.32 Cal Inline Update

Modern Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Modern Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Huntingjeff44 said:
pjsoden said:
I shoot conicals out of my GM/Knight .32 cal. Great accuracy out to 80 yards. No wads needed. I have an old TC mold.
I did inquire at MMP about a 32 cal sabot, they said the initial investment for the moulds would be in the ballpark of about
12 grand. Little steep. I'll just continue to shoot my conicals and round balls

He is correct no wad needed I tried cutting some out of soft plastic and the velocity difference was negligible. As far as barrel length get what you want but I'm not sure 24 inches is going to be enough with round balls most 32s were longer than 30 inches there were some like the t/c Seneca with 28 inch barrels. Im sure though if your going to shoot coyote loads that 24 won't work. As far as bluing and ramrod fixtures they can do whatever you want, Im going stainless with my barrels and having them turned down in diameter beyond the forearm to lighten.

Would not need a wad with conical but might for sabotless if you go with jacketed bullets to get a good seal. Then again depends on how tight you get them to fit I suppose. The 24" would be plenty for Round ball not sure why you would think you need 28" to burn so little powder. My Ridgerunner is 26" and I know it is more than I need. Round ball is really only good to about 50 yards anyway. They are pretty light and wind sensitive. I am working on a Marathon 32cal kit now and it has a 24" barrel. pjsodens GMB32 only has a 21 1/2" barrel, if I remember right, and he shoots Conical and RB. IF you are looking for higher velocities then maybe. I only want to shoot RB at about the same as 22lr rounds. If I want to shoot heavier and faster I will go with my .36. Guess it just depends on what you want to try to achieve from the caliber.
 
I was guessing on the roundball gun I'm new to roundballs apparently I'm wrong I just seen a lot of long barreled .32 side hammers and assumed there was a reason. I just wanted try squirrel hunting with one, im more into the 2300 fps+ stuff lol
 
Huntingjeff44 said:
I was guessing on the roundball gun I'm new to roundballs apparently I'm wrong I just seen a lot of long barreled .32 side hammers and assumed there was a reason. I just wanted try squirrel hunting with one, im more into the 2300 fps+ stuff lol


Round ball is not shot at the same velocities as Sabot loads. Usually a lot slower mine is about 1150 to 1200fps with 18-20 grains of PyrodexP. Longer barrels were the norm with sidelocks for different reasons. I've seen some that were about 40". I never liked them myself. Some had them to help burn a lot of powder. One advantage to a long barrel then was sight radius with iron sights. The farther apart they are the better for accuracy, but lots of us now use a scope that don't matter as much. The .32 sidelocks with a 1 in 48 typically shot charges of between 25 and 35 grains of 3f black powder. Don't ever recall seeing anyone using more. The big advantage we see with the 1 in 30 is that you can slow them down by shooting less powder and still be very accurate and are shooting in the same velocity range as a standard 22LR. Body shots would not tear up as much of that tasty meat with a slower load. :wink: Some say that the .32 is mostly a 35 to 40 yard rifle anyway which is typical for squirrel hunting. Mine shoots great out to 50 in calm winds with only 18 to 20 grains of PyrodexP and I have shot very well with only 10gn. I use a .315gn RB with Pillow tick patch and a CCI #11 cap. This load will head shoot a squirrel up in the tops of white oaks and hickory's all day If I do my part.

I could see using a longer barrel if you were looking to shoot jacketed bullets sabotless and looking for much higher velocities, but doing so was never an interest for me. I acquired a Knight LK93 in .36 cal and use sabots in it for larger game and it is looking very good with the MMP sabots with .32cal XTP's or Rainier 100gnHP. But I think the barrel is only about 21 1/2 in on it too.

If you have been squirrel hunting up to now with a 22LR then you are going to really be hooked once to try it with a .32 ML. It is just a real blast! :D For me it is a heck of a lot more fun that with a 22LR. 8)

I should be posting up something fairly soon on my Marathon .32cal ML kit that I have been working on. They only made them 2 years and I found one of the Kits still NIB. It has a very skinny barrel that is only 24" long with a 1 in 48 twist. I am quite sure they were nothing more than a re-bored 22LR. Not sure how this barrel is going to shoot as I did find some issues with it but we will see. If not I will call Joe and try to get a 1 in 30 of similar contour/diameter. The cool thing is the whole rifle weighs lees then 5lb!
 
Fmfdred56 said:
If anyone is interested there's a 32 cal firehawk on gunbroker.

That one is New old stock too. They are a Pretty rifle. I don't know how that guy does it but he gets some .32s now and then. I got my Marathon though him. I did not know those had a QLA either.
 
Sorry guys Ive been really sick ill try and get a price on the inline.32 your choice of twist and barrel length today....Jeff
 

Latest posts

Back
Top