32 S&W long; bullet diameter

[Ed333]

I am about to start re-loading .32 S&W Long for my m.30-1 snubby, and I have decapped and resized a bunch of brass. The cast bullets I ordered arrived, 95 gr. SWC, and they are sized to .313". The manual talks about .312" for cast bullets, and when I manually try to start one in one of the casings, it doesn't quite want to go, I am going to have to be very careful that I have the bullet sitting squarely when I use the press. Is it OK to use these bullets (I have 500 of them), taking my time and using care, or should they really be .312"? Will .001" make that much of a difference?
The press is a single stage rock-chucker pro, and the dies are Lyman. I am new to re-loading.
thanks in advance, Ed

 

[Bruce51]

Bullets

Those bullets will work just fine. I use the Hornady LSWC which are a swaged bullet at .314 diameter. These are soft and very accurate.
Take one of your bullets and push it through the cyclinder throat from the back. It should pass through with some resistance
I have tried the .312 jacketed bullets available as well. It is difficult to seat these tightly into the cases as the walls tend to be very thin.
Just bell the cases enough to start the bullet seat and crimp. Try one loaded round in each chamber of your gun just to be sure.

If you need more load information just ask.

Bruce

 

[BruceHMX]

Another Bruce who agree's with the first one. I just started reloading 32 S&W Long. I use a .312 100gr lead flat nose. Meant for a 32-20 cowboy load. You have to tweak them just a tad more on the bell stage. For this load I use 3gr of Unique. Good luck & have fun.

 

[dave b]

Just make sure your expander die will slightly bell the case mouth to keep from scraping lead from the bullet. Most will. If not, you will have to get a Lee universal expander or a Lyman "M" die. Use .313 or 314 bullets. I lean toward 314 if they will chamber in your gun.

 

[Bruce51]

Another Bruce who agree's with the first one. I just started reloading 32 S&W Long. I use a .312 100gr lead flat nose. Meant for a 32-20 cowboy load. You have to tweak them just a tad more on the bell stage. For this load I use 3gr of Unique. Good luck & have fun.

Bruce, I have found that I can use a .30 carbine sizing die if I need more case neck tension for .312 bullets. I even tried some .308 115gr cast bullets. They were ok if only shot with 2grs of BE but keyholed if pushed faster.
You know as a reloader, I had to try, since Speer lists loads for the 100gr plinker.

Bruce

 

[505Gibbs]

If you could get a sampling rather than 500 each you could try the three diameters mentioned. If it were precision shooting that would be highly desirable. Each gun can be a different animal with results as to what it likes best.

 

[BruceHMX]

Here's what the finished product looked like.

I really like this load. Also provided the link to the bullet maker. Neat thing is he's 30 min's from my house. I gave him a call and I'm taking my son down once school is out to see the operation.

Proofmark Bullets of Virginia Home Page

Thanks for the info on the .30 carbine die.

I also loaded some multi ball loads using 2 .315dia Hornady lead round balls with same powder charge. Neat load. I'll see if I have pics still to post.

Ed if you want to try some of these I could mail you some.

 

[Bruce51]

Great info Bruce. I like to use Unique as well but I always get unburned powder granules.
The cleanest powder I have tried is SR 7625. It shoots like Unique but meters like Bullseye.

It burns clean as well.

If you have access to Ken Waters Pets Loads he has some good data for the .32SWL.

Bruce

 

[ncy54]

I load .32 S&W Long for Bullseye pistol matches in a Pardini HP target pistol.
I use the following, which may make a great plinking/practice load in your revolver:
1.7 gr W231 over Hornady 90 gr. HBWC, Starline brass & CCI primers
1.5 gr W231 over Speer or Lapua 98 gr. HBWC, Starline brass & CCI primers.
All loaded on a Dillon RL550B using Dillon dies and their EXTRA-SMALL special order powder bar to accurately meter these small amounts.
Fed & Win primers also work, though they flatten a bit in this blowback design pistol. Another powder to consider is Bullseye (1.3 to 1.5gr.).
Again, these are low power loads suitable for plinking, etc. Very quiet and no recoil to speak of in a revolver. Bullet diameter, BTW, is .314"

 

[brian_a_mcmillen]

I actually just cast some 92 grain projectiles and sized them to .310 since I hade a lube sizer in that size for my 30-30 loads. I put these in front of 3.5 grains of bullseye. I think they are a bit small and even fit loose in the case. I was thinking about buying a larger lube sizer die from Midway. Would .312 be the optimal size or would something larger be better??

 

[walnutred]

3.5 gns of Bullseye is a stout load for 32 Long, too stout in my opinion. That sounds like 32 Mag load data to me. The maximum Bullseye load I run in 32 Long with a 90 gn cast bullet is 2.7 gns of BE and will only run them in my post war Smiths as I consider it to be on the "hot" side. For 100gn Lee TL SWC bullets I back down to 2.5gn of Bullseye. And again, I ONLY use these in post war S&W revolvers. I actually bulged a Taurus cylinder with these loads a few years ago.

 

[brian_a_mcmillen]

I actually meant 2.5 grains of BE...guess I should have proof read that before I posted it. I was more concerned with the bullet diameter than the power charge anyway. The more I research it, the more it looks like .312 seems to be optimal...unless someone else out there has a different opinion. I am shooting these in a pre-model 30 in nickel by the way....