32/20, 25-20

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southernman

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Taranaki New Zealand/Fort Mc Murray, Alberta
I Have been playing around with a couple marlin 1895 Cl, rifles one in each caliber for a bit over a year, both 1980,90 err rifles with 1/2 magazine, barrels appear to be in good condition,
The best i can get either to shoot is about a 2"-3" group at 50m, 5-8 shots, I have tried cast, and jacket Hornady bullets in the 32/20, 4-5 different powders, and small rifle and small pistol primers, multiple weights in both rifles, varied speeds, including sum trail boss loads, littlegun, blackout, H4198, and 296 other powders tried,
Nether rifle has great triggers, 5-6lbs, bit of creep, but they arn't bad enough to explain groups, is 2-3" normal with such a rifle,
I do seam to get a few bullets clusted with in an inch and a few fliers,
The 25-20 seams to be partially fussy, and has lead me down the cast bullet hole, 67gr layman GC and 86gr RCBS mold showing the most promise,
I kind of wanted a walking varmint gun, but not sure ive got enough accuracy.
These groups are with scopes, its a bit worse with irons or skinner peeps, as expected, scope will be removed, if i can get a load that works,

Am i expecting to much, is 2-3" @ 50, average, about what to expect with these rifles ?, any advise, ?

Fun rifles, cheap to run,
 
I use Unique and cast bullets in my 32-20. A baby Martini out of Australia which was originally 310-12-110 but the barrel was relined to 32-20. I haven’t tested it for groups at 100 but it consistently hits a 2 1/2 gong at that range. Also works well with black powder. A 0.308 liner was used. Bullets I am using are Lee 93 and 100 gr cast. Velocity is up to almost 1600 fps so load is above normal pistol loads.
 
I had alot of fun with my Martini 410 Cadet "reamed" to 32-20. I had alot of luck using Trail Boss and hard cast .314 wadcutters.
 
I have 2 [basically identical] Savage Sporter Bolt action rifles. One is a 25-20,
the other a 32-20. The latter has had the barrel shortened a bit, but otherwise
they are the same rifle.

I have no problem with either of these staying inside 2 moa. I am using either
a 86 grain flatnose SP or a 85 grain spitzer FB in the 25-20.

The 32-20 likes a plated 115 grain pill I bought a few hundred of. Dave.
 
I don’t think Marlin was selling those with MOA warranties, but given vintage I would expect more.

I have an original 1892, probably end of the production run, in .25-20. Looks like a Turnbull resto, or at least on par.

I am doing 1”-1 1/2” with a receiver peep sight. All factory loads, using oldest to new.

Your rifles are desirable, so maybe sell if not happy.

Good Luck.
 
Not good enough. I don't have any modern Marlins in those calibers but I have an old one of each and they will both shoot inside 2inches at 50 open sights. I have found if they don't shoot pretty tight at 50 they may go on to pretty much useless by 100
 
Great fun, easy too load for. They are up to 100yd guns. They have minimal power after that ... Understand the limitations. You can't use them in Saskatchewan for hunting big game - same for all handgun cartridges. So they are plinkers ... thats about it. Just fun.
 
9.3 Hunter said:
Great fun, easy too load for. They are up to 100yd guns. They have minimal power after that ... Understand the limitations. You can't use them in Saskatchewan for hunting big game - same for all handgun cartridges. So they are plinkers ... thats about it. Just fun.
Click to expand...

Not ALL handgun cartridges are banned from big game hunting, but most are.
 
I had a Winchester model 92 in 32/20 that was so worn out I had to resize slugs to .317. As suggested before slug the barrel. It's a fun little round
 
I've got a duo of Marlin pumps in 25-20 & 32-20, Mod 27's I think.
Not sure on the 25-20 ( but assumptions are made), but the 32-20 Marlins were possessing a bigger bore from the factory. Been a while so I don't have the numbers handy in the old memory bank... 0.314 was the bullet diameter that worked OK. Still have a Wadcutter mold that 'Has great personality'... the slugs it throws are girthy. If I cast PL and powder coated the pills; then run them over a fast powder ( loves Unique, it is usually that way older guns from the charcoal Era IMO) so they bump up into the bore, seemed to work OK.
Different model I realize, but I'm assuming that Marlin ran a similar ( if not identical) profile barrels in different models of the same caliber.
Food for thought anyhow.
 
Funny thing I also recall, was that necking down 32-20 made it way easier to reload for the 25-20. Makes sense I suppose, necking it down should make it thicker at the shoulder one would think.
Maybe I'm heavy handed but i never had luck reloading 22 Hornet or 25-20 ( the necked down brass being an exception)
 
I've been working on these rifles last 10 days or so, finally got a load that is around an inch for the 32-20, 100gr jacket bullets, littlegun and CCI500, six shots around an inch at 50m, replaced the trigger sear with a new one from Numrich,
No luck with lead loads,
No real improvement with the 25-20, tried six more loads, sum slight improvement with 260 sized, gas check bullets, Guess i have more work to do.
 
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