Fun with 32/20 Marlin

[Cherokee]

Took my Marlin 1889 28" 32/20 to the range this morning for some fun shooting at 35, 50 & 75 yd steel and some paper targets. First pic is of the gun. It had been refinished before I got it 30 years ago, with no bore to speak of. I had it relined and its a great shooter.

This pic is to give you an idea of what your eye sees using the original sights, the V notch rear and the German silver front reverse ramp. The sight pic is as little of the top of the front sight as you can see as deep into the V notch as you can, covering the intended impact point. At least that's what I do.

These are the two paper targets from the bench @ 50 yd, 10 shots each.

The 35, 50 and 75 yd steels all rang with impacts from the 20 rounds fired. Altogether, a fun morning that was also shared with my Marlin 39A 22LR at the same targets. Later I'll add the load details if anyone is interested.

 

[Ben]

I'll just bet that is a fun rifle to shoot.
What is your bore dia. ?

Ben

 

[Cherokee]

Bore is .310 and I use .311 size cast bullets. Can't remember the last time I cleaned the barrel, with 1300 fps loads I don't get any leading.

 

[KHornet]

A fun ctg! Great looking rifle!

 

[Ben]

Bore is .310 and I use .311 size cast bullets. Can't remember the last time I cleaned the barrel, with 1300 fps loads I don't get any leading.

WOW, that has got to be 101% wide
open , full throttle, FUN !

Ben

 

[Cherokee]

I have used the rifle in SASS shooting matches a few times, works great rapid fire.

 

[freebullet]

Beautiful rifle!

 

[Brad]

Much better looking than my Marlin 1894 CL in 32-20.

Such a great cartridge. Mine loves a 120 plain base over 5 gr of Unique.

 

[Intheshop]

Great looking rifle,love that long barrel!Thanks for posting picture.

 

[Cherokee]

I've got another one a few numbers apart that is 24". It's also relined and shoots great. You know, one is none, two is at least one...

 

[9.3X62AL]

I really enjoy my 32/20 levergun, a 2004-made Marlin 94 CCL. 20" heavy-contour octagon barrel, full-length mag tube.

The biggest upgrade my 32/20 shooting ever got was transitioning to Starline brass from the W-W and R-P hulls.

 

[Cherokee]

9.3: Interesting comment on the brass. I'm still using the original batch of 1500+ RP brass cases I bought back in the 80's; some loaded 8 times and still looking good for a lot more. OTOH, the RP nickel cases I bought later, last to 5 loadings if I'm lucky; they usually split at the mouth and neck whereas the few brass cases I've lost split on the case body. I have a stash of Starline brass cases that I just haven't needed to use yet; they are shorter than the RP cases and appear slightly thicker.

I really thought about getting one of those new 94's like yours but I never saw one with the FL mag tube. What is the bore size on those ?

 

[Ian]

Cherokee, those are two examples of my all-time, most "favoritist" levergun EVER. Almost bought a rough one with a sewer-pipe bore a few years ago, but the shop wouldn't come off of their insane price at all.

 

[Cherokee]

Ian - got mine long ago and they were priced for their condition. Neither seller thought they were "collectable" so I got a fair price. OTOH, they don't make them no more....

 

[9.3X62AL]

Cherokee--my 94 CCL is a few tenths over .312", so it gets fed .313" castings and seems happy with those, whether plain-based or gas-checked. As for the SL brass vs. the WW or RP, the case mouths might be a mite thicker, but not quite a full .001". They are CERTAINLY much tougher, though. I got hold of a tubing micrometer from a friend, and checked about a dozen of each make several years ago. Both WW and RP showed considerable variance within each make, while SL was consistent and about .0006" thicker IIRC.

 

[Cherokee]

9.3 - Thanks for the info. I guessed the new Marlins were .312 or .313 bore; I specified .310 when I had the barrels relined in the 1889's because I understood that was the original size, don't remember now where I got that info. I'm not surprised the Starline brass is more consistent, it is quality stuff that I use in several other cartridges. I expect the Starline brass will last the rest of my life, after I ware out the RP brass. I have a LA in 357 Mag but it is not as much fun as the 32/20's.