the way i load and shoot my .32 traditions rifle

[Cattman]

i hope i dont bring down the house and create a bad post when i post about how i load and shoot my .32 cal round ball traditions. its different but works very well. 2 winters ago i built a traditions kit .32 rifle and it turned out very nice. i shoot a lot of hand gun and even load the 45 long colt and 38 special with round balls with good results. so i thought, why not a bare ball in a rifle? so i got some over sized balls for my .32. got some felt wads and 60 thousands thick fiber wads. down goes about 30 grains of powder. on top of that a fiber wad and then a felt wad. then a very small amount of grease for black powder in the muzzle. then i place the over sized ball on the muzzle and give it a sharp rap with a small ribber hammer. into the bore it goes engraved. then the short starter with ease. then the rod pushes the engraved ball onto the felt wad. no leading. no stripping out, very very accurate, easy to load. easier than with a patch. wipe between rounds, one damp and two dry. ill never shoot a patched ball in this gun when i load it so easy and it is so reliable and accurate. ive even shot it a number of times with 50 grains of powder and it just shoots faster and to the point of aim as with the 30 grains. i know it is not traditional but it works really well.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I'll not argue with something that works for a person. I think some very early rifles were loaded with bare balls but patches were used later to ease loading and maintain accuracy. I think many rifles were not loaded with as tight a ball patch combination as many of us use these days.

 

[Cattman]

thanks, i figured if it works in a cap and ball revolver,why not a rifle. it does for me. ive never tried it in anything bigger than a ,32 . if i built a 45 or 50 and wanted to shoot it that way i would have the grooves at least 6 thousands deep and the lands very narrow.

 

[hanshi]

A good load is is the one that does what you demand. I had a Traditions .32 for many years and loaded with prb. They are very fine shooters.

 

[Bob McBride]

.32s are very forgiving and a pretty easy ball to form to the rifling. Sounds like a handy way to do it.

 

[RAEDWALD]

Exactly how rifles were loaded before patching was invented.

 

[russellshaffer]

What size is your oversized ball? I might just try this.

 

[Cattman]

if you have a 32 get the buck shot size. i bought a couple hundred of them. i'll go over it again as it works so well. powder, 60 thousands thick fiber wad from buffalo arms. then a felt wad over that from the same place. then a tiny squirt of lube. then place the ball on the muzzle and one good rap with a small rubber hammer and just use your starter and ram rod to finish. no leading very very accurate. wipe bore between shot but you dont have to clean the barrel. just one damp patch and two dry. its the lazy mans way to shoot a 32. 30 grains of powder was my average. but it handled 50 with no problem. the 32 really snaps with 50 grains of powder and if you have your own property im sure a deer would go down easily with that load with a well placed shot. love the gun and the way i load it.

 

[Crow-Feather]

You are shooting pure lead at around 2000 + fps. I would wonder if you aren't leading your barrel a might.

 

[user 43911]

He is running buck shot, most buck is hard-ish, not pure lead at 5 brinell .

 

[user 43911]

Some people use this or the .310 from same company ($40 for 1,280 .310 ball, make you think, cast or not to cast)

https://www.ballisticproducts.com/Super-Buck-Lead-0-8-lb_jar-320/productinfo/SBK10/

 

[Cattman]

no leading. dont know if they are pure lead but they are well formed and dont cost that much. are you sure about the 2000 ft. per sec. if that true, it is really snorting. i thought with out really knowing maybe 1600 ft per sec. anyways it a shooter and i really like that traditions rifle. worked hard on it. beech can look nice with the right stain, rust blued the barrel. brass is with out a scratch on it. all the screws and bolts are polished as bright as they can get. lots of mountain man tacks. and besides it is easy to the shoulder and shoots as good as they get. it sits in the corner of my living room ready as we have a lot of mountain lions visit our yards. none in the day yet, only at night. they leave huge piles of scat. if they come in the day my 32 will talk to them. they also scratch up my pine trees with their claws. i guess i should set up a trail cam as of now only God knows what comes in my yard at night. two wolves went by my place not that long ago. never stopped, just kept going north. deer, im sick of them when the turkeys show up in my bushes and trees i will let them stay. the only thing, going to take one once in a while as they taste very good. the 32 should be very good for that. forget the snakes. my yard is full of them. the fedex man freeked out this noon as he had to walk by snakes to get to my house. i dont shoot them, i just knock them out of the way with my cane. oups, that was a big rabbit hole, hope you all dont mind.

 

[rrebuck]

I really like my two 32 cal rifles. I have a Traditions percussion and Pedersoli flint. I filed down a 357 mag casing to act as a small convenient powder measure. I'm not sure what the charge is, but I think between 20 and 30 grains of FFF. I've never tried oversized balls w/o a patch, but they do need to be cleaned every few shots to prevent trouble loading.

 

[hanshi]

A .32 is a small game rifle. As such, expansion of the ball is not needed or even wanted. You want a straight through & through hole. The ball that you're using fits the bill for little to no expansion on small game.

 

[Greg B.]

Interesting to hear how others load their traditions 32. I’ve put more balls down range thins year than any prior year and most of them were out of my traditions 32. Great shooting little gun when you get the load right.

 

[SDSmlf]

I use the Ballistic Products 1-1/2 buckshot. Measures a few thousands over .310”, and falls down bore. It’s also a bit harder than ‘pure’ lead, believe the BHN test was around 8 when I checked. I use a relatively thin wet patch (moose milk or windshield washer fluid) with a 1/8” thick x 3/8” diameter hard felt wad (Duro-Felt Products). Can shoot very accurately all day without swabbing.

 

[Bassdog1]

The 32s are sweet shooters when loaded right. My 32 Seneca likes 20 Grains OLde Eynsford 3F with a .315 ball and a .010 patch lubed with Hoppes BP Lube or TOW Mink oil my 32 Cherokee shoots well with 15 Grains Goex 3F with the same ball patch combo as the Seneca. Got out last night and shot both off of the bench at 50 yards 40 shots each using Tow Mink oil as lube and never had to wipe. Both of these combos load very easy and have shot consistently since I got them dialed in. I enjoy hearing the different loads that guys come up with. Hard to beat shooting 80 rounds in 3 hours and only using 1400 grains of powder total makes for some cheap fun. The first photo is of my final 3 shot group from the Seneca and the second is the final three from the Cherokee. Hope to get out tonight and shoot the 36 Cherokee and Seneca and see if I can get them dialed in. Am going to keep the no patch Idea in mind might have to try it sometime. Haven't been on here much lately but enjoy catching up on the posts and seeing a few new folks picking up traditional guns.

 

[bradly_tx]

I might as well stir the pot with my Crockett loading. I pretty much hunt squirrels year round, 1 1/2 buck prb over 32 grns pyro. But on the occasions that I ease up on a deer or hog I just patch another ball on top of the other(double ball) and let her fly! Works for me. YMMV.

 

[deermanok]

My Traditions loading manual recommends a max load of 35 grains of 3f powder for the 32 caliber rifle.
I have only used 10 grains in mine but I'd like to work on beefing up the charge some.

 

[Bassdog1]

Been shooting nearly every night last couple of weeks mainly 32s and 36s. Love small caliber shootin good cheap fun!