Help with .32 H&R Magnum

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  • Last Post 20 April 2010
CB posted this 29 May 2008

A while back I wrote asking for help with my Marlin Cowboy in this caliber. I have been not able to achieve any accuracy with this rifle using Lee's 90 grain tumble lube  SWC bullet. Ed Harris suggested upping my charge of Bullseye from 3.0 to 3.5 which I did and got somewhat of an improvement in accuracy. He also said to change from the water cooled bullets I was using to air cooled, which I also followed through on. Today was the first chance I had to get out and try these changes. Basically what is happening is that I will be shooting a group of two or three shots into an inch at fifty yards and then a shot will go four or five inches wild. I'll then get a series of wild shots and then it will go back to a tight group for several shots. Anybody have any idea of what the cause of this may be? This has become very frustrating not being able to achieve any consistancy. Thanks for any help youi can give, Tom.

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CB posted this 29 May 2008

I would try a different bullet / lube combo and see if it does the same thing with the same charge. If it does I would work on the charge or change powders. If it shoots better then you already have the reason.. Bullet or lube..

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linoww posted this 29 May 2008

Not to seem to simplistic,but are all of your screws tight on the gun.Sights,stock etc...

George

"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!

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RicinYakima posted this 29 May 2008

Tom,

While I don't have a Marlin, I do have two pistols and a “bunny” gun in 32 Mag. So with that understanding, here are my thoughts.

Rifle: My Marlin 32/20 is sensitive to clamping the front of the magazine as if it is too tight, it walks groups around. Like Linoww suggests, check to make sure everything is right.

Bullets: Air cooled wheelweights are plenty hard enough for this round. How big is the bullet? If it is less than 0.313” you will have problems. Try cutting the LLA with some mineral spirits so you have less on the bullet, a little of this stuff goes a long way.

Powder: I know Ed likes and uses Bullseye, but it has just been an average powder for me. I have had better groups using 4.0 grains of WW231 or 3.6 grains of SR7625.

HTH, Ric

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CB posted this 29 May 2008

The tumble lube bullets are a success in pistols, but from what I've heard from others, problems such as yours will happen when shot in a rife. For rifle, the least amount of LLA is best. I had similar experiences with Loverin type cbs with multi-grooves.  My best accuracy is with just one grease-groove lubed at the gas check or in your case the very last grooves at the base. Hope this helps.................Dan

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CB posted this 29 May 2008

Gentlemen - Thank you all for your input. I certainly take heed to all help offered and will try your suggestions but..........

Jeff -      Like a bolt of lightning the thought occurred to me at the supper table tonight that maybe, just maybe my problem is the scope, not the bullets. I don't know but to make sure I loaded up some more of the same loads and changed out the scope for a comparison shoot tomorrow morning. I did have this same type of problem once before with another gun and scope combo but you know how aging minds are. It went out of the mental library until tonight. We'll see. The scope in place was by no means of the finest quality, a Tasco and a less expensive Tasco at that.

Linoww - I would love to try another bullet but cannot find any in any of the suppliers around here. Hate to mail order a large quantity of bullets just to try them out and ordering a few here and there gets expensive.

     I bought this gun new recently and really really like it and am bound and determined to get it to shoot well. Thanks again for the help.

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giorgio de galleani posted this 30 May 2008

I have half a dozen Marlins ,tighten the screws,and they are different from the bolt guns,tigten ALL the screws,take care of your shooting technique,mine love to be kept  tightly by the left hand and then you can rest the left hand on the front sandbag.

I find the round forends are difficult to keep level on the bags.

Remember to keep the rifle steady and follow through,if your loads are slow there is a long barrel time.

Put on a STRONG trigger spring and seat correctly the primers I had percussion problems in an old 30-30.

I follow Ed Harris's advice to always keep one round in the magazine,he tension of the magazine spring has some influence,and surely its variation while you are emptying the magazine.

Have you read Paco Kelly's articles on the site Leverguns?

Hope to have been useful,I am a great fan of marlin leveraction,What a pity 38-55 and 35Rem. are not available in Italy.

I am happy with cheap Tasco 3x9 scopes,I mount them with weaver rings & bases,tighten the screws,and they are ok for 100-200 meters shooting,tighten the screws. 

 

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giorgio de galleani posted this 30 May 2008

 

More from Buffalo george.

I have shot well from my marlin cow boy long barreled rifles Lee TL bullets  tumble lubed with liquid alox  in 357 and 45LC up to 1200 fps.

They shoot well because they are nicely oversize.Hope you do not size your TL bullet.

Good luck.

G.

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tturner53 posted this 05 January 2010

Regarding the Lee TL314-90SWC, it's supposed to drop at .314, is this likely to still chamber ok in a Ruger SSM 32 HRM? I haven't got the gun yet but am anxious to get started loading some ammo. I can get a new mold for $20. I know there's better molds out there, it's a budget thing. Does Lee make a mold that's better for the .32 mag?

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Ed Harris posted this 05 January 2010

The .314 should be no trouble. I load all of my .32 cast bullets unsized and as-cast. I do recommend using the Lee Factory Crimp die, then if you do get a fat bullet or thick case it takes care of it. No drips, runs or errors...

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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tturner53 posted this 06 January 2010

Thanks Ed. I shoot as much as cast tumble lubed as I can. I've tried the factory crimp trick, it's a good one.Well I had some Midway gift certs burning a hole in my pocket and I've been on a mold buying binge anyway so I ordered two molds from Midway. A Lee TL 314-90 SWC DC and my first ever 6 cav., 358-125 RF. From everything I've read(a lot) both these molds will be very versatile, what's the word I'm looking for..? Diverse. That's it. The little .32 will work in my .32 HRM and should work in several .30 and .31 cal rifles too. The 358-125 has had good reviews in a wide variety(diversity!) of guns and different calibers too, like all the .38s, .357, and even 9mm. Am I a good shopper or what!? AND my LBT(I splurged) 358-200 is due in a day or so. I have a Mod.314299 GB mold coming that's supposed to go .316, And I just scored a DC Ranch Dog 432-265 for $20! Hi, I'm Tim Turner and I love this stuff. (Sorry Larry)

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tturner53 posted this 06 January 2010

I'm a little surprised my 'diversity' joke just slid by this bunch. Maybe I've gone too far.

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TonyT posted this 20 April 2010

I have only shot 32 H&R Mag in a S&W revolver using the old Lyman #3118 - 115 gr. PB bullet. 2.4 to 2.8 gr. Bullseye provides from 780 to 890 fps with excellent accuracy.

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