S&W Ultimate Carry J Frame 432

pokey074 said:

Yup. They rejected my rebate submission.

Click to expand...

Same for me.

They typically give rebates on firearms that aren't selling particularly well - not on guns that are so hot they can't keep up with production on.

I got mine last week and received my Lost River Ammo yesterday. I took it out and shot it from 7, 10 and 15yds. It shoots great. I like everything about this little gun. sights were good on mine and no problem with the front sight being dead.

I'm still waiting on a 632UC...

Friends,

It has been a bit since I had a chance to get out and give the little Ultimate Carry .32 H&R J Frame a good workout, but finally I had the opportunity to do so again. This time I did some quick DA work at 7 yards. I have shot this gun from 3 yards out to 50 yards for both fun, and simply to find out what the gun and my capabilities were with it were. That said, really chances are more likely than not I would be using it in "get off me/stay away" ranges, so 7 yards seemed fitting to give it a good workout.

I started out putting 18 rounds into the first circle. BTW, the circles are 4" wide. I shot as quick as I could get a decent sight picture. As soon as the front sight found the white of the target I ran the DA trigger all the way though. Speaking of the trigger. If you have read the previous posts about shooting this great little pocket blaster, you may (or may not) note that I have 430 rounds through the gun. I have dry fired it a few times, but really not a lot. The trigger has lightened up some already. I have not done anything to it. In fact, I still have not even cleaned the dang gun since I have been shooting 100% poly coated ammo through it, and it is really quite clean all things considered. If I was shooting traditional hardcast lead, there is no way I would go this long between cleanings. Back to the trigger. It is getting better and better, and I have zero intentions of doing anything to it, other than continue to shoot it.

Back to shooting. I shot quite quickly. With the light recoil of the 100 grain wadcutters, it is pretty reasonably easy to shoot fairly well for a J Frame. After the initial group, in which I was really choking up on the gun (I have size XL hands so little guns can be challenging to find just the right grip on) I changed the way I was holding the gun and used only the pad of my first distal joint on my trigger finger to shoot the gun. The result was immediate. The point of impact was high and right for me.




The group was good, as I actually had to slow down a bit to control the gun better, but it was obvious that I did not have as much control of the gun as I did when I put much more finger on the trigger. After shooting 18 rounds in that manner, I went back to using the center of my second distal joint and using a very high grip, as I have traditionally done with my .38 Special J Frame 442. It may look like my hands are "swallowing the gun to some, but it works.

I fire a couple more iterations of 18 rounds per circle for a total of 72 rounds on the target.

This put my round count at 502 rounds through the Lipsey's Ultimate Carry .32 H&R J Frame. All of the rounds used were the Lost River Ammo Company 100 grain poly coated wadcutter. I have been carrying this little gun every day now for a bit as my "always" gun, no matter what gun I may be carrying as a primary. Even when I am just working loading ammo, the little J Frame is snug in the front pocket, doing what it is supposed to do.

Protocall_Design said:

I'm still waiting on a 632UC...

Click to expand...

You and me both! I'm still not convinced on the two-tone cylinder thumbpiece and ejector rod, but I'm sure I'll come around if I can get my hands on one.

After reading the multiple posts from Tim and others, I elected to purchase the 432UC instead of the 442 or 642 variant. I was reluctant to do so since I had never dealt with the .32 caliber in any configuration. It appears to be a viable self defense option with less recoil than a .38sp with the addition of a sixth round. I purchased his 100gr. full wadecutters and decided to give it a try. It is an extremely mild, pleasant snubby to shoot. I love the sights, the grips and the other touches that Lipsey's and S&W teamed up to create in the UC. I previously had a 337 and then an M&P 340. I sold my M&P 340 and purchased a 649-2 for the increased weight over the titanium of the 340. It is much more pleasant to shoot. Replacing the 340 with this new 432UC is a good choice. This little gun might be the best snubby configuration to date.

For all my Friends who are .32 Shooters (or soon will be :grin!

The .32 H&R has been extremely popular as of late and for good reason. Last year Lipsey's brought out the Ultimate Carry 432/632 J frame guns and they were a huge hit. My own 432 has over 1,000 rounds through it.

I fired over 1,000 rounds of 100 grain poly coated wadcutters. Still have not cleaned the bore. That is how good poly coat works as compared to old school hard cast (from a guy who loves hard cast).




YES I KNOW... I need to do some updates, I have been super busy and have not kept up with this thread...

While the 100 grain full wadcutters have been excellent, and what I have kept my gun loaded with, I have had a BUNCH of requests for a load beyond just the wadcutter.

So here it is.

This is a brand new load and specifically made for the S&W J Frame and Ruger LCR .32 caliber snub nose revolvers:




I wanted a heavy for caliber, wide meplat SWC that was poly coated.
Nobody made such a projectile, so I had a manufacturer buy a mold and this is the result.

This 130 grain poly coated wide meplat semi wadcutter is exclusive to my little tiny outfit.


This wide meplat poly coat SWC was fine tuned to run at 850 FPS in most 2" J Frames and Ruger LCRs.


Velocity as tested:

S&W J Frame: 850 FPS
Ruger GP100 : 955 FPS


One of the key attributes of the .32 H&R in a snubby revolver is manageable recoil. This wide meplat semi wadcutter design is a heavy for caliber projectile that will provide deep penetration and is loaded at a velocity that is still manageable. In testing, the bullet was pushed both slower and faster in terms of velocity and the sweet spot was right at 850 FPS from a 2" J Frame/LCR.

I actually ran the projectile considerably faster and there was no practical gain. It simply made both the Ruger LCR and S&W J Frame very snappy and difficult to shoot quickly, and got to the point of skinning my thumb knuckle on the cylinder release. Running the loads up to 1,000 FPS just resulted in very slow shot to shot recovery times and a bloody knuckle and gun.


1,000 FPS =slow recovery and skinned up knuckle:


The heavy and wide meplat projectile simply did not need to be pushed that fast, and it defeated the purpose of having a load that penetrated deep, yet is easy to shoot quickly.

The "real world" sweet spot that I found in letting a couple folks try some ammo that was loaded to different velocity ranges resulted in finding the upper end of the tolerable range right at 850 FPS for the J Frame and LCR for this projectile.



Long story short, for those who asked for a custom load for the J Frames and Ruger LCRs beyond the full wadcutter..

This is not my best work shooting, but here are some range results of some offhand shooting at just shy of 10 yards (say 8-9 yards)



and a 15 yard rested groups with a 7 shot GP100. 21 shot group.



Personally I just think these are super cool looking wide nose SWCs and HUGE when you compare them to the diminutive size of a .32 H&R case.



Makes me grin when I look at them.

Now to find some deer who will cooperate!

I like the looks of those! And a 130gr SWC in a .32 is nothing to sneeze at.

For those of you who talk about 100 gn wadcutters; are the H&R mags or S&W Longs?

Nomadmax said:

For those of you who talk about 100 gn wadcutters; are the H&R mags or S&W Longs?

Click to expand...

They are talking about the H&R Mags.

In 2023 I was approached by Lipsey's and asked if I would be interested in making ammo for a new J Frame that they were going to be introducing. We discussed quite a few things about the gun. The project is really all the doing of Jason at Lipsey's, as he was the driving force. People like to take credit when things go great but when things go wrong you won't hear a peep. They vanish. When it gets down to it, some people may have thoughts and input, but the success of the gun really is due to Jason, and he knocked it out of the park.

Anyways, back to the ammo. Long story short, I was asked by Lipseys for a specific load and to have it shoot to the sights. So I that is what I gave them. It has been a big success and the load has been copied by other outfits, so I suppose that means I must be doing it right!

It is very low recoil, and according to the gun writers who shot blocks of gel, it penetrates 22" to 24" of gel, so it is hard to ask for more from a very low recoil load. Plus the poly coat keeps the gun very clean. I have now fired over 1,000 rounds through my 432 without scrubbing the bore. That is something I would not do with hardcast lead.




To note: The label says 850 FPS. That was measured when using a 4" GP100 in .327. Out of a 2" J Frame, the velocity is right around 796-800 FPS.

@T.McIntyre, thank you for an informative thread and for your contributions to the project. I'm waiting to receive a 632, should arrive this week. The 32H&R highlighted above will be great carry ammo for my new revolver.

Mark,


Thanks for the kudos.

Being a longtime Smith fan, getting involved with the project was not even a question. I don't think Jason even had a chance to finish asking and I was already on board, lol. I have been into Smiths for ages, from years of hunting big desert Jacks with my various Smith N Frame .44 revolvers:








Or using the Classics like a 645:



Or even a larger critter or two such as this bull with my 5" M29:



And making custom loads like .44 Russian wadcutters:

This pic shows the Russian 185 grain Wadcutters. The pic was really showing of the Tyler Custom Guns grips that come on the new S&W Mountain guns. They are exceptional!



Anyways, the point is I may be just a bit biased about a certain brand..

I carried this 442 since it was presented to me as a gift when I graduated from a state academy. Family and friends, including long time buddies from the Milt Sparks Holsters shop all pitched in and got me the J Frame, which I then carried as a BUG for many years.



Many miles on it now, but it still is a very solid shooter, and it has a pretty high round count (for a J Frame). More than 6K, probably closer to 7K now. I used to shoot out to 50 yards on a semi regular basis.

Now that I picked up the new .32 H&R 432, the .38 Special is semi retired, though I do still slide it into my pocket on a somewhat regular basis. It is just a habit to always have a J Frame in a front packet, as one might guess from the little bit of wear and tear on the old 442.

I think the new UC 432 will continue the habit of the "Always gun".

Added to the CA roster.

Beju said:

I was leaning towards buying an M&P 340 while the rebates were going, but then I stumbled in to a 642UC at MSRP. Even without the rebate, I'd buy an M&P 340 before I paid a markup on a UC. I've seen M&P 340s under $800, pretty close to the MSRPs of the UC.

Click to expand...

Go with the M&P 340. The sites on the UC are off. The rear sire is hard to drift. My M&P 340 the the big dot front site it is point of aim point of impact at 15 yards with most ammo. A M43c is the same set up but in 22LR. So you can practice you site alignment with less recoil.

i am really liking my new 432UC. Working on a load for some 85g hornady XTPs.
I also purchased a 250 ct for $31.99 box of Berry's bulets for 30 Super (.312 dia) 100g. these will, I think, make good practice loads.

This Gentleman HRFunk did a review of the Lost River offerings (100 grain wadcutter and 130 grain SWC vs the Federal 85 grain JHP.





For those who don't want to watch the whole video, Mr Funk shot water jugs and used a conversion formula that is supposed to approximate gel. The below numbers were his approximated idea of how far they would go in gel:

The results were: The Lost River Poly Coated SWC: 28.39"
The Lost River Poly Coated Wadcutter 19.35"
The Federal Jacketed Hollow Point 15.97"


One thing to note is that the Lost River 100 grain wadcutters have been fired into gel by independent gun writers to include those at the Lipsey's launch of the revolver and 22" to 24" was the average.

I have been asked by numerous people "which should I use", reference the Lost River loads. If you are especially recoil sensitive, then the 100 grain wadcutters make sense. If you potentially may have an issue with aggressive dog (pit bulls) or feel like you need some additional stopping power, then the 130 grain is a good choice.

Cheers!

My old boss used to say all the time “ a new broom sweeps fine but, the old broom knows all the corners”
I love the looks of your old 442, but your new gun will shoot great. Best wishes!