Shiloh Rifle Forums

We have a few marlin 32-20's and I have never shot Black powder loads in any of them. I have molded and lubed a few hundred bullets and have been gifted 6 pounds of Swiss 1.5 f powder. Will this powder make a good load for that cartridge? You that load BP in a 32-20 do you use a wad over the powder??

Curious why you'd load black in a lever gun when heretofore you've chosen to not load black at all?

I shoot a lot of rifles in 32-20 with smokless powder. Many years back I tried black powder in the first one and it was pretty much of a bust, even though the 32-20 was originally a black powder cartridge. I think the 1 1/2 Swiss would be way to coarse a powder in the 32-20 though. I used FFFg when I messed with black powder in the 32-20. You won't need any kind of a spacer, just stuff the case with as much black powder as you can and see how it shoots.

George

Personally, I would go with Swiss 3F in the 32-20.
beltfed/arnie

stevewhr wrote: ↑Sat May 29, 2021 7:02 pm Curious why you'd load black in a lever gun when heretofore you've chosen to not load black at all?

Free Black Powder . I was given a few pounds to try to convince me to change from Pyrodex. I have a one hundred yard range in my back yard and can try the BP in my 32-20 to see if it is accurate. The 500 meter range at my club is an hour's drive from my house. I'll have time this fall to do accuracy tests there with our 40-65 highwalls.

I have a pretty good 32-20 load for Lever action silhouette and I've done well with it...but with a few pounds of free powder I should try it in the 32-20 .

I'm shooting a 32-20 Martini chambered for the round - actually a .308 barrel, 1:12 twist. Shoots very well if you do your fouling management correctly, but it is picky. And yes, my best load uses 18.4 grs of Swiss 1 1/2Fg, topped with a thick card wad, with a 151gr RN bullet. I also semi-breech-seat a 174gr Pope bullet with 17.9grs of same behind, also shoots well: Seat bullet in the rifling with a plugged case, seat loaded case behind it. The bullet is almost as long as the case, but it does shoot...
Rifle is built on a BSA 12/15 Martini action.

Thank you sir...that answered a lot of questions for me .

Beltfed / Arnie -- Speaks truth.

Swiss # 1.5 may be a bit underpowered for longer, heavier bullets necessary to buck the wind and have enough mass to score hits that drop turkeys and rams. This is where Swiss # 3 is necessary which opens another can of worms with fouling control, specifically an effective regimen of wiping between shots while keeping the chamber dry. It can be done. The longer, heavier bullets necessary for the rams really only have an effective MV with Swiss # 3.

My own .32-40 is based on a .323" barrel which is also correct for 8mm. Saeco has a nice mold for a shorter bullet which will work with with Swiss # 1.5 for chickens and pigs if there is no headwind. Headwind is the issue for any sub-caliber. I wish Dan Theodore was here to chime-in. Regardless, 32=40 is a viable option for BPCR Silhouette and BPC Target Rifle / Midrange. It just takes a bit more attention and effort to manage that bugaboo called BP Fouling.

Keep the BP Faith,

--Steve

well, he never mentioned using the 32-20 for silhouette shooting, it won't deliver the horsepower for that. Still have to chrtono my load'but I'm guesstimating around .22lr velocities. Fine for me, as I was looking for a subsonic short-range target round. Accuracy is very good out to 300m, but fouling mgt requires some serious effort.