8mm lebel from 32-20

I'm shooting .330 100gr tmjrn and it shoots very well, 780fps with 4.2g unique.
I don't full length size my cut 32-20 brass, I only size just below where the bullet is seated, leaves a tad more room in the cartridge decreasing the pressure a little and less wear on the brass.
I bought the brass used, unknown how many times fired and I have reloaded them 7-8 times now and not one split
 
drslav said:
I'd really like to get a chronograph and test some loads for this gun. Would give real view of what's happening.
Click to expand...


I think a chroney is great for modern firearms and an absolute must for antiques!!
I think your looking for trouble if you don't have a clue what your reloaded ammo is doing.
I have had many people tell me 4.2gr of unique is way too hot, well for my revolver and the way I load it works great with no signs of pressure and within reason of the factory velocities.
I'm far from an expert, just my 2 cents.......
 
drslav said:
Thats great to hear... great antique and usually for a good price . I want to get a second one again. Did you get it here in CA or is it from south of the border?
Click to expand...

Bought both up here. I paid more than I wanted too but I still feel I did good on them.
 
Last edited:
I got both of mine from US. One was really nice and good price. Second i paid same but it was not in as good condition. Taking a big chance by buying from the south...
 
mb5200 said:
I think a chroney is great for modern firearms and an absolute must for antiques!!
I think your looking for trouble if you don't have a clue what your reloaded ammo is doing.
I have had many people tell me 4.2gr of unique is way too hot, well for my revolver and the way I load it works great with no signs of pressure and within reason of the factory velocities.
I'm far from an expert, just my 2 cents.......
Click to expand...

Loading for antiques can be more of an art than a science. 4.2 is a stout load, but if you are ok with it then it's your business.

One thing to keep in mind with these old low-pressure firearms is that in most cases the fired brass may not show over-pressure signs and can still be double the safe pressure that firearm was designed for. Looking for brass pressure signs on antique firearms is not a dependable method to determine safe pressure levels like it is in a modern rifle cartridge.

For instance, many of the antique webleys were designed for use with ammunition producing maximum 12,000-13,000 psi. Using modern brass and components it is quite possible to exceed 20,000-30,000 psi before the brass may start to show excessive pressure signs. The fact that the brass might be able to handle that pressure does not mean that the revolver is suitable for that pressure.

Chances are that if you do see excess pressure signs in your brass you have already exceeded safe working pressure by a factor of 100% or more.
 
jethunter said:
Fired bullets aren't a great way to check the bore diameter because they can shed a few thousandths depending what medium you shoot them into. Unless you can fire them straight up and catch them on the way down before they touch the ground. ;) To "slug" a bore you usually pound a soft lead slug or bullet through your bore and measure that. Use a hardwood dowell and a wooden mallet.

I have only measured 2 of these revolvers so I cannot say with any authority that all of them are .330". It's entirely possible you have a .326 bore. All the commercially available bullets 8mm lebel revolver bullets are .329" or .330" and I believe that is the original french bore diameter. But variations are certainly possible.
Click to expand...

did this and bullet is still measuring .326 diameter
now question is...do i still fire .330 or do i re-size them a bit smaller?
 
Well I ran into one more snag reloading this dam thing....

I got a set of Hornady 8mm lebel revolver dies, I went to size my 32-20 brass and guess what! The dam dies will only size the base of the brass and won't size the necks! So I am kinda screwed here, not sure what my next step is. Anyone have any advice?
 
Rotaxpower said:
Well I ran into one more snag reloading this dam thing....

I got a set of Hornady 8mm lebel revolver dies, I went to size my 32-20 brass and guess what! The dam dies will only size the base of the brass and won't size the necks! So I am kinda screwed here, not sure what my next step is. Anyone have any advice?
Click to expand...

If the brass has not been fired before just use the expander die the brass will need to fire form before the neck portion will size as the brass needs to expand first
 
DEZ said:
If the brass has not been fired before just use the expander die the brass will need to fire form before the neck portion will size as the brass needs to expand first
Click to expand...

I feel pretty stupid, I posted that reply then went to bed last night and it dawned on me they need fire formed. Thanks for the reply, I will get some made up here!
 
drslav, sorry i didn't see this before.

I would say that you are ok using the bullets you have since they are soft lead and you are not running super hot loads. The webley revolvers regularly shoot .455" sized bullets through throats and bores that can measure between .452" and .449" in some of the MKI and MKII revolvers. Using nice soft lead bullets is the key here.


drslav said:
did this and bullet is still measuring .326 diameter
now question is...do i still fire .330 or do i re-size them a bit smaller?
Click to expand...
 
thank you. i was worried that i unnecessarily creating pressure in the barrel and slowing down the bullet. I still want to find out how fast they are. Fine tune the loads.
Someone told me that lead bullets can be up .005 larger and they are ok. I am at .004
 
You probably wouldn't want to be .004" oversize with a jacketed bullet but with a softish lead bullet at these velocities it will be fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom