullet, eventually. From what I can tell this rifle was made in the 1920s.
Click to expand...

I think it'd be worth a try, maybe with a grain or two of Bullseye....?

35W
 
Someone on here was doing exactly this but with 30-30. That and some threads on the Marlin Owners forum got me started loading Cast in my 30-30.
 
I used to load .30-30 cases with .310 round balls, for grouse from the deer stand. I used more of them to silence red squirrels than bag a grouse dinner, but they worked quite well and were a lot quieter than a .30-30 round. I can't remember the exact charge weight, but was a light load of Red Dot, with Polyfill on top of it to keep the powder on top of the primer.
 
I'm using a Hammond Game Getter. Its a modified case that uses a .22 nail gun cartridge as the power source. If I recall a green cartridge gives me about 850 fps. with a .311 ball. Minute of squirrel head at 25 yds.

http://www.gamegetter.ca/info.html

ETA: My recollection ain't what it used to be!

Brown = 839 fps
Green = 1001 fps
 
Last edited:
That is correct. It is the 32-20 cartridge. I've been able to get some 32-20 brass and a set of 32-20 dies. I was working on something else and noticed I had a jar of the .31 round balls sitting on the shelf. I remembered reading about the .31 round ball being used with the 30-30 and also with the .308 round. I figured, why not. I pressed one the the round balls into one of the casings and it loaded into the loading gate nice and smooth. It also chambered without jamming. I may try some Bullseye and see what happens. My goal is to eventually put together a black powder load, probably 85 or 100 grain.
 
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