?Ideal projectile for .32 H&R Marlin 1894 & Single Sixes?

[Longfoot]

My partner hardly had the muzzle of some borrowed .32 Single Sixes started into the holster, as she turned from the line with an uncharacteristic Cheshire Cat grin and, "Ohhhhh, I liiiikkkke these."

 

Thus began my trip down a rabbit hole.

 

Living in New Zealand, I'll have to cast her projectiles in order to have a reliable supply.

 

So, my question to the assembled .32 shooters, what's the optimal projectile for both a Marlin 94 and Ruger Single Sixes.

 

I'm looking at things like:

 

Accurate 31-088C  https://accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=31-088C

 

or

 

RCBS .32-98-swc  https://www.rcbs.com/bullet-casting/moulds/bullet-mould-.32-98-swc-444/355280.html

 

My experience with our 1894 Cowboy Comp in .38 has taught me that it really appreciates a round loaded to within 0.100 of saami max.  (at least 1.450) and that it prefers a lee factory roll crimp into a crimp groove.  Any sort of shoulder or driving band ahead of the crimp seems to occasionally get hung up when chambering.  And, I'm presuming that won't be a bad starting point for loading the .32's for Marlin of the same design but chambered appropriately.

 

Does anyone have first hand experience they could add?

 

Oh, and I'll be loading these both smokeless (Titegroup) and potentially Black(Traditional FFFg), so, a good lube groove is advantageous and I have a personal preference for bevel bases.

 

Thanks

Longfoot

[Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971]

My wife owns and shoots both these firearms.  They are sweet guns for a lady.  The RCBS SWC will shoot fine from her revolvers (I have the mold and cast them) and shoot point-of-aim in my wife's.  However, they might feed poorly in your Marlin though they feed OK in hers.  The molds do not produce beveled bases.  We load with APP to ensure her rounds meet the BP smoke standard.

[Three Foot Johnson]

In my .32 H&R Single Sixes and Uberti .32-20's, I use the Lee TL314-90-SWC. I've been using the Accurate 31-105C in my .32-20 Marlin, but if I were to buy one mold for all of them, it would probably be the Accurate mold you're looking at.

[Widder, SASS #59054]

Longfoot,

I'll try to share my personal experience with the .32 Marlin 1894  and the .32 Rugers.

 

MARLIN:

its a great rifle.  I been shooting one for nearly 10 years or more.   And, I have worked on nearly a dozen

of them.  The only 'factory' problem I have encountered that was a bad gremlin is the size of the

'PORTAL' hole.   The portal is the hole in front of the receiver where the bullet passes thru from the mag tube to the

carrier.

On every .32 Marlin I have worked on, the 'portal' was at minimal SAAMI specs from the factory and needed opening

up a few .000's.   Because this hole diameter was of minimal size, sometimes the rim of a .32 case would get stuck inside 

of it.   A good size for this hole is when the body (not the rim) of a .38 special case will freely fall inside this hole and freely

fall back out.  Use an UNSIZED case.

The timing on the Marlins is very gracious and everything from OAL of  1.310 up to 1.400 works great without jamming

or feeding issues.   Anything longer than 1.400 don't have room to sit on the carrier correctly and the nose of the bullet

can bump the edge of the portal when the carrier rises.   A little caution is advised when loading anything longer

than 1.400.

 

RUGERS:

Great pistols.   I don't work on pistols so the info I share only relates to my personal pistols..

The 'THROATS' of my chambers were cut a tad short and some of my reloads would not fully seat in the chambers

using certain bullets and certain OAL.    Your mileage will vary so check out your reloads depending upon bullet

styles.

My 100 grain truncated flat nose bullets with OAL of 1.400 seated fine.   But my 78 grain round nose bullets

with OAL at 1.325 did not.   Bullet design was the issue until I opened up my throats a few .000's.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Best regards

 

..........Widder

 

 

Edited July 26 by Widder, SASS #59054

[Preacherman]

I've used the Lee molds with great success. https://leeprecision.com/6-cavity-311-93-1r I'd check them out. I don't know if you can get those where you live. Good shootin'!

[Longfoot]

On 7/26/2024 at 1:14 PM, Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971 said:

....The RCBS SWC will shoot fine from her revolvers (I have the mold and cast them) and shoot point-of-aim in my wife's.  However, they might feed poorly in your Marlin though they feed OK in hers.  The molds do not produce beveled bases.....

Yep.  It's seems as though that RCBS mold is a favorite amongst .32 revolver shooters and many report it to be very accurate.  But, my concern, based on experience with our .38 CBC is whether or not it will chamber smoothly.  However, it's only me that's ever had issue with our rifle.  My partner, who doesn't run it as quickly, and who may not be as atuned to such issues, doesn't recall experiencing the same.  Although, since moving to a shoulderless projectile, I think I've seen an improvement in the smoothness of her shooting.

[Longfoot]

On 7/26/2024 at 5:28 PM, Three Foot Johnson said:

In my .32 H&R Single Sixes and Uberti .32-20's, I use the Lee TL314-90-SWC. I've been using the Accurate 31-105C in my .32-20 Marlin, but if I were to buy one mold for all of them, it would probably be the Accurate mold you're looking at.

I'm afraid of the shoulder on the Lee swc.  The Accurate 105 looks good as well.  Tom seems to have designed a number of molds that would/could/should work.

[Longfoot]

On 7/27/2024 at 3:21 AM, Preacherman said:

I've used the Lee molds with great success. https://leeprecision.com/6-cavity-311-93-1r I'd check them out. I don't know if you can get those where you live. Good shootin'!

I believe that's the very mold the cowgirl in our local club is using.  However, she's only using .32 pistols and a .38 rifle and given we're also feeding a tube mag rifle, I'm going to stick to flat nosed options.  I know that the recoil in a lightly loaded .32 is so low as to make a mag chain fire unlikely.  But, its my wife I'm handing this ammo to, and, she trusts me to keep her as safe as "reasonably possible".  Our adage has always been, "How would the accident report read?"

[Longfoot]

On 7/26/2024 at 5:36 PM, Widder, SASS #59054 said:

Longfoot,

I'll try to share my personal experience with the .32 Marlin 1894  and the .32 Rugers.

 

MARLIN:

its a great rifle.  I been shooting one for nearly 10 years or more.   And, I have worked on nearly a dozen

of them.  The only 'factory' problem I have encountered that was a bad gremlin is the size of the

'PORTAL' hole.   The portal is the hole in front of the receiver where the bullet passes thru from the mag tube to the

carrier.

On every .32 Marlin I have worked on, the 'portal' was at minimal SAAMI specs from the factory and needed opening

up a few .000's.   Because this hole diameter was of minimal size, sometimes the rim of a .32 case would get stuck inside 

of it.   A good size for this hole is when the body (not the rim) of a .38 special case will freely fall inside this hole and freely

fall back out.  Use an UNSIZED case.

The timing on the Marlins is very gracious and everything from OAL of  1.310 up to 1.400 works great without jamming

or feeding issues.   Anything longer than 1.400 don't have room to sit on the carrier correctly and the nose of the bullet

can bump the edge of the portal when the carrier rises.   A little caution is advised when loading anything longer

than 1.400.

 

RUGERS:

Great pistols.   I don't work on pistols so the info I share only relates to my personal pistols..

The 'THROATS' of my chambers were cut a tad short and some of my reloads would not fully seat in the chambers

using certain bullets and certain OAL.    Your mileage will vary so check out your reloads depending upon bullet

styles.

My 100 grain truncated flat nose bullets with OAL of 1.400 seated fine.   But my 78 grain round nose bullets

with OAL at 1.325 did not.   Bullet design was the issue until I opened up my throats a few .000's.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Best regards

 

..........Widder

 

 

Thanks Widder,

 

Was already planning a complete disassembly of the rifle upon arrival and installation of 1 pc firing pin, phantom trigger, hammer and plunger spring, as well as any stoning to bring the action to a similar degree of smoothness as our CBC.  I'll add inspection and adjustment of portal to the list.

 

I hadn't considered trying to load any longer than Saami max.  But, it sounds as though if I keep it within 0.04 of that I should be good.  There were a couple of projectiles with longer ogive/tapers that I had previous discounted, but, might have a second look at.  It sounds as though, if they're only pushing C.O.A.L. out by 0.10 or so over max, they should be fine.

 

Already had a chat with our gunsmith about the pistols, Ruger's tight cylinder throats and honing those to something closer to groove diameter.

 

Thanks for your input.

 

 

 

 

[Three Foot Johnson]

56 minutes ago, Longfoot said:

I'm afraid of the shoulder on the Lee swc.  The Accurate 105 looks good as well.  Tom seems to have designed a number of molds that would/could/should work.

That's why I use the Accurate mold for my rifle. 

Another problem with the Single Six .32's is the base pin hole is either very slightly undersize or the base pins are very slightly oversize, and the teeniest bit of fouling makes it very difficult to get the base pins out. It seems to be a common problem, but it's a quick easy fix.