32-40 cast bullet problem

I would slug the bore; my 32-40 Ballard has a bore which is .007" oversize at .328. If it is oversize, try shooting soft bullets say 5% alloy so that they will upset into the bore. Made a dramatic difference for me

cheers mooncoon
 
Well it would seem from some folks on here that are in the know that these bullets are likely too hard. There is a couple of guys in my area that cast bullets ,will I be able to melt down what I have here(almost 200 rounds)and add something to it to make them softer and re cast.
 
sunray said:
Where are you getting the data from?
The .32-40 uses .320" or .321" bullets. Hornady makes a 170 grain .321" FP. So does Speer. Sierra doesn't make one at all.
"...with IMR4227..." My Lyman book gives 14.0 as the starting load for a 170 grain jacketed bullet. 25.0 of IMR3031. 12.0 of IMR4227 is for a 164 grain cast bullet with gas check.
E-mail me if you want the data. Only 3 bullet weights. One jacketed, 2 cast. Both cast bullet need gas checks.
Click to expand...

.321" would be fine for a jacketed bullet, but a cast bullet should be at or a thou or two over groove diameter. .321 to .323 would be correct for cast, using a .320 cast bullet would be asking for trouble.
 
If you mix that alloy with approx. twice as much pure lead, you would have a more usable alloy for cast bullets in the .32/40 IMHO.
 
You can anneal those bullets to soften them. Boil them fully submerged in water first to remove the lubricant. Then stand them on a cookie sheet or loose in a wire basket and pop them in the oven at 450 for an hour. Shut the oven off and leave them in the oven until they and the oven are fully cooled. They will have to be re-lubed before you can use them. They will likely soften to about 12- 14BHN depending on the alloy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom