32 Long advise.

[tlay]

I just started loading for 32 long. My first load will be for a 76 gr. fp bullet made by Carolina Cast Bullets. I use Lee Alox for a bullet lube. I loaded some with 2.6 grs. of bullseye with an overall length of 1.130".
I have not shot any yet and will chrono when I do. What do you think?

 

[Alk8944]

Light bullets do not seem to work well in .32 S&WL for some reason. Buy a SWC or WC style in the 100 gr. range and you will do better. 2.6/Bull is a good start with the heavier bullet, 3.5/Unique even better. The 76 gr RN are intended for .32 ACP.

If you are buying commercial bullets what are you doing with the LLA, the bullets should be coming lubricated from the manufacturer. Unless you have already found you get excessive leading with the factory lube this is an unnecessary step.

FWIW, words are a pet peeve of mine, and almost everyone on this forum does not seem to know the difference between advise and advice. You seem to be asking for advice. Here is a dictionary link to look up the difference. Comes from having an English teacher for a mother!

 

[tlay]

???????????

 

[BruceHMX]

Light bullets do not seem to work well in .32 S&WL for some reason. Buy a SWC or WC style in the 100 gr. range and you will do better. 2.6/Bull is a good start with the heavier bullet, 3.5/Unique even better. The 76 gr RN are intended for .32 ACP.

If you are buying commercial bullets what are you doing with the LLA, the bullets should be coming lubricated from the manufacturer. Unless you have already found you get excessive leading with the factory lube this is an unnecessary step.

FWIW, words are a pet peeve of mine, and almost everyone on this forum does not seem to know the difference between advise and advice. You seem to be asking for advice. Here is a dictionary link to look up the difference. Comes from having an English teacher for a mother!

Dang dude why don't you relax and have another drink. tlay PM me. I have reloaded the 32 S&W Long a lot like many others on the forum.

What the hell is wrong with you guys responding to someone like that?

 

[M29since14]

Light bullets do not seem to work well in .32 S&WL for some reason. Buy a SWC or WC style in the 100 gr. range and you will do better. 2.6/Bull is a good start with the heavier bullet, 3.5/Unique even better. The 76 gr RN are intended for .32 ACP.

I've had that experience too. My favorite .32 SWL bullet is a Keith-style slug (from an RCBS mold) that weighs 103-grs as cast from wheel weights. I normally load it with 231 but I don't mention the charge because I really don't remember where I got it and it is not found in any of the current manuals I own.

One thing to look into when loading the cartridge is bullet diameter. I have always preferred .314" diameter, which is the same as normal commercial swaged wadcutters by both Hornady and Speer. Early on, a friend who has a lot of .32 experience recommended trying .312, .313, and .314 diameters to be sure I was not handicapping myself with bullets that were too small. It didn't take long to verify that .314" is what I wanted. I shoot several S&W revolvers in .32 SWL and .32 Magnum and use .314" cast bullets in all of them.

 

[AUSSIEBOB]

Itlay
The 78gr was the most accurate load according to Elmer Keith
in 32H&R.when it comes to 32S&W I can say that I was using
1.7grs of VV N310 a very good load

 

[Old 44 Guy]

I'm loading 2.2 Grs. Bullseye with 98 Gr. lead semi wadcutter. Very accurate.

 

[noylj]

Pet peeves of grammar are very irritating. It would be nice if more people took pride in the language. Mine is the use of "casings" instead of "cases." Casings are used to make sausage and go around windows. They have nothing to do with ammunition. Then there are "pills," "heads," and "bullet heads" instead of bullets. Only in Hollywood is the ammunition referred to as a bullet--a reloader should KNOW better.
I find 90gn bullets to be about as light as I can go for accuracy. For fun plinking, a lighter bullet can be fun.
It must have been hard on Elmer to shoot, much less load for, the .32 S&W Long.
+1 for a SWC.
I find that most commercial lubes are terrible and I find that many times I have to apply a very light tumble lube of LLA to prevent leading. Most commercial bullets seem to lubed with molten blue Crayon®.
I will say one thing about the 90-100gn wadcutters--I have yet to find a load that equals the accuracy of any factory ammo I have purchased. Also, accuracy is only good out to 25 yards--it definitely is NOT a 50yd bullet like the 148gn wadcutter in .38 Spl.

 

[Green Frog]

As with some of the other posters, very light bullets (under about 90 grains) are outside of my experience. I like a bullet of around 95-100 grains, usually a semi-wadcutter, in front of a very moderate load of Bullseye™ powder - I call them my "cat sneeze" loads. I also load some of my 32 S&W Longs with the old Ideal/Lyman 3118 design bullet at about 110-115 grains if I want to go heavier, but usually reserve any real hot rodding for the 32 H&R semi-Magnum or 327 Federal Magnum cases that seem to accommodate them better.

Froggie

 

[M29since14]

Pet peeves of grammar are very irritating. It would be nice if more people took pride in the language...

...Most commercial bullets seem to lubed with molten blue Crayon®.

I will say one thing about the 90-100gn wadcutters--I have yet to find a load that equals the accuracy of any factory ammo I have purchased. Also, accuracy is only good out to 25 yards--it definitely is NOT a 50yd bullet like the 148gn wadcutter in .38 Spl.

Interesting comments. One thing to always remember is that many of us do attempt to take some pride in our language but are not quite competent to carry it off.

I agree with your comments about commercial lubes 100%. The old NRA formula may be messy but I have yet to see a commercial lube with a higher success rate.

I load .32 wadcutters with a pinch of 700X and Remington 1-1/2 primers. At 50- and 75-feet accuracy leaves nothing to be desired, in my view anyway. You might try it, if you haven't. (I am shooting this in a M16-4, which, with its longer chambers, might have an adverse effect on accuracy, but it doesn't seem to be the case.)

I have never had the chance to use the load outdoors at 50-yards but that is the next step and I have a fresh supply of 50-yd targets on hand waiting for the opportunity. I do find I shoot the heavy-barrel configuration M16-4 better than I do my K38s. Naturally, that makes one wish he had jumped onto the bandwagon when the K38 was being produced in that style.

 

[bgrafsr]

LBT blue lube is very good, but it usually needs a lubrisizer heater to flow well enough to lube the bullet.

Lead Bullets Technology

 

[tlay]

Man am I embarrassed. All this time I thought this was the reloading section of the forum. I now know it is the grammar and spelling section. Silly me!
Alk9844 since you have decided to reprimand me in public about my grammar I will respond in public. Some people are offended when others correct them in public. I am not offended but I don't understand why someone who is so much SMARTER than everyone else needs to let everyone know it by belittling someone on a public forum. I would suggest in the future that if you need to correct someone please p.m. them.
Thank you to others who responded. I also plan on loading a 115gr. fn bullet that is .313. Any suggestions on powder and weight? I have many reloading manuals but only the Lyman has much info. on cast bullets. Thanks.

 

[Wee Hooker]

myspellers of tha wurld unighte!

 

[tlay]

Whut hee sade!

 

[H Richard]

To get back to the subject, I find the 85 gr. Hornady Jacketed HP to be a fine performer. Also the Missouri Bullet Co cast 100 gr. SWC. How heavy you load the 32 Long depends on what revolver you are going to shoot it from. Some of the "I" Frame 32's have been around for nearly 100 years, and shouldn't b e shot with too hot a load. For modern guns in the K Frame size you can go as hot as you like. I routinely load up in the 900-1000 fps range. I do not shoot these in any revolvers made prior to the 50's.

 

[glowe]

A few years ago, I bought a mould for my 32-20 and find it also works just fine for 32 Long and 32 S&W. The mould is supposed to drop a 93 grain bullet, but they actually weigh in at 96 grains. Sure makes things easier and I don't have to store several different bullets.

In another attempt to simplify, I have developed loads for several vintage calibers using Trail Boss. I am very happy with this powder in all my old cartridges. Perhaps the biggest benefit is that you cannot double charge, since the loading error of a second powder drop almost always overflows the brass. Trail Boss appears to be quite versatile and I just returned from the range where I shot 30-06 lead bullet target loads with Trail Boss powder. 19 grains of TB ran 1500 fps and I could shoot my '03 all day with these loads.

I am not looking to develop a round that put 6 bullets in a single hole at 25 yards, but just make a respectable showing and, most of all, to have fun.

Caliber Bullet Powder Grains Velocity
32 Long 98 LRN Trail Boss 2 730
32 Long 98 LRN Trail Boss 1.5 599

I have checked my spelling several times and tried to make sure I have no dangling participles, but is it mould or mold?

 

[Pondoro]

I interpreted the word "advise" as the OP using a verb in the imperative form with himself as the implied subject of the verb: "32 long - Advise (me, about how to load it)"

I like the Hornaday SWC's (90grains), and my daughter likes the fact that they look like crayons.

I agree, stay light with old guns and leave the hot rodding to the modern magnum versions.

 

[tlay]

This 32 long is a 32 reg. police pre war. I also load for a 1905 2nd change that shipped on 4/07 which is a 32/20. I might load the heavier bullet for the 32/20 but I don't want to load it hot because of its age. Is the 115gr bullet good for it?

 

[glowe]

I assume you are referring to a lead bulltet? Trail Boss also works great in 32-20, especially if you want to keep things light. Here is what I have used with success.

L-RNFP 115 Trail Boss 2.2 642
L-RN 93 Trail Boss 2.6 550

Both are light loads for an early 32-20. I run about 800-900fps on my later models.

 

[Green Frog]

Man am I embarrassed...
Thank you to others who responded. I also plan on loading a 115gr. fn bullet that is .313. Any suggestions on powder and weight? I have many reloading manuals but only the Lyman has much info. on cast bullets. Thanks.

Ignore the other part... somebody just had too much or too little coffee probably. I just usually try to do the best I can and if it ain't good enough for some, so be it.

To the point, after telling about the heavier bullets in 32 S&W Long, I find myself embarrassed to discover that I haven't loaded loaded any of the heavy 3118s in 32 S&W L in this century! I did load a few of the 125 gr version of that bullet design from an NOE group buy I got a few years ago, but not enough to even be noteworthy. Going from my froggie memory (which is obviously spotty ) I think my loads were light in the old days because they were for a 1920s vintage RP, and I would guess I used either Bullseye or Unique as they were my pistol powders of choice back then. I hope somebody else will come up with some data for you, and in the meanwhile, I'll look back through my stuff to see if I can find anything helpful.

Regards,
Froggie(which technically should be spelled "Froggy" but it's my name and I'll spell it like I want! )

PS I went back to Ken Waters' Pet Loads book and found that he had a fair number of loads listed for the 3118 bullet which dropped at 112 grains for him. He showed a 3.0 grain starting load of Unique for a MV of 837 fps and 3.5 grains moving the same bullet along at 960 fps. There were too many powders and charges to list here, but if you want to look it up, it's on page 517, or drop me a PM for info on specific powders.