Only guy I knew that "knew" about chamber ringing was Charlie Dell.  He did a lot of experimenting with his rail gun and could ring a chamber on demand I am told. Almost everything else is 2nd or 3rd hand information.

Most of us shoot 4227 or something of similar burn rate in moderate charges breech seated or fixed no wads or fillers and don't ring chambers.  It's sort of like driving your car, take precautions and don't think too much about what could happen. Too much thought you would never get behind the wheel.

You loads sound  reasonable shoot that Stevens and enjoy it.

Boats

Boats, I just love this old Stevens 44. I know that it's not the strongest or the most accurate rifle but it has found a warm place in my affection for old rifles. I've been a reloader, shooter, hunter for the past 47 years. It's only in the last few years that I have tried working with the older single shot rifles and cast bullets. Up till then it was deer rifles to bench-rest rifles in center fire chambers. The only cast bullet shooting I did was with handguns. Getting my center fire rifles to shoot under 1/2 MOA is not a big challenge anymore, so I was looking for something a little different. Up popped the idea to play with single shot rifles from the past and cast bullets. I've a bunch to learn about them yet and that is half the fun of it. Thanks for the reply, Sendaro

Charlie's book goes into a lot of detail on chamber ringing, and it seems like most cases it's due to people using powders that needed fillers or wads. Using reduced loads alone didn't seem to do it.
I like powders that are not position sensitive, so wads are not needed. I've shot a lot of reduced plinker loads with no problems ringing chambers. Even long before I knew it could be done!

Many thanks for the helpful information. Looks like I've been loading my 32-40 the right way. I don't use a wad on top of the powder. I have used a dental carding wax wad at the mouth of the case when pre-charging for the shooting session with breach seated bullets. 
   I have not tried shoot my 32-40 with black powder as of yet and want to give that a try. A friend of mine had some cartridge black powder and I do plan to try it sometime soon. Any suggestion around using the black powder will be helpful. 
        Thanks to all, Sendaro

You can get your 32/40 case in that 44 action without wads and no spilling. It's the best way to go eliminate the wad altogether. All you have to do is be careful. 

Wad at the mouth will eliminate chance of spilling while it opens up all sorts of possible issues if not seated properly or moves while you are transporting cases.

Far as black powder. 32/40 can be loaded successfully with black but it's on the bottom edge of practical.  I have 32 & 38  barrels for my CPA 44 1/2, load black in the 38/55 never in the 32/40 barrel. 

Smaller bores are a troublesome with black due fowling. Can be done nothing wrong with trying something hard, just most feel the 38's and larger get better results.

Boats

IMR is owned by Hodgdon.  They still market SR-4759.    (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)
Kurt

Sendaro don't get stuck on using one powder it might not take you where you would like to go in the accuracy dept. I have very little experience with 4759 and will not comment on its use but 4227 has been the most inconsistent powder I have tried to date and I am talking about doing  extensive testing and not just shooting a target or two. The rifle has shot some remarkable targets during the tests including a couple of 250's but for every good target, I had six or more bad ones before I could find another good one. My testing consisted of both rifle and pistol primers from each manufacturer, both standard and magnum, seating depth variances and alloy hardness's from 1-25 up 1-10 and I could not find a combination that would provide the  consistency required to be competitive day in and day out. It is also very powder oriented sensitive. When the tests were completed I gave the remaining 4lbs to a friend who had a different use for it and moved on to something with more day in and day out consistency. I know that I am going to get allot of flack for posting this by those who swear by it and use nothing else and have for years but if they would walk away from it and try the other powders that are much more consistent they would then tend to agree. Look at the equipment lists being used in the regional and national competitions by those at the top of the list and you would be lucky to find one using either H or IMR 4227. I have nothing to gain or loose by my statements and I am not promoting the use of a single powder I just don't want to see you or anyone else get to a point where you can't improve beyond where you are at and the powder choice plays a big part in it. The ones I have found to provide the best day in and day out consistency are the ball powders and I have tested AA-9, H-108, AA-4100, WW296 and my personnel favorite is Alliant 300MP so there is allot to pick from in the quest to find the one your rifle truly likes the best.