Was at the range today and shot my 32-40 Rem Hepburn with less than satisfactory results. Anyone shoot this caliber and if so what is a good load to try. I am shooting a 150gr bore riding bullet. I bought these and I think it is a RCBS bullet design. Using  IMR 4198 and standard primers. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.



JMH

iMPORTANT
Is your Hepburn chambered for the 32-40 Remington
or is it the 32-40 BMW (Ballard,Marlin,Win)?
The 32-40 Rem, is a true 30 cal with nom 0.300/0.308
The 32-40 BMW is a true 32 cal, nom 0.319 or so groove dia

I can tell you that I am shooting my 32-40 Remington/8 twist
with 15.5 gr 4227 under the Lyman 311299, 200 gr bullet 
to good accuracy.
my 32-40 BMW uses 14.5 gr 4227 under 200 gr Hoch 322-200 bullet
beltfed/arnie

Ok I have the true Hepburn (Bore is 30 cal.) I am shooting a 200gr bullet that I mistakenly said was a 150gr. I bought these bullets some time ago from an online store. They have a red lubricant. My load is 14gr of IMR 4198. I got this load from an old copy of the Obsolete Cartridges of the World book. I used 4198 because I have plenty on hand and it was listed. I did not check velocity because I forgot to take my chronograph. I did notice the 4198 in a small bore burns kind of dirty. I think I fired 30 rounds to completely fire form my new brass. Just looking for some better powder recommendations. I have a 200gr Accurate mold on hand but have not tried it yet. It is listed as 31-200LP in their catalog.


JMH

Sorry I forgot to list the twist. It is a 1 in 10 twist standard .308 bore...





JMH

Are you saying its an original factory Hepburn barrel, in 32/40 Remington cartridge with a 1-10 twist?

My original Hepburn 3240 shoots a 156 grain very well.

How did you make brass? I have a set of RCBS case forming dies that includes a neck reaming die and as I recall I had to use it to get the brass back to around .010” so rounds would chamber.

The gun has a new 1 in 10 twist .308 /.300 bore barrel. The bullet dia is .310. I have an Accurate mold that I haven't tried yet for a .310 200gr bullet. The brass was formed in a set of RCBS dies. This was the first time I fired this brass. I didn't have to turn the necks or ream them and they fit the chamber just fine. I left the bullets a little long and seat them with a home made tool I came up with. I am going to try some 4227 the next time and see what it does.



JMH

You can set a roll crimp die up to roll into a groove. This is where consistent trim length pays off. You can roll into the groove, but the bullet is loose enough to spin. That way the bullet is not deformed.

Then you can seat the bullet int the lands.

JHM
It is noted that I have been shooting exactly similar rifle
a Browning BPCR with 10 twist Hart barrel, 0.300/0.308
chambered in "tight neck" Dan Theodore reamer cal
32-40 Remington. I am using reformed 303 British R-P brasa

I developed my load based on the Starting Load for the 30-30win in the Lyman $4 CBH.  because the case capacity is almost exactly the same as the 32-40Rem.
The 173 gr 311041 30-30 Starting load is `15.5 gr IMR 4227
for 1615fps and 23700psi.  
Max is 17.7gr 4227, 1803fps/ 32000psi

I figured that the starting load was safe enough to use under
my 311299 /200gr bullet that seats very shallow in the 32-40 rem case. And it was for ME...

The starting load for the 30-30  /173 gr bullet is
18 grains of IMR 4198. 1602fps/23200psi......

I suspect that your initial 14 grain load is not burning very well because it is WAY under decent pressure to burn well
I think you should work your way up the ladder......
and your Hepburn is quite strong...
beltfed/arnie