.32 S&W Long reloading

[boom boom]

Recently I have been required to go to low recoiling firearms if I want to shoot at all right now and while .22 LR, .22 mag, and .223 handle it for rifles. I like to fire a center fire revolver now and again to keep up with my revolvers and yes I have .22 LR revolvers. Thus, the .32 S&W Long was my choice and I have a 6 inch barrelled Colt New Police transition model (to the Police Positive) and a model 69 3 inch barrel Rossi in new condition. I have some factory roundnose cartridges (Remington), some Lee .32 S&W Long dies, purchased some Starline new brass, and have figured to try out Missouri Bullets Hi-Tek coated 98 gr. DEWC and Acme round nose 100 gr. powder coated .32 bullets as the nearest indoor range does not allow plain lead bullets anymore.

I am familiar with loading handgun rounds and do not like to load hot.

Any suggestions regarding powders for the bullets that I have selected, have W231, Titegroup, Universal, Unique, and Bullseye. Any others useful for the new hi tech bullets? Any other reloading tips specific to this cartridge?

 

[Walkalong]

Of what you list I would go with W-231. If you have it, AA # 2 & WST are good as well.

When Berrys stopped making the .32 Cal DEWC & HBWC I tried the MBC coated 98 Gr WC and it did well for me. I had to load them near flush to work in my Benelli.

You want to keep pressure low, so work up in .1 Gr increments. That goes double if you load them near flush.

I loaded them to .960 +/- OAL over 1.7 Grs of N-310 with various primers (WSP, WSR, Fed 200, Fed 100, CCI-500, S&B SPP) and got averages from 808 to 823 FPS from the Benelli.

This is max for the Benelli (IMHO), and likely a little stout for your revolvers, at least I would not do it in the nice old Colt.

I have not gotten around to loading or shooting these bullets for my 4" Regulation Police .32 Long or my 6" 1905 .32-20.

They work well, start low, be sure all bullets leave the barrel, and work up very slowly.

 

[George P]

Bullseye, Unique, Universal all work well in my I-frame S&W

 

[boom boom]

Thanks guys, Walkalong, those are mucho excellent pictures. Nice Lock and Load setup. GeorgeP, thanks for making me feel a bit better on what powders I have on hand for an initial run. I'm fortunate that I can buy most powders locally if I want but would prefer to use up some of what I have.

I've got a Lee Classic Turret setup because I got started with a Lee Single stage and even their hand press, and simply don't load enough of any single round to justify a progressive (but I still want one eventually for 9mm). Until I get my sea legs back under me on reloading as I haven't done so in a few years, I will probably just run it in single stage until I can make sure that all systems are go again.

Since I load both rifle and handgun on the same press, it is easier right now for me to change turret heads and hand index (most of the cartridges that I reload for have their own turret head as I buy them on sale when I can) due to trouble with hands. I've recently used CCI primers for handguns because I got a bunch during the shortage years but really prefer Winchesters for some odd reason maybe because I started on them.

Have never used Vihtavuori as it got scarce during the last great powder shortage and I had plenty of other powders at the time. Is it a double base?

 

[Walkalong]

The Vihtavuori N Series handgun powders are single base, it's one thing I like about them. WST & AA # 2 are so close to it for accuracy in the .32 Long I can't really shoot the difference.

I do not have any pics of the targets with the MBC, but this is an old one with the Berrys, five shots, one hanging out, so close.

 

[gumbo333]

I've used Trail Boss under 94gr cast i bought years ago. Shot good

 

[boom boom]

The Vihtavuori N Series handgun powders are single base, it's one thing I like about them. WST & AA # 2 are so close to it for accuracy in the .32 Long I can't really shoot the difference.

I do not have any pics of the targets with the MBC, but this is an old one with the Berrys, five shots, one hanging out, so close.

WOW. I pulled up your posts talking about the Benelli on a search and that is one accurate semi-auto (and nice shooting by you as well).

 

[boom boom]

I've used Trail Boss under 94gr cast i bought years ago. Shot good

I think that I have a can of that. Did it fill the case?

 

[FROGO207]

I also use TrailBoss for my 32long loading. Figure seating depth of bullet and use that as max load as TB is never supposed to be compressed. I remember that the max load as calculated was my most accurate. Nice soft shooting load using the MB coated bullet you mentioned.

 

[boom boom]

Never shot the coated bullets before so that will be a new thing. Nearby, indoor ranges around here are not allowing bare lead bullets anymore but they will allow coated bullets.

 

[Slamfire]

Recently I have been required to go to low recoiling firearms if I want to shoot at all right now and while .22 LR, .22 mag, and .223 handle it for rifles. I like to fire a center fire revolver now and again to keep up with my revolvers and yes I have .22 LR revolvers. Thus, the .32 S&W Long was my choice and I have a 6 inch barrelled Colt New Police transition model (to the Police Positive) and a model 69 3 inch barrel Rossi in new condition. I have some factory roundnose cartridges (Remington), some Lee .32 S&W Long dies, purchased some Starline new brass, and have figured to try out Missouri Bullets Hi-Tek coated 98 gr. DEWC and Acme round nose 100 gr. powder coated .32 bullets as the nearest indoor range does not allow plain lead bullets anymore.

I am familiar with loading handgun rounds and do not like to load hot.

Any suggestions regarding powders for the bullets that I have selected, have W231, Titegroup, Universal, Unique, and Bullseye. Any others useful for the new hi tech bullets? Any other reloading tips specific to this cartridge?

I had a hard time finding decent cast lead bullet information on the 32S&W Long.

I looked through my reloading manuals and did not find any significant information on the 98 grain bullet and the 32 S&W Long. If there was data, it was with Bullseye. The bullets I used were commercial cast, and were two grain heavier than 98 grains, maybe they were 98 grs before lubing, the weight difference is inconsequential for me. The bullet is a round nose with a flattened tip. I chronographed factory ammunition as a guide. I found factory equivalent ammunition (2.25 grs Bullseye) to be so mild that after shooting 1000 rounds of it, I shot 1000 rounds of 2.5 grains Bullseye. Nothing evil happened to my pistol, that is still a very mild load, and my next 1000 rounds that I loaded are 2.7 grains Bullseye. I have not chronographed that load, I expect it will come out around 800 fps.

Three grains of Bullseye produced a sharp recoil in my revolver. While cases fell out, I just did not want to deal with the recoil.

Unique had potential, but I found that Bullseye worked well enough.

S&W No. 3 Hand Ejector  3.25" barrel



78gr cast LRN .312" 2.0 grs Bullseye CCI 500 Aguila brass  
22-Jul-05 T = 96 °F    

Ave Vel = 647.9    
Std Dev = 30.91    
ES = 131.8  
High = 711      
Low = 579.2      
N = 18    

Elevation good, left      

78 LRN .312" 2.5 grs Bullseye CCI 500 Aguila brass  
22-Jul-05 T = 96 °F    

Ave Vel = 823.6    
Std Dev = 32.43    
ES = 155.5      
High = 926.2      
Low = 770.6      
N = 25  
   
shoots 1-2" low, centered, accurate, no leading      

78 LRN .312" 3.0 grs Bullseye CCI 500 Aguila brass
22-Jul-05 T = 96 °F

Ave Vel = 942    
Std Dev = 24.67      
ES = 116.8    
High = 1018    
Low = 901.4      
N = 30      

no leading all shots 9 O'C to 7O'C, low and left

98gr Swaged LRN  Aguila Factory                                                                                                        
19-Mar-06 T = 51 °F

Ave Vel =665.9                                                                                                
Std Dev =17.52                                                                                                
ES =69.38                                                                                                          
High =697                                                                                                          
Low =627.6                                                                                                        
N =32                          

Horrible leading.                                                                        

100 gr Cast LBBFP .313"   2.25 grs Bullseye SS Brass WSP                                                             19-Mar-06 T = 51 °F          

Ave Vel =693.3                                                                                                                
Std Dev =20.71                                                                                                                
ES =103.9                                                                                                                          
High =721.8                                                                                                                      
Low =617.9                                                                                                                        
N =32                                                                                                                                  

Elevation good, Windage left,  Mild recoil                                                                                            
 

100 gr LBBFP  .313"   2.5 grs Bullseye SS Brass WSP                                                                  
19-Mar-06 T = 51 °F

Ave Vel =768.2                                                                                                                
Std Dev =16.97                                                                                                                
ES =62.06                                                                                                                          
High =807.3                                                                                                                      
Low =745.3                                                                                                                        
N =17

Elevation good, Windage good, Mild recoil, prefer this to 2.25 grain load                                               

100gr  LBBFP  .313" 3.0 grs Bullseye WSP R-P brass                                  
4-Feb-06 T = 44 °F

Ave Vel =861                                                                                                      
Std Dev =14.83                                                                                                  
ES =57.83                                                                                                          
High =889.6                                                                                                      
Low =832.1                                                                                                        
N =31

no leading, easy extraction, rounded primers,  sharp recoil                                                                                                                      
100 gr LBBFP .313"  2.9 grs Unique SS Brass WSP                                                                    
19-Mar-06 T = 51 °F          

Ave Vel =717.4                                                                                                                
Std Dev =42.33                                                                                                                
ES =144                                                                                                                              
High =789.3                                                                                                                      
Low =645.3                                                                                                                        
N =18                                  

Elevation good, Windage good,  Mild recoil accurate

Every so often someone brings out a 32 S&W Long to shoot in the Centerfire portion of the Bullseye Match. Usually they are using Pardini's. I of course have to ask them about their loads. I don't remember anyone who was not using a 98 grain bullet. I remember one guy using Bullseye, and probably so were the others. Might have been a Vihtavuori shooter in there, there is always a Vihtavuori shooter around. The powder charges I forgot. I do remember the outstanding groups the Bullseye shooter was making out to 50 yards. He was a good shot with everything. I don't specifically remember any other powders, and basically, I would not have cared.Bullseye is an excellent powder in this cartridge and that is good enough for me.

 

[berettaprofessor]

2.5 grains of Trail Boss under an 85 grain Hornady XTP (OAL 1.175") is about as soft-shooting as you could ever desire.

 

[FROGO207]

I seated them and crimped into what would have been the lube ring closest to the raised/nub end. I also had to give the mouth a bit of additional flare to keep from damaging the coating. Not much more though, maybe one quarter turn more than a standard lead (Hunters Supply RN) bullet I had used previously.

 

[boom boom]

Thanks Slamfire. Don't want to mess up the old Colt as it is one of the last of the New Police when they were transitioning to the Police Positive model. The barrel has New Police on one side and Police Positive on the other and fortunately it was in .32 New Police rather than .32 Long Colt.

 

[George P]

I had a hard time finding decent cast lead bullet information on the 32S&W Long.

I looked through my reloading manuals and did not find any significant information on the 98 grain bullet and the 32 S&W Long.

Look online; Alliant has data as does Hodgdon

 

[Jim Watson]

.32 is probably the only round with target wadcutter loaded hotter than roundnose "service load." 730 vs 708 fps.

 

[WestKentucky]

Bullseye works, but I don’t like it in tiny cases like the 32s. 231 isn’t bad, but it really isn’t much better either. Low charges in tiny cases are just difficult to deal with for me. I have moved on to mainly using trail boss for 32 long. I use the peppy stuff for 327 loads. My biggest gripe about the 32 Long in reloading is in the very small range of loads.

I’m pulling from memory here, but I believe that the load I’m using is in Lyman 47 as 2.1-2.3 gr of 231. That is a miniscule charge weight with a tight tolerance. I am not confident enough in the measuring tools and transfer tools to maintain much tighter of a tolerance. I like bulky powders for this reason, they are easier to be fairly consistent with.

 

[Dudedog]

Used AA#2 loading some for my sister a few years ago.
AA#2 meters great, a nice thing for 32 S+W long size charges.

 

[gumbo333]

Boom Boom, need to correct myself, they are cast 95gr SWC. I've used 2.0gr, 2.2 gr and 2.5 gr of Trail Boss. Loaded them several years ago, I know the 2.5gr loads were not compressed, but not sure of the % fill. Accurate and soft shooting in my very old Colt.

 

[cfullgraf]

I know the OP has a 32 S&WL revolver and is concerned with recoil. But something for the OP to consider, there are a number of good 32 H&R Mag and 327 Fed Magnum revolvers on the market today. With reloading, excellent light loads can be made for these rounds.

While you can shoot the shorter, 32 S&WL rounds in the longer chambers, I prefer to use the longer case that is designed for the longer chambers. One of my idiosyncrasies. I load wadcutters in 32 H&R Mag and 327 Fed Mag cases that shoot well and are powder puffs to shoot.

 

[ATLDave]

For a real giggle, load up some .32 S&W (short). Those are hilarious to shoot.

 

[boom boom]

I know the OP has a 32 S&WL revolver and is concerned with recoil. But something for the OP to consider, there are a number of good 32 H&R Mag and 327 Fed Magnum revolvers on the market today. With reloading, excellent light loads can be made for these rounds.

While you can shoot the shorter, 32 S&WL rounds in the longer chambers, I prefer to use the longer case that is designed for the longer chambers. One of my idiosyncrasies. I load wadcutters in 32 H&R Mag and 327 Fed Mag cases that shoot well and are powder puffs to shoot.

One of these days absent medical bills and the issues that caused those bills, I would not mind a .327 Fed Mag or a 32 H&R revolver at all if the barrel is 3 inches or more. I missed the great clear out sales days that happened about 1-2 years after the .327 Fed Mag debuted. I also like the idea of having a long arm (lever action naturally) that chambers the same round as the revolver so a Henry is on my scope as well.

The Colt Police Positive/New Police appealed to me as it was there in great condition for being made about 110 years ago and relatively cheap as it had a bulged barrel and fired .32 S&W Longs (ahem .32 New Police). Miraculously found a barrel from the same 2-3 year time period with the dual markings on the barrel as the original. And it was in the relatively rare 6 inch length that matched the color and wear pattern of the original barrel. I prefer long barrels for revolvers with tiny grooved rear sights and the barrel was practically new inside.

 

[boom boom]

I seated them and crimped into what would have been the lube ring closest to the raised/nub end. I also had to give the mouth a bit of additional flare to keep from damaging the coating. Not much more though, maybe one quarter turn more than a standard lead (Hunters Supply RN) bullet I had used previously.

Thanks everyone for the information so far, got in my bullets today from Grafs and Sons.

Will probably start with loading the DEWC first with Trail Boss and Bullseye loads at the very bottom of the range. I let my loaddata and Handloader subscriptions lapse over the last few years so I will go back and take a look at those as well.

The ACME RN bullets are more for an experiment in gallery type rifle loads for my Enfields, Mosins, and now my 1891 Argentine Mauser but I might play around with them later.

Hodgdon's website reports 1.9 gr. of HP-38 as a starting load as does their 2019 manual. 1.5 gr. is what they report as a starting load for a 90gr Round bullet in Trail Boss . Alliant reports a max of 2.3 gr in Bullseye and 2.8 gr. in Unique for the RCBS 98gr. 82061 SWC and 1.8 gr. max. Bullseye for a 98 gr. HBWC profile. The Lee dies information have 1.6 gr. to 1.8 gr. range for Bullseye with a 98 gr. WC.

The latest Accurate/Western manual ignores .32 S&W Long altogether and the latest Speer Manual only has their 98gr. WC in it.

N310 looks intriguing though as the Lee Manual actually has a fair number of loads for it.

ATLDave, I might get some S&W .32 (Short) or reload some after I get comfortable shooting the revolvers. I have a 1903 in .32 ACP so the lighter bullets would not be a problem to get and I looked after you posted this and doggone if you can't get new Starline or Winchester brass in it. Thanks.

Acme 100 gr. RN Hi-Tek red for the gallery rifle loads.

and MBC 98gr Hitek Gold DEWC

 

[40-82]

Anytime I think of the 32 S&W long, I think of a short passage in Keith's Sixguns. He described stacking three glass bottles, one on top of the other, shooting the bottom one, and breaking the other two rapid fire as they came down. He used a pre-war K-32. He said a K-22 wouldn't break the bottles thoroughly enough, and the K-38 had too much recoil. I always wanted to try it, but I never could get my hands on a K-32 long enough. A neighbor had one of the newer ones, but even it was too rare to shoot thousands of times. With the I-frames I wasn't sure I was necessarily beating what I could do with a 38 wadcutter.

I suppose it's too late to try it now. The last time I shot a glass bottle was at a town dump near the Arctic coast. There's not any place I know now where I'd be willing to leave broken glass behind like that.

Since some of the production numbers came out on the various models of Smith & Wessons, I've wondered if Keith had any way of knowing how rare his pre-war K-32 was. If memory serves me, less than a hundred were made. So many of those Smith & Wessons that showed up year after year in their catalogs were rarer than I ever would have guessed at the time.

The two most common powders you'll find in the old books for the 32 S&W Long were Bullseye and Unique. I've always had a slight preference for Unique because it uses a slightly larger charge, which strikes me as a tiny bit better because if an individual drop from a powder charge is a tenth of a grain off that's a smaller percentage off ideal than with the faster burning Bullseye. The difference probably isn't important, though.

In my guns, I've found this little .32 a little more load sensitive than .38 Special, so I probably wouldn't load up a large batch of even very light charges before testing them for basic accuracy. The 32 S&W Long never caught on in a large way for formal target shooting. I've read reasons like wind effecting the bullet flight at fifty yards, but I'm going to guess there's another reason. After a long session at the bench, I find handling the little .32 cases cramp my fingers more than the larger cases do.

It's a wonderful little cartridge. If I rarely drop a .32 Colt or Smith & Wesson in my pocket when I can almost as easily carry the only slightly larger .38, I still think they're a pleasure to shoot.

 

[Walkalong]

I've found this little .32 a little more load sensitive than .38 Special, so I probably wouldn't load up a large batch of even very light charges before testing them for basic accuracy.

Agreed. Start low, go easy, a handful at a time. Like six at a time at first.