Need a Cat Sneeze 32 Load

Green Frog

Green Frog

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I want a very mild lead (preferably wadcutter) load for my K-32. I have some swaged 90 grain Hornadys and a Mihec mould to cast some more, so that would be my first choice, while I also have a couple of other promising moulds as well.

My problem? I want to load those little bullets to mild (midrange) level and if I use my normal Bullseye powder, the required charge of 1.7 grains occupies such a small volume, metering is challenging to say the least. What I would like to find is a bulky powder to get the same performance but not have to worry so much about how many individual flakes are present.

If anyone has any personal experience with a light power load of bulky powder in the 32 S&W Long, I would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

Regards,
Froggie
 
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You migh try TrailBoss. It was developed for case filling but light loads with cast bullets favored by cowboy action shooters. The flakes are shaped like donuts and really fill a case. (It's hard to under or overload a case) I've had very good
( accuracy and recoil) results with it in 38 special.

New "Trail Boss" Smokeless Powder from IMR
 
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Trailboss was my thought too. Just looked it up on the Hodgdon site and for a 32 S&W load and 90 grain bullet, they show a range of 1.5-2.0 grains. That is for a LSWC bullet.
 
Check out the bulleye forum, a lot of posts there about 32 S&W reloads. I seem to remember seeing loads of about 1.5-1.7 grains of bulleye with a lead wadcutter. Take a look. I sure would like a model 16. Let us know how it works out.
 
muddocktor said:
Trailboss was my thought too. Just looked it up on the Hodgdon site and for a 32 S&W load and 90 grain bullet, they show a range of 1.5-2.0 grains. That is for a LSWC bullet.
Click to expand...

So that will fill mote than half of the case. According to the Hodgdon reloading manual even if you fill the case to the base of the bullet you will not exceed industry allowable pressure.
 
I got a bottle of AA#2 about a year ago that was nearly twice as bulky as what was listed on the volumetric density charts. One pound of powder filled the bottle almost all the way to the neck, while a pound of AA#5 I got with it took up about half the volume.

It turned out to be just the ticket to load plated 100-grain .380 ACPs with.
 
AA#2 is in the Bullseye class, but bulkier. AA#5 is about the greatest bulk density propellant there is, and it's the best for very hot .38 Super loads.

When you want to use such light loads, it's usually best to make up a small powder dipper from a .22 RF case, etc. instead of using a powder measure. They tend to be non-uniform.
 
You might look into Alliant Red Dot that is a bulky flake powder
that will fill small cases.

With a 90 weight lead bullet, 2.5 grs of powder should be around 790fps.
This is right in the middle of the bullseye powder loadings.

However if you have Trail Boss, I would use that powder first
for X-lite loads.
 
Trail Boss was designed specifically for what you are asking for, but I don't care for it. It smells bad, it's expensive compared to others and it hasn't impressed me.

But Titegroup most certainly has, when it comes to the task of completely ignoring case volume, air space and/or especially-- powder position. And something else that Titegroup can do very well that a powder such as Red Dot could never: meter a very small yet consistent charge through a powder measure.

I use Titegroup in .32 S&W Long for my semiautomatic Walther GSP. 1.6 or 1.7 grains of Titegroup with Speer or Hornady hollow base wadcutters.

If you are ham-fisted, careless or reckless, Titegroup is NOT for you because it's density and burn rate makes it perhaps THE best possible powder to detonate a firearm if you double, triple or quadruple charge a case.

However, if you are a detail oriented handloader and your methods support a system of checks and balances, Titegroup is amazing when it comes to making great use of "too much" space.

I run those 1.6-1.7 grain charges through my Lyman 55. If I tried that with Red Dot, I would bet my wallet the consistency won't be there.
 
I've been loading mine with 2 grains of HP-38/W231 under a wadcutter. Very mild shooting-- which reminds me, I really need to chronograph that.
 
I've been using WST for my .32 wadcutter loads lately. I modified the small charge bar of my Dillon 550 to handle the small charges. Haven't had any trouble yet, though I am not sure my old load using 700X was not just as good. I like the Hornady bullet better than the Speer but have not seen Hornadys for sale for quite a while.
 
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Here are minimum (starting) loads for the .32 S&W Long using a 93 grain RN bullet, from the Lyman cast bullet handbook. They list no wadcutter loads:

Bullseye 1.5 grains; Red Dot 1.7 grains; Green Dot 1.8 grains; Unique 2.4 grains; 700X 1.6 grains; 231 2.0 grains

MVs given are in the mid-500 ft/sec range.
 
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Be cautious with Trail Boss. I load wadcutters for my pre-model K32, and the only time I have stuck a bullet was with 1.7 gr Trail Boss. Sounded different, so checked the bore and no harm done, but I was through shooting for the day.
I like WST, Bullseye, W231.
 
I have used W231 with success. Most powders will require a very small charge but since W231 is a ball powder it meters well so it's not a problem to repeat accurate charge weights.

I haven't tried Trail Boss but I see no reason it won't work well. It's a very bulky powder which fills the case well.
 
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All this talk of metering problems reminded me... I've got a Belding & Mull micrometer powder measure that may work for the tiny charges I'll need. I've got to figure out where I hid my Little Dandy and it's rotors... the smallest rotors for that may get me down to a usable volume.

I have Bullseye, Unique, Green Dot, HP-38, 700X, and I believe Red Dot on hand, so it will take a while to work through all of those before I start buying new powder since I'm getting plenty of suggestions here for those I have. Unfortunately none of them is as bulky as I would like.

Thanks to all who responded!
Froggie
 
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