32 Special

rayzorloo

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Hey folks,

Bought a lever model 94 in 32 special, but the ammo seems to be scarce. Would like to reload it, I understand I can use 30-30 brass. Can anyone chime in if they reload and what data they use?

Thanks
 
30-30 case neck up easily with one pass over the sizer ball, just make sure to use lots of lube inside the neck.

There are only a couple of bullets available, if you can find them for tube feeders.

Most people use 175 grain flat nose or if available the 165 grain FTX soft point bullets.

I used to use the standard .323 150 grain flat base, round nose bullets in the Marlin I had chambered for 32 Special. Some folks cringe at this practice but the surface area of the lead round nose is large enough to eliminate any danger of detonation IMHO and after close to a thousand rounds through the rifle I had, there were never any indications of any indentation on any of the primers.

Usually, the noses of the bullets just flattened a bit, without causing any accuracy issues.

The load I used was Hornady, 150grain RNFB bullets over 31.0 grains of IMR4895 over Winchester LR standard primers, with WW 30-30 cases necked up using the expander ball that came with the die set

This load is nowhere near maximum as far as I could tell but was quite accurate in the Marlin lever action
 
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If you can only find pointed-tip bullets and you're concerned about magazine recoil setting off a primer, you can make your own flat-nose bullets with a few passes of the tip over coarse sandpaper or a file.

POI and accuracy will not be affected in a measurable way, nor will terminal performance on whatever you hit.
 
I use .30-30 brass and hornady bullets. I also use cast bullets for plinking as the .32 has a slower twist than .30-30.
It's fun and cheap with 10 grains of Unique and a plain based cast bullet.
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That twist rate is the same as what was in my Marlin. It will stabilize the .323 150 grain and heavier bullets just fine.
 
I also use a jacketed 170 gr with IMR 4064. I buy every box of bullets I find, haven't seen any for a while though. Cast might be your best bet.
 
Good old 32WS. I have used a 94 in 32WS off and on for a few years now. Worked just fine for whitetail, especially the way I hunt. I'm not into "long range" shots, so a 30-30 or 32WS is all that I need. I don't carry a range finder nor binoculars, so I like to be within 100 yards for a shot. We have both whitetail and mule deer in our area, and one needs to be able to identify which one it is before blazing away.

I use .323 Lee 175gr cast for plinking, with 10gr 700X and a gas check. The gas check probably is not necessary, but I was able to order order 3000 a couple years ago.
 
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