# bad patterns... REALLY BAD PATTERNS!



## Dustin (Sep 5, 2012)

So, I have a 1892 32-20 rifle (made around 1912 IIRC) with a 24" barrel.

A while back I decided I would try it this yr and see if I could get a deer, took it out and shot it and.... wow.

At 30 ft not yds, but ft, it puts out about a 8" spread.

The rifling is "visible" but no real "edges" on it.

Is there any way to get this rifle to shoot? or am I out of luck with it?


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## stevetarget (Sep 5, 2012)

assuming you had the correct ammo in it?
with that kind of spread, I would say retire it to a place of honor on the wall


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## SASS249 (Sep 5, 2012)

Check the muzzle crown.  Also, what load were you using?  Changing bullets can help.  I hate to give up on an old gun just because it does not shoot the first ammo I try in it.  Some 32-20's can be a little finicky on what they like.


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## WGSNewnan (Sep 5, 2012)

did you really clean it? i dont mean a couple brushes down the bore with some hoppes. that gun may have a leading problem.

who knows what has been put down that barrel in the last 100 years.
maybe try an electronic cleaning.


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## Dustin (Sep 5, 2012)

Yeah I had the right bullets lol

On the crown there are no dings or messed up areas. But... the bullet will fall down in the end of the barrel.

I tried 2 diff. loads, both factory loaded, one was Goex black powder load with 115 grn lead flat nose, and remington 100 grn lead flat nose.

Still 4 more diff. loadings I could try I guess.

Yeah I cleaned it... that's when I noticed it looks like a smoothbore rifle lol


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## Dustin (Sep 5, 2012)

Forgot to mention the remington actually closed it up from around 8" to 6 or 7"


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## SASS249 (Sep 5, 2012)

If you pull a bullet and it drops completely through the barrel or you can push it through leaving no rifling marks then you may have a shot out barrel.  

If it were mine I would slug the barrel and see exactly what I was dealing with.  Could be you could find a cast bullet it might shoot.

OTOH you might find someone who can sleeve the barrel for you and get it back shooting that way.

You have to like fooling with these things to make some of the older guns shoot.  You can almost always find a way, but it does become more an end in itself than anything that makes sense.


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## Dustin (Sep 5, 2012)

It has some rifling somewhere in there, I shot the goex and the remington and got the slugs, the goex only has 2 rifling marks on it and the remington has them all around the slug.

I pulled a bullet and the slug will fall a few inches down in there, at the muzzle the bullet has around 1/16 inch "wiggle" room side to side.

On the other hand it took it out today and shot it twice with the remingtons, two shots at 30 ft and it hit dead center both time


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## WGSNewnan (Sep 5, 2012)

id cast up a few and try different sizes.


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## cotton top (Oct 19, 2012)

If it is a winchester, its probably worth $800.00 to a thousand like it is to these winchester collectors. I would be careful not to get it too clean. Jus my 2cts. C T


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## big john smith (Dec 9, 2012)

Bullet dropping down the barrel is a bad sign


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