I was looking through an old 1940 Shooters bible not to long ago and noticed that there was an illustration for a .32-20 Superspeed cartridge. It was factory loaded with a 80 gr. h.p. bullet at an advertised velocity of 2,050 f.p.s., which would make it a dandy short range varmint round.

I thought about how similar those ballistics were to the PETERS .30-30 "Trapper" cartridge. Tte only difference is that the "Trapper" cartridge used a 85 gr. full patched bullet.
http://www.shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=27143

Hmmmm. Hornady makes a .309" diameter 90 gr. XTP hollow point so I ordered a box to try. When they arrived, I loaded 10 rounds over the .30-30 "Trapper" load of 27 grs. of 3031 and headed for the range.

They shot very well at 50 yards (3/4" - 5 rounds) in spite of the cold and somewhat windy conditions from my 94C which wears a tang sight. When the weather gets a little better, I'll give them a try @ 100 yards. I would expect they will group fine at that distance based on the 50 yard results.

Since I, unfortunately, don't own a .32-20, I can still experience the fun of short range varmint shooting with replications of the .32-20 Superspeed varmint cartridge of yesteryear .....in my .30-30's. NEAT!

JOhn

Glad i'm not the only one that enjoys down-loading carridges to duplicate smaller rounds...there is a 32SW, 32SWL in there too.

HAve to 'graph them, but I'd expect 2100-2150fps but wouldn't be too surprised to see 2200-2250fps wink out from the screen (for multiple reasons, some barrels are just "fast"). Should make a sweet little short range varmint rig. Never used those bulletrs, but in younger days, would burn up a good number of Speer's 110gr. varminter or Hornady's 100gr. 1/2 Jacket.

Ribbonstone,

I do enjoy replicating the ballistics of some of the earlier / no longer available / factory loadings.

Chonographed velocity in my 26" barrel (94C) was 2,160 f.p.s., so in a 20" barrel, the bullet would exit somewhere between 2,050 and 2,100 f.p.s. Of course, a different lot of powder may give slightly different results.

Interesting that you mentioned the .32 S&W. During the same range session, I brought along some .30-30's loaded with a 93 gr. lead bullet (311244) over 3.5 grs of Bullseye. THey turned up 1,053 f.p.s. over the screens and shot a respectable 1 1/4" 5 shot group @ 50 yards.

What fun!

John

Ribbonstone,

I do enjoy replicating the ballistics of some of the earlier / no longer available / factory loadings.

Chonographed velocity in my 26" barrel (94C) was 2,160 f.p.s., so in a 20" barrel, the bullet would exit somewhere between 2,050 and 2,100 f.p.s. Of course, a different lot of powder may give slightly different results.

Interesting that you mentioned the .32 S&W. During the same range session, I brought along some .30-30's loaded with a 93 gr. lead bullet (311244) over 3.5 grs of Bullseye. THey turned up 1,053 f.p.s. over the screens and shot a respectable 1 1/4" 5 shot group @ 50 yards.

What fun!

John

IF legal in your area, that 93gr. lead load would make a good small game round..although I might slow it down just a tad to get rid of the sonic crack of the ones that go a little bit over average. Foolling around with a few componetnts, and diameters might get it doen under 1" (oddly, with loads of this level, find .310" and 311" worth trying).

Have taken a few squireels with full wad cutter lead loads at 800fps. The nice effect is that it seems to lift them out of the tree branch so they very seldom hang up in the tree.

ribbonstone,

4 of the bullets printed a .78" group with #5 opening it to 1 1/4", so the load has possibilities. Bullets were sized .311" for a nice fit in my rifle's .309" groove diameter barrel.

Interesting about the wadcutter bullets and the squirrels.......

John