Conicals in a Pea Shooter

[don hepler]

I have a .32 Cherokee, and a .36 Seneca. Has anyone had experience with shooting a conical bullet, out of either of these caliber rifles? Would a cast pistol bullet work with paper patch? Will a cloth patch, work with a conical bullet?

The reason I'm asking, is Idaho Ron, has me curious, after reading his posts. Also, I believe the rifling on these rifles, were made to shoot small diameter Maxi-balls, and round balls.

 

[azmntman]

I have shot maxi balls outta both my .32 crocket and bobcat .36. Not enough to comment on accuracy vs PRB but they do make em. Mine are reaaaly old so not sure if still available but they make em for both calibers. I would use one for small deer outta the .36 (except I use a .50 most times) but don't see the need for the .32 unless the accuracy warranted the cost (they are not cheap)

 

[mooman76]

I tried once with no much luck. I didn't really put much effort in it though. Some have had luck in the 32 and some not. Seems like mist 32s come with a 1/48 twist which isn't very good for that small a caliber.
One thing I have been meaning to try just for giggles, I have some 90 grain Hornady HBWCs that were for a 32 cal pistol. I had a feeling they may work ok.

 

[RedFeather]

There is also the 148 grain hollow based wadcutter for .38 Special target loads. At .357 they might work.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I use to have a CVA .32 squirrel rifle and it would shoot one hole groups with TC maxi-balls
wish I had never sold that gun.

 

[larry wv]

My CVA squirrel Rifle shoots maxi balls excellent. Haven't fired it with a Maxi for years so don't remember the load. It is just the reg TC type Maxi. Larry

 

[coloradoclyde]

Its been to long for me too, but I think it was 25 grains of pyrodex p

 

[gonpce]

My Cherokee shoots them well with 30 grains of pyrodex p.

 

[Ohio1]

My Cherokee shots them well with 30gr of FFF powder, start at 20 and work up to 40 (max). Somewhere in there they should give good accuracy!

Steve

 

[WMR]

I had a 36 Seneca that won me a turkey at a turkey shoot using V targets at 25 yards. Buried the Maxi in the bottom of the V without touching either leg. Those were fun shoots. Guys were doing well with their 32 Cherokees shooting Maxis too. :thumbsup:

 

[don hepler]

I appreciate, all the responses, but I doubt if I could find any .32 Maxi-Balls. What I'm really interested in, is shooting 32 caliber pistol bullets, with paper patch or can you use a cloth patch with a pistol bullet. Has anyone had experience shooting pistol bullets out of a .32 or .36 rifle?

 

[azmntman]

You can find .32 maxi's. I see em all the time but they are not cheap. Best to get a mold. Hit the usual sources, midway, cheaper than dirt, TOW, buffalo bullet etc or just google em.

 

[Zonie]

You might be able to get a .32 caliber pistol bullet to work in a .32 cal. rifle if you paper patch it.

These bullets are .312" in diameter so they are .008 smaller than the rifles bore.

As paper patched bullets have two layers of paper on them when they are rolled if you use some .0015 thick paper the prepared bullet would have a outside diameter of .318.
That would be a snug fit while it was being loaded into the bore but in a clean barrel it should go down fairly easily.


Paper dress patterns are about .0015 thick and the paper shrinks nicely when it dries so, at the risk of getting a frying pan bounced off of your head you might steal one from your wife. :grin:

The bullet would have to be lead because you are counting on it expanding when the gun fires.
If it doesn't expand, there is nothing to force it or the paper to grab and seal the rifling grooves.

Speaking of rifling grooves, most muzzleloaders have grooves that are too deep for paper patched bullets.
The grooves in my .40 cal. Schuetzen are .0015 deep and it shoots paper patched bullets very well.
The grooves in most muzzleloaders are .004-.015 deep and would be almost impossible for a paper patched bullet to seal.

Anyway, you can have some fun trying to get them to work. Just don't invest a lot of money in the process.

 

[mooman76]

I appreciate, all the responses, but I doubt if I could find any .32 Maxi-Balls. What I'm really interested in, is shooting 32 caliber pistol bullets, with paper patch or can you use a cloth patch with a pistol bullet. Has anyone had experience shooting pistol bullets out of a .32 or .36 rifle?

I have some 32 caliber pistol bullets. They are HBWCs so they would be like shooting a minie. I haven't tried them but if you like, I could send you some to try.

 

[Joel/Calgary]

Paper dress patterns are about .0015 thick and the paper shrinks nicely when it dries so, at the risk of getting a frying pan bounced off of your head you might steal one from your wife.

Well, you could man-up and buy your own dress pattern :blah: and avoid the flying frying pan. For a cheap source, look in thrift stores. There are usually assorted clothing patterns and you can often find ones that have not been cut out yet, so they're still in full rectangular sheets of paper.

Most of my paper-patch work has been with center-fires, but my Pattern '58 has a .581" bore and I'll need to use paper patches or thin-paper cartridges on Minie' balls in it.

Regards,
Joel

 

[don hepler]

I think you have the information that I was looking for. I have the .311 bullets, because I reload for 32-20. but, they wouldn't be pure lead. Maybe I'll look for some Maxi-balls.
I'm retired, and the wife still works, she left me in charge of the frying pans, washing machine, vacuum cleaner, dishes....Oh well, nap time.

Thanks

 

[don hepler]

I have some HBWC's, but thanks for the offer. I might just give them a try, if the weather, ever breaks, and the wind stops blowing.

 

[curator]

Both the .32 Cherokee and the .36 Seneca are rifled with 1 in 48" twist. I have both and while they do shoot round balls quite accurately, neither will shoot conicals accurately, including the T/C .36 Maxi-ball, worth a hoot. If you want more Oomph than the round ball will give you try two patched round balls as your projectile. These actually work and will retain accuracy well past 75 yards. Neither the .36 or the .32 are good for anything larger than raccoons, but bushy-tail tree-rats fear my Seneca and Cherokee rifles, no matter how tall the trees they are hiding in. Woodchucks stand up at the whistle and regret their curiosity out to 80 yards.

 

[Tinker2]

I have shot some 90 grain .32caliber Hornady HBWCs in one of my .36 caliber rifles using the same patch I use with a .35 caliber round ball. It worked quite well.

I plan to put to some tests and such this year and post my finding.


William Alexander

 

[JJ June]

.32 Crocket 1:48, measured 1:52 (kinda close). Lapped the bbl so the breach end was as big as the muzzle 0.323".
Had the same question in mind as you did. So took Lyman bullet mould #323470 165gr and started shortening the bullets. When I got to 122gr, 0.620" long they quit doin' the sideways thing to the 50yd target with 25 gr of 777FFF. Accuracy was quite good at about 3/4 inch (un measured). Went up to a proof load of 40gr. All was well. Used a thinish over-powder wad with machinist wax lube. With out the wad accuracy was terrible as with a felt wad. Turned around with the gascheck shank forward this bullet should hit very hard on deer - a tad less than a short barreled 30-30.
also shot bullets from Lee mould TL314-90 SWC. The mould was opened up to 0.323" by a machinist friend. With the same over-powder wad as above this bullet also shoots well. Got a Lyman mould #311008, casts 0.314" so bumped them up to 0.323 in a 323 sizing die. They just shot OK as I think the bullets are not consistant in balance due to the bumping. Well, thats my .02. Hope it helps with your question - or me thinks raise more of them. The quest is endless.