P. Plainsman
Member
Very timely review by Bill Bell. I was just about to email the Quinns and request a test of the little .32 H&R Magnum Airweight J-frames. Voila. The article includes chrono testing on several different defense loads.
http://gunblast.com/WBell_SW32s.htm
A few highlights:
* Black Hills 85 grain JHP: 870 fps from the snubbies, yielding 143 ft/lbs of muzzle energy. A little light (that's vanilla .380 territory), but Bell reported perfect expansion in water from the round's Hornady .32 XTP bullet.
* MagSafe 50 gr "Defender" frangible: explosive fragmentation, low penetration, 1151 fps.
* The scarce, in-and-out-of-print, 100 gr Georgia Arms .32 Mag JHP is indeed a bad little mother. Bell chronoed it at 1002 fps from the 1 7/8" Smith barrel -- that's listed as 270 ft/lbs of energy [EDIT: Might be 223 ft/lbs instead, see other posters' comments below.]. Bell got good penetration from the GAs with significant fragmentation. A 13.5 oz 432PD loaded with six of those rounds would be stiff competition for any lightweight .380 ACP pocket pistol.
Now I'd like to see snubby chrono tests for the 85 gr JHP that Georgia Arms is currently selling.
http://gunblast.com/WBell_SW32s.htm
A few highlights:
* Black Hills 85 grain JHP: 870 fps from the snubbies, yielding 143 ft/lbs of muzzle energy. A little light (that's vanilla .380 territory), but Bell reported perfect expansion in water from the round's Hornady .32 XTP bullet.
* MagSafe 50 gr "Defender" frangible: explosive fragmentation, low penetration, 1151 fps.
* The scarce, in-and-out-of-print, 100 gr Georgia Arms .32 Mag JHP is indeed a bad little mother. Bell chronoed it at 1002 fps from the 1 7/8" Smith barrel -- that's listed as 270 ft/lbs of energy [EDIT: Might be 223 ft/lbs instead, see other posters' comments below.]. Bell got good penetration from the GAs with significant fragmentation. A 13.5 oz 432PD loaded with six of those rounds would be stiff competition for any lightweight .380 ACP pocket pistol.
Now I'd like to see snubby chrono tests for the 85 gr JHP that Georgia Arms is currently selling.
Last edited: