.32 S&W loads

[Kermit1945]

Looking for advice on a light to moderate smokeless load for these tiny cases. Unique would be good, since I seem to have a goodly supply. And I have a big batch of 90gr RN that were given to me. I use them in .32-20 for a Colt New Police, but in this little guy? Thanks!

 

[ryanjames170]

your talking 32 S&W right the realy short thing not the 32 S&W long

 

[Kermit1945]

Yes. What seems to have become called .32 S&W Short. NOT long. I want to shoot my lemonsqueezer without taking out a line of credit on my house.

I've just been handed what we think was my grandmother's little peashooter, short barreled thing. Blue is gone on about the first 1 1/2" of the barrel, but otherwise in fine shootable condition. Think it's a 3rd model, but I'm learning here. Maybe I should get around to posting a photo. A cousin came up with brass and dies. Life is good.

 

[ryanjames170]

i would call up one of the powder company's or perhaps sierra or Hornady and ask them for a load for it.

 

[Roundsworth]

Weighing charges less than 2 grains may be tricky, depending on the sensitivity of your electronic scale. I know that some electronic scales require a certain amount of weight to initiate the weighing process. If you have a beam scale, you can make your own itty-bitty scoop and verify it. The smallest red and yellow Lee dippers are too large.

 

[H Richard]

A .22RF empty case soldered to a wire makes a good dipper, and when you ascertain how much the load should be you can file off the top of the case until all that will fit is the correct amount. My guess is somewhere between 1.0 and 1.5 Gr. It might be easier to use a ball powder with a dipper this small.

 

[quinn]

My old 45th edition Lyman Reloading manual shows loads for both the 32 S&W and 32 S&W LOng. For the short they show loads for the 84 gr cast bullet and the 77 gr cast. For the 84 they show a Unique load of 1.5 gr for 476 fps up to 2.5 gr for 745 fps.

The accureacy load is 1.0 gr of Bullseye for 442 fps.Max Bullseye is 1.4 gr. The load range for Red Dot is 1.3 to 1.7 gr.

The manual warns that the max loads my be harmful to your gun..

This is why I keep OLD reloading manuals around. PM me if you need more info. Please excuse my typing as I a currently suffering visual impairment.

BTW, the Unique loads for the 77 gr bullet are 1.6 to 2.6. So, if you are using a heavier bullet than the 77 gr, you might need to adjust the load accordingly.

 

[Roundsworth]

Retention of 'outdated' manuals is a good idea. The brand new Lyman cast handbook omits things from the prior versions.

 

[DWalt]

I have about ten different reloading manuals put out in the 1950s-60s and they are very helpful in determining loading information for the older rifle and handgun cartridges that are presently uncommon or obsolete for which data are not shown in new manuals, such as .41 Long Colt, .303 Savage, .351 Winchester, .32 Remington, etc. I use them frequently as I load for old and antique guns chambered in such now-strange calibers. Most of my manuals have come from garage and estate sales, so keep your eyes open.

The old Lyman manuals are best in that regard, but there are other good oldies that were published by the powder (duPont, Hercules, Hodgdon) and bullet companies. They also contain data about older propellants (which may not be identical to current powders of the same designation). I have a pretty good stockpile of several ancient Hercules and duPont powders not made for many years (such as Hercules HiVel #2 and duPont #6), and without the old manuals, I would have no good source of loading data to use them.

 

[stanws6]

This site worked for me.

Reloading .32 Smith & Wesson

 

[glowe]

As stated above, weighing powder below 2 grains is tedious work and a reloader needs to have experience with their electronic scales in order to assure consistent loads.

I want to try filling the case with Trail Boss, but have not done it yet. 32 S&W should be the perfect case to load by volume and it is said that Trail Boss can not be overloaded because it is a high bulk powder. Problem is that this is an uncommon cartridge today and there is nothing out there for Trail Boss.

 

[monet61]

This site worked for me.

Reloading .32 Smith & Wesson

I have found Mr. Smiths' data to be extremely halpful.

 

[tlowery04]

did anyone ever try to load the 32 s&w and get good results?

sorry to resurrect an old thread but I cannot find load data for this cartridge in trail boss or unique.

I have a box of 78 gr Pb RNFP to load and also cannot find any loads but 85 - 88 - 90 - and 100 gr lead heads

 

[stu1ritter]

Trailboss Load data;
1. Find where the base of the bullet to be loaded in located in the case and make a mark on the outside of the case at this location. Then fill the case to that mark with Trail Boss, pour into the scale pan and weight. This is your maximum load. Pressures will be below the maximum allowed for this cartridge and perfectly safe to use!

2. Take 70% of this powder charge weight ( multiply the maximum load from step 1 by .7 ), and this is your starting load.

3. Start with this beginning load and work up to your maximum charge, all the while searching for the most accurate reduced load. !"

that's from the Trailboss web page.

Stu

 

[glowe]

Stu has the info you need for TB. It is still a difficult cartridge to load with TB, given the fact that with cases filled to the top, the powder only weighs 2.0g. Given the seating depth of the bullet, you end up with about half that and many scales will not consistently weigh 1.0g loads.

I am sticking with the fast shotgun powders for this one, as I feel the volume available is just too small for TB.

 

[rboineau]

For Kermit the OP, 2 grains of Unique with your slightly-heavier bullet will work fine, 'tho if you want to be super-safe start a bit lower. Don't know if you are "throwing" your powder through a drop-measure or going to weigh each charge, but if you are planning on running that light a charge through a measure weigh the first few throws to see how consistent they are. Unique does not always measure consistently in light charges in all devices.

You say your gun is in good shootable condition but make sure the chambers have no more than light corrosion in them. I've seen some of Smith's 38 and 32 Top-Breaks with such heavy pitting in the chambers that I would be afraid to shoot them.

Good luck

 

[tjpopkin]

Look at this month's Handloader Magazine. For bullseye shooting, I shoot a .32 S&W long in a Pardini Semi-Auto. This gun requires the 100gr DEWC bullet to be seated FLUSH with the case mouth. It is imperative that you NOT use loads so light that you end up with "stuck" bullets in the barrel. I find that 1.8gr 231 or 1.6gr of VV310 work perfectly…. 650fps and incredible accuracy. Works great in the .32 Single shot of 1891, works just as well in the K-32. Anything less becomes "iffy" depending on powder position in the case, primer age, ambient temperature, etc., so BE CAREFUL! With these loads, no so much for your personal safety, but the older guns can be fragile and shooting a second round into a stuck bullet will most likely bulge the gun and ruin it.Just my 2¢

 

[glowe]

BE CAREFUL with the information in the post above by Terry. He is talking about 32 Long cartridge, while this thread is discussing 32 S&W. The Handloader magazine article only covers the Long cartridge reloading, but contains some interesting information. I also think that robineau is also giving reloading information for the 32 Long and not 32 S&W.

One further comment of note, the 1891 SS took a 32 S&W round unless the chambers were bored out post-factory for a longer round.

 

[deadin]

Another case of where just using the original BP load makes it easy to reload. Just fill the case to where the seated bullet lightly compresses the powder and you are good to go. With BP DO NOT leave any "air space" in the case after seating the bullet. If you want to use a lighter load, take up the space with wads or a filler of some sort. (I used to use corn meal.) I don't know if this is required with the BP substitutes or not. Anybody?? Never have used Trail Boss,so can't comment on it.

As to throwing light charges (<2.0 grs.), I used to load .32 Long Wad Cutter for use in a Pardini Bullseye gun. The accurate load I worked out was 1.5 grs (I can't remember the powder). I ended up just using a dribbler directly into the pan of a RCBS 505 beam scale. Yes, it was slow but I was after maximum consistency and used a dribbler to "top-up" the load even on larger cartridges, like .45ACP WC.

 

[mrcvs]

I have about ten different reloading manuals put out in the 1950s-60s and they are very helpful in determining loading information for the older rifle and handgun cartridges that are presently uncommon or obsolete for which data are not shown in new manuals...I use them frequently as I load for old and antique guns chambered in such now-strange calibers.

Are you willing to provide a bibliography of the manuals you have stockpiled; also maybe some comments as to those which are most (or least) useful?

 

[DWalt]

Some of those I have include the Speer #1 (1954), Speer #6 (1963), Hodgdon #20 (undated, but likely mid-1960s), Lyman 41st edition (1957), Lyman 44th edition (1966), and a Lee #1 (undated, but likely early 1960s). I have some half-dozen early reloading data sheets from Winchester, duPont and Hercules from the early to mid-1960s. For sheer variety, the Lymans are the best. While not all that old, my copy of Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook, 3rd edition (1980) gets a lot of use. It alone has at least 18 different recipes (minimum and maximum) for .32 S&W loads. I also have the First Edition of the Handloader's Digest from 1962 which also contains a great deal of reloading data for obsolete ammunition and propellants. Two other sources for reloading data for obsolete cartridges include "Cartridges of the World" (various editions), and Donnelly's "Handloader's Manual of Cartridge Conversions." Neither of those were written as reloading manuals, but both contain many reloading recipes for literally hundreds of obsolete/obsolescent/foreign/metric cartridges. For example, Donnelly recommends a load for the .32 S&W of 1.2 grains of Bullseye and an 85 grain lead bullet, at a MV of 725 ft/sec.

 

[tjpopkin]

Gary,
I agree….my loads are for the .32 S&W LONG…..and NOT the .32 S&W.
The loads were worked up using the Pardini in competition. I used the same load, of 1.6gr in the .32 S&W (short) brass when I shot my 1891 Single Shot. The load choreographed at 635fps and I made the assumption it would be fine in the shorter case in a closed chamber like the Single shot. Accuracy was fine, and it is a very rare gun, so only a few rounds were fired. The round is so slow that it cannot be used at 50yds…fortunately, our NRA sanctioned bullseye matches are at 50ft and 25yds.
You are correct in your warning…..I am sorry for not making it clear.

 

[glowe]

Terry - that is about where I am when reloading 32 S&W. I have chronographed various factoty 32 S&W loads over the years and find them to average around 600 fps. A rather wide range from 525 to 700 fps was found between various manufacturers.

I picked up a barrel from Propperts a couple of years ago in 32 S&W and shoot it quite a bit. I still like the accuracy of 22 over either 32 or 38, but it is fun watching other shooters reactions when I dig out the 10" SS at the range.

 

[McShooty]

I wanted to try Trail Boss powder in loads for the antique .32 top-break revolvers. Realizing this bulky powder was developed to provide good loading density in large cases, I was still curious as to how it would perform in the tiny .32 case. Loads of 1.5 and 1.4 grains proved to be practical. I used four projectiles, Hornady .310” round ball; Hunter’s Supply 76 grain hard-cast flat nose; Berry 83-grain, copper-plated hollow-base wadcutter; and Magtech 85-grain soft lead round nose.

In spite of its large flakes, Trail Boss is promoted as a powder that meters well and user ratings seem to agree. I adjusted a Lee Perfect measure so that it would repeatedly throw ten consecutive charges with a total weight of 15.0 grains. The measure so adjusted gave individual charges of 1.5 grains with an occasional deviation to 1.4, but never to more than 1.5. Satisfied with accurate measure adjustment, I proceeded to load with no additional weighing except for a check-weigh every 25 loads. I used a Lee .32 S&W die set in which the seater die is the .32 ACP, which works OK. The 76-gr bullets from Hunter’s Supply measured .313” so I sized them to .311” to be closer to the slug measurement of .308” of my old pistols. A crimp was applied to all loads. Results with 10-shot strings for the 1.5-grain charge are:

S&W Model 1-1/2 Single-action Top-break (3.5” bbl).
Hunter’ Supply 76-grain: Ave 660 fps, Extreme Spread 56 fps, Std Deviation 17 fps
Hornady round ball: Average 645 fps, ES 144 fps, SD 46 fps.

S&W Double-action Top break, 4th Model (3.5” bbl).
Hunter’s Supply 76-grain: Ave 676 fps, ES 89 fps, SD 25 fps
Berry’s 83-grain HBWC: Ave 511 fps, ES 103 fps, SD 31 fps
Mag Tech 85-gr RN: Ave 691 fps, ES 64, SD 23 fps

I feel the very poor uniformity of the round ball load in the Mod 1-1/2 was due to the difficulty in getting uniform seating and crimping, not to powder performance. This needs more work. The Berry HBWC showed evidence of inadequate stabilization and might work better at 600+ yet to be tried. The MagTech load is equivalent to a factory S&W load and I suppose pressure is about the same, probably not dangerous but a little too high for my taste for old guns. Confined to one bullet I would use the HS 76-grainer. Its lighter weight helps keep pressure down for the oldies, and it gives good velocity and accuracy. I wondered what a tenth-grain difference would do in the teeny case, so I readjusted the measure to throw ten charges with a total weight of 14.0 grains. The average velocity of 10 shots (using the DA) for the HS 76-gr fell to 630 fps, and the MagTech 85gr dropped a whole 108 fps down to 583, a better and safer load for this bullet in antique iron.
Ten-shot groups (rest, tiny sights, poor eyes) generally went into less than 2 inches at 25 feet and some were considerably better. The cluster of eight in the last pic measures a smidge over 1 inch. Sweet little cartridge. Sweet little guns.

 

[glowe]

Good information McShooty. I have experimented with round ball many years ago and now I wonder why I bothered. It is an inexact science to place a round ball into a case obviously made for a RN bullet and get much accuracy out of it. First, the contact area of a round ball in the rifling is small compared to a long bullet. I found that I had to go way over bore size to get much consistency on target.

I load 32 S&W with 85 or 90 grain RN and cannot get that much Trail Boss in the case without compressing the powder - a big NO-NO with smokeless powder, so have not used much TB in this cartridge. I am, however, a big supporter of TB in most all traditional BP cartridges and am very happy with the results. For the novice reloader, it is a highly recommended powder, because overloading mistakes cannot be made with this high volume powder.

I also took note of a comment in the latest Handloader magazine article by Gil Sengel on the Classic Loads for the .32 S&W Long. He made the statement that "we know speeds much under 700 fps are not a particularly good idea.", but I wish he would have expanded on why? Assuming that it refers to accuracy or maybe the chance of a stuck bullet and wonder if that comment applies to 32 S&W as well.

BTW, I would recommend that article to all who reload 32 S&W Long ammo.

 

[TSQUARED]

When I shot 32 S&W Long international matches I used 1.5 gr. WST behind either the Hornady 90 gr. or Speer 98 gr LWC. I used a Dillon 550 with the extra small powder bar and never had any issues with uniformity of powder drops. W-231 at slight;y higher powder weights also provided excellent loads.