Ready to rock some .32 S&W long!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Michael Tinker Pearce

Michael Tinker Pearce

Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2016
Messages
1,575
Last year Linda came across a S&W M1903 with bad nickel and timing issues for $125. Knowing how much I wanted an I-Frame she jumped on it. The timing issues were solved by cleaning a century of crud out of the lockwork, and the bad nickel went away with a careful application of polish and abrasives to be replaced by an 'antique gray' finish. A home-made t-grip adapter and the gun was ready for prime-time.
8yvMUxK.jpg


I bought a box of ammo and the gun is a shooter... but ammo the ammo is pretty hard to find locally, and once you add shipping it's no bargain online either. But I have started reloading now...

.32 S&W long reloading dies arrive tomorrow, so in prep Linda and I stopped by Pinto's for some reloading supplies. We found a box of 500 96gr. LRNFPs and bought a brick of small pistol primers. I have a bit less than 50 pieces of .32 S&W long brass, and they were out... but they had a good price on 100 pieces of new Starline .32 H&R Magnum, and I am a resourceful fellow...

On arriving home I set up a very simple gadget for shortening the brass to the required length and in a relatively short time I had 100 pieces of .32 S&W brass. The gadget is desperately simple- grind a disk of mild steel to the exact thickness needed for the length of the cartridge, then bore a hole that comfortably fits the cartridge and grind away the bit that sticks out on a belt-sander. De-burr the casing and Viola! The correct length of cartridge.
4z72qd6.jpg

n2M4kId.jpg

z0Kyq9t.jpg


I'm all ready to go when the dies arrive tomorrow. Time to look up some Unique loads...
 
That's a cool, old gun. I like how you took care of the flaking nickle problem.

.32 S&W long is one of my favorite cartridges. I primarily shoot it in a Ruger Single Six Magnum.

I think Unique is the wrong powder for this cartridge. It's too slow and bulky. You'll find it very difficult to measure consistent, 2 gr charges of Unique that are suitable for your revolver. My recommendation is to try very small charges of fast pistol powder. I typically use Bullseye or N310 for good effect. My favorite load is 1.7 gr Bullseye under a 98 gr wadcutter seated nearly flush. 1.4 gr of N310 also works well.
 
John C said:
That's a cool, old gun. I like how you took care of the flaking nickle problem.

.32 S&W long is one of my favorite cartridges. I primarily shoot it in a Ruger Single Six Magnum.

I think Unique is the wrong powder for this cartridge. It's too slow and bulky. You'll find it very difficult to measure consistent, 2 gr charges of Unique that are suitable for your revolver. My recommendation is to try very small charges of fast pistol powder. I typically use Bullseye or N310 for good effect. My favorite load is 1.7 gr Bullseye under a 98 gr wadcutter seated nearly flush. 1.4 gr of N310 also works well.
Click to expand...

Sound advice, but all I have at the moment is Unique- a friend sent me four pounds of it. It's worked out well in a number of calibers, but when I get some extra cash in I will be dabbling in other powders.
 
i will load for my .32 L too in the future. i didn,t know what powders to start with, thanks. it shoot well with factory .32 shorts at 21 feet, i think longs will shoot as good. eastbank.
 

Attachments

  • Picture 8815.jpg
    Picture 8815.jpg
    95 KB · Views: 10
Unique wouldn't be my first choice, but it will work. N-310, WST, AA #2 all shoot well for me in .32 Long. I was using the Berrys 83 Gr HBWC, but they haven't made a run of those in years, not since around 2008. I didn't try Bullseye, but I bet it shoots well too.

index.php


Pretty soon I will be forced to find another .32 plinker bullet. I was also shooting them in .32 Mag for light loads. It must be a WC to load near flush for my Benelli auto. Guess I have to pick out one of the lead ones. I still have a few more Berrys, and a few more "blem" XTPs I bought cheap, but then it is decision time.

May try these from MBC, although they are heavier. 98 Gr. (Might as well say 100.)
ht_32_target.jpg


http://missouribullet.com/details.php?prodId=356&category=20&secondary=20&keywords=
 

Attachments

  • Light Taper Crimp on a .32 Long WC - Berrys 83 Gr HBWC - Pic 1.JPG
    Light Taper Crimp on a .32 Long WC - Berrys 83 Gr HBWC - Pic 1.JPG
    17.5 KB · Views: 135
John C said:
I think Unique is the wrong powder for this cartridge. It's too slow and bulky.
Click to expand...

I agree. "If" you can tolerate the slow speed necessary to correctly charge it, they'll shoot fine.
My personal solution is Winchester 231.
It's a faster powder that measures very well for me.
2.3 grains under a 90 LSWC. Mild load

Hodgdon says 2.1 - 2.4gr
 
Walkalong--I use the lubed lead version of those presently, brass filled to max below bullet with Trail Boss (have almost three kegs left) and find that they are a great soft shooting load for me. Next time I will be getting the PC version to try but I still have two boxes to shoot up first.
 
So the question of whether or not I can reload .32 S&W with .32 S&W long dies remains unanswered. I can however tell you that it is perfectly possible to reload .32 S&W Long on the set of .32 S&W dies I bought... oops.
 
Don't know what you had to pay for the brass but Target Sports USA sometimes has Privi 32 SW Long ammo for about $15 a box.
Might be another source of brass since 32 SW long is sometime hard to find.
Neat solution to trim the 32 HR brass.
Nice looking old S+W

Accurate doesn't list 32SW Data on their web site but I emailed them and they sent me some data for AA#2.
I helped a friend load some up and AA#2 meters great in the small charge required. (will see if I can find the data, don't know if I have it since it was for a friend)
 
Actually I use a set of 32 ACP dies and the appropriate shell holder for the rimmed brass to load from 32 short to 327 FED with die length adjustments. It will roll crimp when screwed in enough. You MIGHT want to only roll crimp with no taper so a separate crimp die for 32 short in addition would be the way I would go. In the future you may want to invest in either some spacers or a separate die set for each caliber to avoid the need for adjustments.YMMV

For brass, a member on here had some 32 long OF brass for sale in the reloading for sale area and I purchased about 500 for a real reasonable price IIRC. It does show up for sale from time to time if you are willing to watch and wait.
 
MTP,
I've had very nice groups with 98 gr. LSWCs and 3.3 grs. of Unique in both J frame Smiths and the Colt PPS.

My go to load in .32 long is with the same bullet and 3.7 grs. of Herco though when
shooting my 16-4.


Walkalong,
Sure do wish Berry's would resume those HB slugs! I never got a chance to try them
and the thought of shooting the .32 without lube fouling sounds nice.
Maybe share your WST load data, or even the starting loads. I've got a couple of bulk pack Hornady
lead HBWCs to load up.

The Benelli must be a hoot.
If only Smith had made a .32 version of the 52.

JT
 
I recently acquired the same S&W 1903 .32 long, I have been reading up on it and worked up to 2.4 grains of Trailboss with a 71 Gr Berrys bullet. I'm not compressing the powder, no flattened primers, case isn't excessively expanding out, I'm really not seeing any issues with this load.
 
On another note, since data is limited on Trailboss with this round does anyone see a problem with the load I mentioned above?
Being the bullet has a rather short bearing surface I'm not seated very deep, I think its .123 into the case with no crimp at this point. I can't get my die adjusted to seat and crimp without crunching a case so I am just barely expanding the case mouth and seating the bullet in.
 
Birdhunter1 said:
On another note, since data is limited on Trailboss with this round does anyone see a problem with the load I mentioned above?
Being the bullet has a rather short bearing surface I'm not seated very deep, I think its .123 into the case with no crimp at this point. I can't get my die adjusted to seat and crimp without crunching a case so I am just barely expanding the case mouth and seating the bullet in.
Click to expand...

TB with no compression and virtually no crimp as you describe seems like an excellent choice and the relatively light, plated bullet seals the deal. It seems very unlikely that this load would be a pressure issue. It may even be somewhat inefficient, but no reason not to coddle an old pistol.

Cool revolver.
 
It should be OK as long as you do not exceed 100% load density (Filled to the base of a seated bullet.) Have you chronoed it?

Since this thread was started I have tried the MBC coated 98 Gr WC and am pushing it to 800 FPS from the Benelli.

I have never tried the Berrys 71 Gr in .32 Long, only .32 ACP.

A light taper crimp will help, good luck getting the dies set.
 
Bullet selection isn't exactly the greatest in this caliber, I didn't want to go 100 grain or jacketed as this will not be a carry piece or hunting item. In fact my dad picked this thing up I don't know how long ago, he let my 9 year old son shoot it and then gave it to me to give to him.
His early Christmas this year was a box of dies, brass and bullets.. and of course when it arrived Monday he was eager to load for his pistol. He's been reloading with me a few years now so he knows most of the process, but I made him do all of it this time, under supervision of course.

I was the guinea pig when it came time to try this load out, it pops a little harder than the 32 S&W (short) 83 gr lead rounds I had but it isn't a recoil beast by any means. My son is a rather proficient shooter with a rifle, his pistol work is coming.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

V
  • Locked
.32 S&W Long die to seat .32 aCP?
Replies
6
Views
932
Claude Clay
C
G
  • Locked
Reloading .32 S&W, .32 S&W Long, .32 H&R
Replies
8
Views
6K
GCBurner
G
Michael Tinker Pearce
  • Locked
Reloading .32 S&W Long
Replies
2
Views
469
Walkalong
Walkalong
C
  • Locked
.32 S&W .32 Auto
Replies
11
Views
2K
NCsmitty
N
O
  • Locked
Questions on 32 S&W and 38 S&W
Replies
10
Views
1K
LAGS
L
Back
Top