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Looking to cast (or buy) some 115 grain .312 dia bullets for my 32-20.
Does anyone have a suitable mold they might be willing to part with?
I have the lee .311, 100 grain mold but need slightly larger diameter.
Looking to eventually load some black powder rounds,
Currently very successfully loading with 100 grain XTP
Cheers
Glen
Have you tried making the Lee mold cavities larger?
Powder coating those will get you there, so would paper patching
It's just not worth worrying about 1 thou
Unless your bullets are loose in the case necks when shooting BP loads
Powder coat will bring them up
But you might be over thinking it
I have 32 moulds and my go to is a gas check bullet that I powder coat
I also use the same bullet less the gas check as my 32 rimfire bullets that I heel in the lathe
I’ve got a couple Noe moulds, (100, 115) coming back in a few months with my gear, (Aug) not yet sure if the 32-20 is going to join them,
If you don’t find any, give me a message later in the year.
If you're shooting XTPs successfully sounds like you have a reasonably good tight bore..try the 115gn HRBC powder coated flatpoints from Delta Mike. They are a pretty keen price and very uniform..shoot and group well.
Can often be the other way aroundQuote:
Originally Posted by Jhon
A bore so bad that it struggles with BP and cast lead no matter how well sized will just shoot bad
The same 44 bore with the 240 xtp and trailboss shoots pretty well
So no guarantees either way
Good bore or bad bore they need what they like and what works
Sometimes the answer isn't what you would expect
I shot 10 .311 lead cast rounds in the weekend.
10 lead + about a 5 inch group at 50 meters.(open sites)
10 xtp just under a 2 inch group (open sites)
around 1300fps (garmin)
At those low speeds I don't run caps.
Will look into powder coating, I guess.
What were they shot in @glensQuote:
Originally Posted by glens
And why do you think it is bullet diameter related ?
Do you have a core casting and an accurate dimension for your bore and groove
@glens Just looking through those results and your comments about trying black powder eventually
The obvious possible problem is you were shooting cast lead with nitro powder.
Cast lead loves a lick in the arse with black powder.
Cast lead is sometimes not as happy with nitro
Jacketed bullets prefer nitro
Cast lead likes a FULL case of BP
Shot from a Winchester 1892 32-20.
Up against modern rifles this 110-year-old rifle got me 3rd place over 2024 50m open sites awarded last weekend at our club,
I put the .311 slug down the bore and it pretty much fell through. Very loose.
But I'm definitely no expert so looking for suggestions.
Accuracy comparison was made using bag and Caldwell rock (not free hand standing)
Also I was using unknown, close to pure lead I've had for years. If I try again I'll use Lyman Number 2 Lead Ingot
Attachment 275267
If a .311 practically falls through or can be pushed through then .312 isn't going to help you at all.
You need to take a chamber cast and a bore cast at the muzzle and generate some hard data
When you shoot BP you shouldn't need to size the brass and you can run an over size lead bullet if it fits the mouth of the fired case and is around groove diameter for your bore
Being a 92 it's chamber could be very oversized
Also being a 92 you will be needing to put a light crimp on the neck so your bullets don't get pushed back in the magazine
Anyway a full case of BP and a hard card under the lead bullet might help but you need a lot more data to make a plan for how you might get cast lead to work
I'm intending starting a forum post on "Reloading BP Cartridge Hunting Rifles" that might become a Sticky for others starting their journey to The Dark Side
Thanks
Regarding the bore. I was thinking if I put a lead bullet in the vice and squash it up a bit length ways it might increase the dia enough to get a proper bore cast? Can't do any harm to try.
This was my grandfathers rifle so even risking damage isn't an option. Rather just get a BP rifle if necessary,
Also try this drop one of your xtps that work in the breech and push it with a rod or bit of curtain wire till it engages the rifling. Run a rod from the muzzle till it touches the bullet, mark the rod with a sharpie, knock the bullet out and put a loaded round in the chamber and force it home ideally use a dummy round but a live ones ok so long as you don't close the bolt. Run the rod down again till it touches the bullet mark it again. The distance between the marks is the free bore much over an inch indicates a very worn or corroded bore. That may be hard to get a lead bullet to shoot in well, as it sort of chatters around. Black powder might be a solution as it gives a sharpie boot in the bum to the bullet hopefully making it squish up and obturate.
I have been fiddling round with the 25-20 and 32-20 last few years, mine were both modern Marlins, plus a 1890 25-20 octagon barrel, sold the 25-20. Powder coating helped, with consistency for me, and I found cast lead loads in the 32-20, didn’t shot as well as jacket bullets, until I got gas checks and found a powder combo, that rifle liked, about 2” group, irons at 50m, half that with a small scope.
Now the 25-20, was sufficiently more fiddling that the 32-20, and never shot as good.
But I liked it more, as a tin can killer.
