Got together at the Guthsville Rod and Gun Club (PA) yesterday with the usual suspects (Dale Atkinson, Carl Schmoyer, and Frank McGrath) and worked with my .32 caL. Schimmel. It's a good looking gun and has shot well for the eight years or so I have had it. I decided to do an informal load development session (offhand at 25 yds.) instead of going to the bench. My interest in doing this was to develop a load using SWISS powder.
My hunting load has been a .315 RB patched with .015" cotton over 30gr. GOEX 3F. It has shot well, about one minute of squirrel. The problem, common with small calibers, is how fast the rifle fouled. I can get two, maybe three, shots from it before it had to be wiped. If I took it to a shoot, where I might shoot 30 shots from it, it would need a good cleaning every 10 shots even when wiped every other shot.
I went for the Swiss, $20.00 per pound compared to the usual fourteen I pay for the GOEX. It was well worth it. I fired 15 shots from it before I wiped it for the first time. I could have shot more, but I did not want any fouling present to affect accuracy.
I started off with a cast .320 RB, .018 ticking patch, and 27gr. of Swiss 3F. This load shot very well, less than two inches offhand, but I needed a mallet to get the ball started. Not a good choice for a hunting load where I would have to reload in the field sans a mallet.
The next load was a .315" swaged RB. .016 cotton patch, and the same charge of powder. Again, an accurate load, maybe a little smaller group than the one with the .320 RB. I will want to see what this load will do from a rest, but I think it will be my new hunting load. I fired another 15 shots and the 15th was as easy to load as the first (from a clean barrel.) Swiss powder is my choice for the .32. Now, let's see what it will do in my other small calibers.
I plan on using this gun more, but considering I also have a .36 and .40 cal., I'm not sure how often I will take it out for squirrels. Maybe the .40 will be strictly a target gun (double-set triggers) and the .32 and .36 will be my squirrel guns.
Anyhow, it was a good day shooting with some great guys.
James
