Winchester 32-20
Many years back, I inherited a Model 1892
Winchester lever action 32-20 rifle, as
a teenager I learned to reload my own
ammo for it, partially for economical
reasons, but also as a hobby,back then
I used lead bullets,which is my concern..
After hearing much controversy about lead
bullets in auto pistols, and since I have
recently loaded a batch of jacketed bullets,
do I need to "de-lead" the barrel first ?
If so, what do you recommend ?
Thanks!
Winchester lever action 32-20 rifle, as
a teenager I learned to reload my own
ammo for it, partially for economical
reasons, but also as a hobby,back then
I used lead bullets,which is my concern..
After hearing much controversy about lead
bullets in auto pistols, and since I have
recently loaded a batch of jacketed bullets,
do I need to "de-lead" the barrel first ?
If so, what do you recommend ?
Thanks!
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Hello As with any gun a clean barrel will most often shoot better groups then one that is dirty as far as leading goes many factory loadings for 32/20 are lead so this barrel was designed for them unlike some semi auto pistols. I like HOPPES #9 and let it soak for some time and use a brass brush followed by patches until they come out fairly clean.On a new rifle they should come out very clean but a 100 year old barrel might be slightly pitted and then it is almost impossible to get completely clean. 0 -
I would de-lead it. Scrub it with bore cleaner until patches come out clean.
As you may know, old high speed loadings were marked for Win 92 only.
80 grain jacketed bullets can be boosted to 2200fps and 100 grain bullets to 2000 fps in your gun. The Hornady XTP and Remington JSP work well but I prefer plated lead, Ohio Bullet Co bullets at about 1650fps, using Unique powder for cheaper plinking and range shooting.0 -
i don't see why you should be conserned, there is nothing wrong with 'properly' using lead bullits in almost any firearm. i've heard some bad things about glocks & lead bullets but that's about it. if your barrel is leading, you need to adjust your load (harder bullets, less velocity, slower burning powder). i've shot many thousands of rounds of .32/20 & cast bullets with no problens in pistols or rifles. my t/c contender had over 15,000 rounds through it. if your barrel is mildly leaded just shooting several jacketed bullets will clean most of the leading out. 0 -
Cosmo,
A point you might want to consider is the date of manufacture of your little lever gun as well. If it was made early (read that to mean antique), the barrel steels were a little less than they were after the turn of the century or certainly todays modern steels. I would think twice for several reasons before shooting jacketed bullets through an antique barrel. Granted, the 32-20 is a modernized black powder number, but it can be used to push lead bullets with complete satisfaction. This was intended as a trappers companion type cartridge and will never perform that well in comparison to more modern rounds, and will certainly never make much of a deer round anyway (yeah, I know, it has taken alot of venison over the decades, but it is massively underpowered for that application!). I would stick withthe lead anyway, as not only was the gun designed for such a projectile, lead fouling is easier to clean than copper fouling in the end equation.
"When I cease learning...I'm dead"(Me)
"When I was 14 I used to marvel at how ignorant my old man was...by the time I was 21 I was truelly amazed at how much the old bugger had learned in the intervening 7 years!" Samuel Clemens
"History is written by winners"(Patton)
"You get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone!"(Al Capone)
"There is nothing lower than the human race...except the French" (Samuel Clemens)0
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