Just acquired a RRB in .32-20
- Thread starter Doc Hoy
- Start date
ligonierbill
New member
The traditional bullet is a 115 gr flat nose cast. I buy Hunters' Supply, but there are plenty of others.
I have always liked Lee molds
Prolly because I am a tightwad.
I have some Lyman molds and at three times the price, I do not see three times the quality of the final product. But I am not a purist. I know that aluminum cools faster than steel which makes casting rhythm more important.
Lee has two molds that cast round nose bullets which they advertise as .32-20. Both are .311. One is 90 and the other is 100 gr.
Anyone have experience with these two bullets?
Prolly because I am a tightwad.
I have some Lyman molds and at three times the price, I do not see three times the quality of the final product. But I am not a purist. I know that aluminum cools faster than steel which makes casting rhythm more important.
Lee has two molds that cast round nose bullets which they advertise as .32-20. Both are .311. One is 90 and the other is 100 gr.
Anyone have experience with these two bullets?
Last edited:
44caliberkid
New member
Since the 32-20 was originally a black powder round, any vintage style mould or bullet intended for that cartridge, should carry enough BP friendly lube to work well. However, I use Big Lube moulds in 357, 38-40, 44-40, and 45, and they are hard to beat. They shoot well and make clean up a breeze.
Jim Watson
New member
.311 sound small, you said the groove diameter is .312".
Black powder is supposed to slug up a soft bullet. I never tried, I cast .379" and bought .380" for my .3785" Winchester .38-55.
Black powder is supposed to slug up a soft bullet. I never tried, I cast .379" and bought .380" for my .3785" Winchester .38-55.
Driftwood Johnson
New member
Howdy
A picture is worth a thousand words department.
Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook:
Smokeless Bullets:
Regarding Big Lube bullets for 32-20, I just checked Whyte Leatherworks, which is where I buy all my Big Lube bullets, and I don't see a bullet for 32-20 in his catalog.
http://www.whyteleatherworks.com/BigLube.html
Dick Dastardly sells a Big Lube mold for 32 caliber, but he does not state specifically which 32 it is for. I just looked up 32 S&W and Lyman specifies a .310 diameter bullet, Lyman specifies a .312 diameter bullet for 32 S&W Long, so you could probably use Dick's Big Lube 32, particularly if you cast it soft so it will bump up in the bore.
http://www.biglube.com/BulletMolds.aspx?ItemID=e082c3d3-ea98-4bb0-b649-7c1e7d5347df
A picture is worth a thousand words department.
Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook:
Smokeless Bullets:
Regarding Big Lube bullets for 32-20, I just checked Whyte Leatherworks, which is where I buy all my Big Lube bullets, and I don't see a bullet for 32-20 in his catalog.
http://www.whyteleatherworks.com/BigLube.html
Dick Dastardly sells a Big Lube mold for 32 caliber, but he does not state specifically which 32 it is for. I just looked up 32 S&W and Lyman specifies a .310 diameter bullet, Lyman specifies a .312 diameter bullet for 32 S&W Long, so you could probably use Dick's Big Lube 32, particularly if you cast it soft so it will bump up in the bore.
http://www.biglube.com/BulletMolds.aspx?ItemID=e082c3d3-ea98-4bb0-b649-7c1e7d5347df
Driftwood Johnson
New member
Being a tightwad and getting good performance with Black Powder are two different things.
First off, you will soon find out that pouring 20 grains or so of Black Powder into a cartridge is much more expensive than 3 or 4 grains of your favorite Smokeless powder.
Secondly, if you want to keep the powder from forming a hard, difficult to remove fouling in a rifle barrel, you want a bullet that carries enough soft bullet lube to keep the bore coated with soft lube the entire length. When I first started shooting Black Powder with 45 Colt and 44-40 none of the commercial bullets that I tried carried enough soft lube to keep the bore of a rifle lubed the entire length. That is why I started shooting Big Lube bullets. Even designed one myself. No, I do not get any money back from Big Lube, I did it for the fun of it. But I have never found any standard bullets that do as good a job of keeping the bore of a rifle lubed its entire length than the Big Lube series.
I don't know what is still available.
Among the lubes hat are good for black powder cartridge is SPG.
I used to have their loading booklet.
Mike Venturino has written some good black powder cartridge info.
I did get the idea that proper bullet lube is critical.
I notice the box said the bullets were cast extra hard.
I'm not an expert,I just dabbled,but I got the idea bullets for BPCR were generally cast softer...You'll have to find what works for you.
Among the lubes hat are good for black powder cartridge is SPG.
I used to have their loading booklet.
Mike Venturino has written some good black powder cartridge info.
I did get the idea that proper bullet lube is critical.
I notice the box said the bullets were cast extra hard.
I'm not an expert,I just dabbled,but I got the idea bullets for BPCR were generally cast softer...You'll have to find what works for you.
Driftwood Johnson
New member
The photo of the box of bullets was only meant to show the correct bullet diameter.
No, those bullets would not be terrific for Black Powder.
Yes, generally speaking one wants a soft lead bullet for Black Powder, however I used to pan lube hard cast bullets with a BP compatible bullet lube all the time. After melting the hard cast lube out of the bullets I pan lubed them with a mixture of about 50/50 Beeswax and Crisco.
Just one of many, many formulas for Black Powder compatible bullet lube.
The idea is most modern bullet lubes will combine with Black Powder fouling to create a hard fouling that is difficult to remove from the bore. Black Powder compatible bullet lubes are soft and gooey. They remain soft after they are loaded with BP fouling so they are easy to clean out of the bore without a lot of elbow grease. Basically what happens is the soft lube rubs off into the grooves of the rifling as the bullet travels down the bore. Then the next bullet wipes away the lube from the previous bullet, and leaves its own lube behind. If a bullet does not carry enough lube to coat the inside of the barrel for its entire length, the bore will get starved for lube near the muzzle. Pan lubing hard cast bullets with a soft lube works well, but most modern bullets do not have a large enough lube groove to keep the barrel of a rifle coated its entire length. They work fine for pistols, but a rifle barrel will usually get starved for lube the last six inches or so from the muzzle. In practice with pan lubed bullets in a rifle I had to swab out my barrel about halfway through the day to swab out the hard fouling that had built up near the muzzle. Once swabbed away, accuracy returned.
I tried all kinds of techniques, adding lube cookies and all that jazz, but once I discovered the Big Lube series of bullets, with their huge lube grooves, I never pan lubed bullets again. The Big Lube bullets carry enough lube in their lube grooves to keep a rifle barrel lubed its entire length and I never had to swab out my barrel again to restore accuracy.
Yes, Mike Venturino wrote several books about loading cartridges with Black Powder. He knows his stuff, I used his books when I was first loading Black Powder into cartridges.
I used to use SPG bullet lube all the time when I was casting my own bullets and lube sizing them myself.
If I wanted a good bullet for loading Black Powder in 32-20, I would send an email to Whyte Leatherworks and see if he has something available.
No, those bullets would not be terrific for Black Powder.
Yes, generally speaking one wants a soft lead bullet for Black Powder, however I used to pan lube hard cast bullets with a BP compatible bullet lube all the time. After melting the hard cast lube out of the bullets I pan lubed them with a mixture of about 50/50 Beeswax and Crisco.
Just one of many, many formulas for Black Powder compatible bullet lube.
The idea is most modern bullet lubes will combine with Black Powder fouling to create a hard fouling that is difficult to remove from the bore. Black Powder compatible bullet lubes are soft and gooey. They remain soft after they are loaded with BP fouling so they are easy to clean out of the bore without a lot of elbow grease. Basically what happens is the soft lube rubs off into the grooves of the rifling as the bullet travels down the bore. Then the next bullet wipes away the lube from the previous bullet, and leaves its own lube behind. If a bullet does not carry enough lube to coat the inside of the barrel for its entire length, the bore will get starved for lube near the muzzle. Pan lubing hard cast bullets with a soft lube works well, but most modern bullets do not have a large enough lube groove to keep the barrel of a rifle coated its entire length. They work fine for pistols, but a rifle barrel will usually get starved for lube the last six inches or so from the muzzle. In practice with pan lubed bullets in a rifle I had to swab out my barrel about halfway through the day to swab out the hard fouling that had built up near the muzzle. Once swabbed away, accuracy returned.
I tried all kinds of techniques, adding lube cookies and all that jazz, but once I discovered the Big Lube series of bullets, with their huge lube grooves, I never pan lubed bullets again. The Big Lube bullets carry enough lube in their lube grooves to keep a rifle barrel lubed its entire length and I never had to swab out my barrel again to restore accuracy.
Yes, Mike Venturino wrote several books about loading cartridges with Black Powder. He knows his stuff, I used his books when I was first loading Black Powder into cartridges.
I used to use SPG bullet lube all the time when I was casting my own bullets and lube sizing them myself.
If I wanted a good bullet for loading Black Powder in 32-20, I would send an email to Whyte Leatherworks and see if he has something available.