32 spl, I called.....

Varmintmist

It was made to have a bit more snort than the 30-30. The fact that it could be loaded with BP was secondary.

Per Winchester.

Gene L

Did they say why the twist is a lot slower than the 30-30?

Varmintmist

Yer like my wife................

I get the answer, and then get nitpicked

18009455237

Varmintmist

Load data puts it 10% over 3030, but the only bullet selections are 165 170. It does seem odd that the manufactures are loading to so under pressure. I wonder if that is a modern thing.

Gene L

Varmintmist wrote: »

Load data puts it 10% over 3030, but the only bullet selections are 165 170. It does seem odd that the manufactures are loading to so under pressure. I wonder if that is a modern thing.

Well, the round came out in 1901, so they underload it in deference to 113 year old guns which may or may not show wear. Same with the 30-30 in most loads. With reloads, you can get the potential out of both rounds.

Varmintmist

Do they dumb down 3030 in factory loads?

Teach

With a lawyer hiding behind every bush, ammo manufacturers are justifiably spooked to approach anything resembling a max load. Other notable downloads are .45 Colt, .45-70, 7X57, 8X57, .32S&W, etc. They have to load with the lowest common denominator in mind such as 125-year-old top-break revolvers, original Colt Peacemakers, etc. Lots of these old guns have enough wear to make them wallhangers or museum pieces, but some Bubba is going to insist on shooting them anyway!
Jerry

tennmike

Gene L wrote: »

Did they say why the twist is a lot slower than the 30-30?

Long time ago I read that the slower twist in the .32 Special was to reduce black powder fouling for those loading it with black powder handloads. Twist was fast enough to stabilize the bullets for it at the time, but slow enough to prevent packing black powder fouling in the rifling.

Back when the .30-30 came out, there were a lot of people loading their own for it with black powder and the black powder fouling in the barrel was a problem. The slower twist in the .32 Special made that fouling less of a problem.

wizard78

Wambli Ska wrote: »

Yes and then they never loaded it to anything that would give you any substantial edge over the 30 WCF. Still one of my favorite rounds just because it's a little odd

One of my favorites in my lever collection, especially since it came from a close friend.

N320AW

Frank Barnes, editor of Cartridges of the World, opined that with a fouled barrel, the 32 Special, couldn't hit a flock of barns! Frank maybe had a few too many scotch & sodas at the time. I have a pre 64 model 94 that shoots just as good as a 30-30 with or without a fouled(?) barrel.

Great cartridge but not a bit better than the 30WCF.

Gene L

The latest COTW I have revisits that round and says it was based on earlier worn .32 Spec data and COTW says it's good. I've got an older COTW which says it's a worthless cartridge. I agree with the latest edition and I think it's a good round but no better than the 30-30.

JLDickmon

Varmintmist wrote: »

Load data puts it 10% over 3030, but the only bullet selections are 165 170. It does seem odd that the manufactures are loading to so under pressure. I wonder if that is a modern thing.

gotta go with the lowest common denominator, brah..
can't put rip-snortin handloads through a turn of the century piece without bustin it..

see the loading data on 30-40 Krag lately?

Varmintmist

Yep, and the stuff other than the Hornady book was pretty hot to reach the same velocity.

What I am saying is that the 32 is about 10% over the 3030 across the board with the same grain weight w/o pushing pressure doing exactly what the intent was. A cartridge with a bit more punch then a 30-30 and less than a 30-40

ex
Imr 3031 - 170 gr bullets

30 - 30 1800fps/25.4gr 1900fps/27gr 2000fps/28.5gr max load
32 spcl 1800 fps/27gr 1900 fps/28.8gr 2000fps30.2gr 2100fps/31.5gr 2200fps/32.8gr max load

So a mid range load for the 32 is about 200 fps faster than a mid 30-30.

I found some Rem so if the rest of the parts come in today, I might get to try it tomorrow. I have what I think is the last coat on the stock. The dehumidifier is working its heart out and I have been able to recoat twice a day this weekend.