Shooting the 1892 Marlin, 32 Long Colt Lever Action

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NorthCoastBigBore

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Northwest BC (Rural) 103-I-##
I recently picked up a Marlin 1892 in .32 RF/CF with both firing pins from a fellow CGN'r. I was pretty excited because I've been looking for one of these with both pins, for ages. I load for .32 Short & Long Colt so today I carted 'r out. I need to take more photos of this.

These are the forerunner of the Marlin 1897 & 39A. They load the same way:

091dwCb.jpg


These are the .32 LC loaded (they end up with Alox all over the cases as a result of the final "crimping" process where I find I simply run them through a sizing die with the decapper removed; I haven't wiped these off yet although it doesn't seem to make a difference); I make these by swaging down .32 S&W Brass and turning the resulting "belt" off, trim to length:

Rd22Y6j.jpg


And these are ~0.030" too long I need to shorten the OAL a little to get em to feed so we had to single load 'r today. Minor detail. Update 1.23" is what this one likes. Not 1.24", not 1.25". 1.23". But she's HAPPY at 1.23" it runs very well.

Don't mind my youngest's hold there, the stock was too long for him and he was making the best of it; these do not kick at all and he hit the popper so... whatever:

hdJnYPz.jpg


I'll load up some shorter for next week and rip through the steel :) I'll try out some Short Colt as well and see how those feed. This one is a later model and should feed both reliably.

Keep yer' powder dry. NCBB
 
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HHhhhmmmm: Interesting.......nice story NCBB, thank you for posting and good on you for getting those youngsters out shooting and having fun. Too bad someone hadn't taken JT shooting about 40 years ago.
 
Willy Tincup said:
HHhhhmmmm: Interesting.......nice story NCBB, thank you for posting and good on you for getting those youngsters out shooting and having fun. Too bad someone hadn't taken JT shooting about 40 years ago.
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Yes, I wish we should have been so lucky! Thank you sir. That particular rifle puts a big grin on my own face, something about those tiny centerfire cases flipping out of the action. Once I get the OAL dialed in it will be an absolute riot. A "Quiet Riot" :)

vagrantviking said:
Nice to see you get one of these running. Not many people are willing to figure out loading for them.

I'm jealous as I seem to have an affinity for the little pop guns lately.
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I hear ya. Something about the look and yes that "pop" of those tiny centerfires, my .25 and .32's both. I'll put up a more detailed tutorial on making these .32 Longs, it takes a bit of time to make those (as opposed to the .25 Longs) but the cases have lasted several loadings without failure. Much as I love my .45-XX's I can't stop grinning when I'm shooting these tiny cartridges. I can't wait to get the OAL figured out for this 1897 because I don't think I'll be able to quit smiling while I'm walking through the targets.
 
I still have a couple of those guns and a few hundred 32 colt rounds in both short and long.......have been buying them up at gun shows for 25yrs and now they are getting hard to find.......but I'm not hoarding....:)
 
Willy Tincup said:
I still have a couple of those guns and a few hundred 32 colt rounds in both short and long.......have been buying them up at gun shows for 25yrs and now they are getting hard to find.......but I'm not hoarding....:)
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Ha ha! Yes, unfortunately we don't have any local gun shows; there's a good one every year (well, non-COVID years) about 6 hours from me but that means taking a precious weekend (soo many things to do lol, TIME is everything). So I haven't been there in years.

I've got a decent selection of Short Colt brass and I've made about 50 Long Colt, but the problem with the 1892 is they go so much faster than a single shot :)
 
Update: OAL for this 1892 needs to be 1.23" (with .32 LONG Colt). It isn't happy even at 1.25", will cycle but it's "hitchy" and requires some working of the lever. In my experience with Marlin levers, that isn't out of the ordinary for 'em to be very picky on the length. My Favorite is happy with a much longer length ("1.55") but I'll be loading them all at this length.

Funnnnn though it ran great at that length, holds 13 rounds of Longs in the tube and I didn't miss anything I aimed at. Put down a tarp to catch the empties.

Next weekend I'll try it with shorts.
 
You lucky bugger! I was after the rifle too ..lol but I was to cheap to pay for it! Very nice unit, if you ever sale... keep my username.
Cheers
Brian
 
Making 32 COLT out of 32 S&W is easier if you turn down the web of the case first, then final sizing to shape is easier, and gives a stronger case. Section a case to see what needs to be turned down. Slip it onto a shouldered mandrel, and put a live center in the primer pocket. The pressure on the mandrel shoulder will be enough to spin the case. I have a Marlin M1891 for CF and a Wesson for RF cartridges. The firing pin on the Wesson will reach a 22RF case seated in a central orifice cut with 22RF reamer. Cut-off 22 shell for a primer, a pinch of FFFFg for better ignition and 1 gr of Bullseye or similar for propellent. Both are wonderfully accurate.

CHRIS
 
RGChris said:
Making 32 COLT out of 32 S&W is easier if you turn down the web of the case first, then final sizing to shape is easier, and gives a stronger case. Section a case to see what needs to be turned down. Slip it onto a shouldered mandrel, and put a live center in the primer pocket. The pressure on the mandrel shoulder will be enough to spin the case. I have a Marlin M1891 for CF and a Wesson for RF cartridges. The firing pin on the Wesson will reach a 22RF case seated in a central orifice cut with 22RF reamer. Cut-off 22 shell for a primer, a pinch of FFFFg for better ignition and 1 gr of Bullseye or similar for propellent. Both are wonderfully accurate.

CHRIS
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Thanks Chris, I honestly hadn't considered turning it down first. I'll give it a try next batch!
 
Willy Tincup said:
I still have a couple of those guns and a few hundred 32 colt rounds in both short and long.......have been buying them up at gun shows for 25yrs and now they are getting hard to find.......but I'm not hoarding....:)
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Sounds like you “ may “ have one for sale....ok I’m reaching...lol
Cheers
 
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