Home Forums Lever Action Central Cowboy Levers .32 H&R

I like the nastalgia of the side loading gate, but seem to regularly get my finger pinched inserting the last round.

The tube feed works great. My wife and 10yr old son seem to be able to manage it much more easily than trying to feed through a side gate.

It's still a fine looking rifle - even without the gate

It received a warm welcome when my son was shooting it at the range. Good thing I brought lots of handloads. Seemed like everyone wanted to try it. I'd recommend it to anyone.

JFSAG, have any of you tried running the .32S&W Longs or .32 S&Ws through the Marlin? Just curious,

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I'm still trying to find one load for both the rifle and pistol. So far the rifle has shot everything well. Several of the lead bullets I've tried have left lead in the Ruger. This weekend I will try some milder loads to see how they do.

MH;

So the rifle actually feeds the little S&Ws and S&W Longs?

Sorry, should have clarified, these are mag loads.

Yeah. That's what I figured.

I'm considering the little Marlin, but I'd really like to know if it will work with the smaller S&W cartridges (S&Ws and S&W Longs).

Having the option to load it with a BUNCH of little S&Ws for fall squirrel wood trips, and then slip in an H&R Magnum if a deer/turkey/'yote appears would be fun, I think.

I have one on the .32 H&R 1894 Marlins and have reworked the action and fire-laped the bore. All fire-lapping rounds were single loaded.

Accuracy appears quite good but haven't really had a chance to wring it out yet. So far I've only shot my own handloads which were all lead bullets of 70 gr and 115 gr weight. The 70 gr bullets were loaded with moderately-heavy loads of Lil'Gun and the 115 gr with moderately light loads of Trail Boss.

I had definite feed problems with 115 gr bullets but noticed that I'd loaded them a little short when compared to factory jacketed loads. It looks like the mechanism is rather finicky with regard to OAL - looks like loading reliability might be improved by setting the bullet even slightly longer but haven't had a chance to check out the that theory yet.

I have two Ruger .32 Bird's Head revolvers and plan to use the rifle and pistols for SASS so I want loads compatable with both the rifle and pistols.

I've noticed that the trigger-pull was both a little heavy and gritty (enough to throw off the accuracy potential) and plan to address both that and the feeding problems.

Would appreciate information from anyone who has done any work in those areas on the this rifle.

Bad Dog, I have not done any work to my rifle. I have shot some 115s and they functioned fine. These bullets are from Magnus, and I seated them to the driving band.

Thanks, MHWASH, looks like it just particular to my rifle then. I test-cycled the rifle using factory Federal 85 gr JHPs with no improvement in function perhaps invalidating my previous conjecture so I'll need to figure out what's going on. There appears to be two different stops on the carrier (one about the correct length for the 32 HR and another about 1/4 in. behind that) and I suspect that cartridges are not stopping reliably at the first stop but continueing rearward allowing that cartridge to jam between the carrier and the bolt; it also will, on ocassion, allow a 2nd round into the space between the carrier and the bolt (of course everything jams up solid at that point).

Thats terrible. For a rifle that costs this much, the action should be like glass. I have one large blemish on the bolt of my rifle.

I also have and 1895 GS that I had to send back to the factory. It's one of my favorites now and finally seems to work beautifully.

Sorry to hear about the blemish. If it's a new gun then perhaps Marlin would make good on it if you returned the rifle or maybe just the bolt if it didn't require replacement but just minor refinishing.

A friend brought over his older (no safety) 1894 38/357 and we compared the functioning of each; the carrier functioning differs significantly from the 32 and the loading gate plays a part in the feeding process aside from just allowing the entry of cartridges. I even tried replacing my lever with his to no avail. I strongly suspect that the feeding problem may have something to do with the particular carrier. I guess that I really need to get a look at one which works to see what differences can be found. It's enough different from other 1894 models because of the absence of the loading gate that I'm not sure the usual tricks will work in all cases.

FWIW, there is a good article on the Marlin .32H&R in the most recent issue of Rifle.

It answers a good number of questions regarding field accuracy with the iron sights, and of feeding (or rather non-feeding) of the shorter .32 S&W Long and .32 S&W cartridges.

I haven't gotten a Marlin (waiting list here, too), but I have a NEF single shot which I had rechambered from 30-30 (24" barrel) to 32 H&R to match my Ruger. It likes the hotter loadings of the magnum. I reload the 32 Longs for general plinking in the Ruger; it will consistently shoot 1-1.5 inches all day with the 32 Longs, but the NEF doesn't seem to like them at all. 3" at 25 meters is about it- I can do better than that with the Ruger on any given day.

Waiting list?

There are TWO Marlin .32 Mags sitting in the Gander Mtn. in Greensboro, NC.