Okay so I have always told folks it's foolish to load a little gun hot when there are plenty of bigger guns out there; however...
I just recently acquired a little model 30 snubbie, I took it to the range with some Aquila ammo that I found at Big 5 and discovered that I am freakishly accurate with this little thing. I can effortlessly vaporize the little black stickers on the shoot n C
Targets in double action from 10 yards with about 80% accuracy. I have put 500 rounds through the pipsqueak and the results on the range are consistent. I am considering adding it to my CCW so I can carry it occasionally. I know that most of the reloading data for this cartridge takes into account older top break revolvers and cheap imported revolvers. I want to try loading it warmer than conventional data. I will be using cast bullets out of a 115 gr colt new police bullet mould and 100 gr cast hollow points out of the same pattern of mould with a hollow point pin. Those bullets drop about 96 gr but the profile of the bullet itself is the same. I would like recommendations for powders to maximize velocity in a 2" barrel and recommendations for crimping as well as perhaps some data.

FWIW, my Lyman 45th, which is from 1970, shows a 93 gr bullet with max load of 4.3 gr Unique generating 992 fps. Their starting load is 2.5 gr. Their test gun was a 3" S&W M30.

That said, my Speer #8, known for its "too-hot" loads, lists a 95 gr bullet with max load of 3.5 gr Unique generating 898fps, and a starting load of 3 gr. Their test gun was a 4" S&W M31.

It might help if you tell us what powders you currently have.

EDIT: I posted more info below that is more modern and much weaker than this.

I have 231, 700x, 800x, 2400, herco, red dot, h110, n110, unique, power pistol, and a bunch of rifle powders

What I was thinking is using starting data for the h&r mag using the 100 grain jhp. And applying a buffalo bore style crimp. The shorter case and longer bullet will create more pressure but the cast lead bullet instead of the jacketed bullet might mitigate some of that. Either way I want to utilize a charge that will burn up quick to mitigate flash and maximize efficiency in that little barrel.

I carried a 31-1 snub for a couple years. It's the square butt version of your m30 and also very accurate.

I carried the Buffalobore 100 gr hard cast wadcutters.

Those are hotter than other factory loads.

More muzzle energy and velocity than the 38 special target wadcutters many people carry.

Just FYI, I don't think the .32 S&W Long was ever chambered in a top break revolver. Every .32 top break I've ever seen was .32 S&W, even the I-J's and the H&R's. If I'm wrong, we'll both know pretty soon.

Larry

I believe that's true of s&w, buy h&r made 32 long top breaks.

My Hornady 9th says:

32 Long

90 gr LHBSW and SWC

700x 1.4 - 1.9 gr
HP-38 1.4 - 1.9
Red Dot 1.5 - 2.1
Bullseye 1.6 - 2.0
Green Dot 1.7 - 2.2
Unique 1.7 - 2.5 (compare that to the loads above!!!)
W231 1.8 - 2.5 (note that HP38 and 231 have different values, but Hodgdon says they are the exact same thing)

I think if you start in the low range of any of these 90 gr lead SWC, you'll certainly have a safe starting point to work up your SD load.

You MIGHT want to consider having your cylinder re-bored to .32 H&R Magnum. Several members on this site have done so with very positive results. You should be able to find some past threads on this if you're interested.

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Dave Brown
SWCA #3279

You may be shooting it so well because it is not hot.

The only top-break revolvers chambered for .32 S&W Long were late models of H&R, Webley, and possibly I.J. revolvers that were significantly stronger than S&W, and earlier top-break models of other manufacturers. A version of the Webley is still manufactured in India and chambered for .32 S&W Long. There may be more.

So, yes there are top-break revolvers in .32 S&W Long, but these are all relatively modern designs that do not date earlier than 1950 or so. I would not even suggest hot-rodding .32 S&W Long for any top-break revolver model!

Without mentioning specific loads I will tell you that the J-Frame S&W models are quite strong and can be loaded to true magnum pressure levels and developing velocities in the 1100+ FPS range from a 3" or longer barrel. They can safely exceed the book performance of .32 H&R Magnum factory loads.

The Lyman 44th Edition shows .32 S&W Long loads up to 4.3 Gr/Unique with a 100 Gr. cast bullet at 1003 (maybe 1030) FPS, barrel length not given. Over the years I have shot thousands of rounds from my Model 30 and Model 16 with Lyman 3118, 115 Gr. +/-, over 4.0 Gr. Unique with absolutely no ill effects.

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Gunsmithing since 1961

I've talked here about my success in using Phil Sharpe's 1930s handloading data with Unique in my solid frame .32s.

Got Improved I-frame .32 in a trade

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Now go make God proud...