R. Dale McGee

In the years just after the turn of the century (1900) and before the First World War, the two most popular Schuetzen calibers in the United States were probably the .32/40 and the .38/55. These were both black powder cartridges that had successfully made the transition to smokeless. They were first shot with duplex loads (small amount of smokeless just over the primer and the case filled with black). Then, later, as smokeless powders improved and more experience was gained in their use, they were used with small charges of all smokeless. This left a large space in front of the powder charge. It was found necessary to use small charges of rather fast burning powders, as near full case charges of slower burning powders did not burn well at the pressures necessary behind plain base lead bullets. They tended to leave deposits of unburned powder in the barrel and sometimes suffered from inconsistent ignition. Various fillers were tried including cream of wheat. This tended to work but raised pressures, sometimes into unsafe territory. Various wads were used. When placed down on the powder, ignition was markedly improved as was accuracy. However, a number of the old, mild steel barrels found on original rifles suffered chamber ring damage and it was necessary to replace the barrels. It was bad enough if it was “just a barrel” but some of these barrels were extremely valuable. Chamber ringing is an accumulative effect and there is seldom any warning. Suddenly, you discover extraction problems and when you investigate, a chamber ring is found. The only cure is to either set the barrel back and re-chamber or replace the barrel.

A number of people like Wayne Schwartz, with his .30 Schwartz, Charlie Dell with his .32/357, and .333KH, and Doc Brewer with his 7mm Brewer have long been experimenting with small capacity cases. I believe that Dell’s experiments go back 45 years or so. Before Charlie had to quit shooting because of ill health and vision problems, he had settled on the .32/357, a straight tapered case.

Dean E. Miller popularized the use of shortened .357 Maximum brass for his .32 Miller Short which is a near twin of the .32/357 cartridge.

 These short cartridges have almost without exception been used while breech seating the bullets ahead of the cartridge case. This in spite of the fact that most of them were designed with the thought that they could be used with “fixed” bullets if necessary. Typically, it is found that better accuracy is to be had with breech seated bullets (where the bullet is seated entirely in the barrel just ahead of the case mouth) as opposed to fixed ammunition (where the bullet is seated in the case). Using breech seated bullets you can use one case for the entire string of shots if you desire, eliminating at least one possible area of inconsistency. Further, breech seating gives perfect alignment of the bullet with the bore before ignition.

Dean Miller is a gifted Schuetzen competitor and a superb gunsmith and gun maker. His wonderful match rifles built on the DeHaas-Miller action, chambered for the .32 Miller Short and shot by gifted riflemen have made a near unbeatable combination in the world of Schuetzen rifles. There apparently is a case capacity below which you run into the law of diminishing returns. The .32 Miller Short is about the perfect capacity for 200-240 or so grains of bullet weight in .32 caliber. Further, this case choice comes with the desirable small rifle primer pocket. The .357 Max case head is smaller than the 32/40-30/30 head size. That has a couple of desirable effects. It results in less back thrust for a given pressure and it is thought that better ignition occurs with the rather small amount of powder used (9.0-12.0 gr. of AA #9 or equivalent).

Even the Miller Short does not always use a case full of powder. The current popular powders for this caliber appear to be Accurate Arms #7, #9, H-108, and Carbine Ball. These are all ball powders of similar burning rates (#7 is quite a bit faster than the rest). All of the powders mentioned leave some space in front of the powder behind the bullet. However, the short cases have MUCH less space than the traditional cases. Using a short case does have its caveats, however. Pressures with the .32 Miller Short can easily reach 40,000 psi. This is no cartridge for a weak action. Some of the really successful shooters are convinced that the best velocity is in the neighborhood of 1450-1500 fps. This is rather fast for a plain based lead bullet. It is also in the pressure range of 40,000 psi. Others are content to stay in the 1200-1300 fps and somewhat lower pressures. It is quite common to use a wad over the powder to restrict powder movement in the case. It is also STRONGLY suggested that you keep that over the powder wad seated off the powder from .100”-.200” to minimize the chamber ringing effect. Modern chrome moly or stainless steel barrels are less subject to chamber ringing than original soft steel barrels but I have no intention of taking a chance on MY match barrel. I have had success using a .250” floral foam wad off the powder and a .060” LDPE wad at the case mouth to protect the bullet base.

Cases for the .32 Miller Short are readily available and quite inexpensive. Dean Miller recommends the .357 Maximum case for the parent case. This produces a strong case. They are easily formed using only the full length sizing die. I use the C&H die (CH4D at www.ch4d.com). I size about half of the case the first pass, then I clean the cases, re-lube and size the rest. Miller recommends that the case mouths (front third of the case) be annealed before forming. Doing the forming in two steps pretty much eliminates creases and oil dents while forming. Of course, the cases require trimming about .300” after forming. Case loss is extremely small. It is also recommended that the primer pockets be uniformed and the flash holes carefully chamfered. Benchrest quality cases are what we desire. I further suggest that the cases be shot several times to properly fit the chamber before they are used in a match.

Now, what performance can we expect if we put an excellent rifleman and a top quality match single shot chambered for the .32 Miller Short? There are NO guarantees but I have been present at several registered matches at The American Single Shot Rifle Association (ASSRA) Beeson’s Range at Etna Green, IN where several 250x250 targets have been shot. The targets were shot at 200 yards on the standard ASSRA 25 ring target. The center (the 25 ring) is 1.5” in diameter. All of the shots have to be at least one half way into the center to count a 25. Groups as small as these were scored this past fall (2005): J Borton 0.680”, W Vietz 0.949”, L Gapko 0.964”, D Eesley 1.020”, R Zorin 1.030”, R Witucke 1.031”. These were five shots for group and the measurements are in inches, not minutes. That’s right, folks, the winner was under .4 minute and the next were either just under or just over half a minute with a plain base lead bullet. This was a re-entry match where the shooter just turned in his best group for the match, but the fact is that these were shot under match conditions in the real world at 200 yards! So, the half minute Schuetzen rifle has arrived.

If a person is having a modern Schuetzen rifle built up for either bench or offhand, and intends to use only smokeless powder, I can recommend the .32/357 or .32 Miller Short without reservation. I have been extremely happy with my Peregrine actioned Schuetzen rifle in the above caliber. It is a shooting machine! RDM