What's Your 32 H&R Magnum Loads

[StakeOut]

I'm new to the 32 H&R Magnum and looking for mild and medium range loads plus carry loads for a 2" 631 using Starline 32H&R Magnum brass cases.
Thanks in advance

 

[mtgianni]

I have a Ruger SSM and a CA Professional in 32 H&R. I like a cast 90 gr swc and 2.5 gr Bullseye for a light load. Lyman 3118 or RCBS 98 swc with Unique, AA2, Red Dot, 700X or similar powders for 850-950 fps. The Ruger occasionally sees loads with the RCBS 98 that push 1100 fps with slower pistol powders. I have never shot a jacketed bullet in 32 H&R.

 

[StakeOut]

I have a Ruger SSM and a CA Professional in 32 H&R. I like a cast 90 gr swc and 2.5 gr Bullseye for a light load. Lyman 3118 or RCBS 98 swc with Unique, AA2, Red Dot, 700X or similar powders for 850-950 fps. The Ruger occasionally sees loads with the RCBS 98 that push 1100 fps with slower pistol powders. I have never shot a jacketed bullet in 32 H&R.

I no longer cast bullets and Bullseye is nowhere to be found.
I have PB38/W231 and Accurate #2

I've been looking at the Missouri Bullet Co. Hi Tek 98gr DEWC and there 100gr RNFP for light and medium range loads and Hornady 85gr JHP for carry but the powders available are not what I'd like to use.
Hazmat on only a 1lb powder purchase doesn't make much sense.

 

[Funflyer]

I'm new to the 32 mag also, recently bought a CA Undercoverett. Waiting on Starline for more brass but managed to pick up a few boxes of ammo to get me started. Only loaded light range loads in 32 S&W long so far and am going to get out next week to test some 32 magnums using 85 and 100gn XTPs with HS6, Autocomp, Bluedot and Power Pistol.

*Subscribed to thread*.

 

[StakeOut]

I'm new to the 32 mag also, recently bought a CA Undercoverett. Waiting on Starline for more brass but managed to pick up a few boxes of ammo to get me started. Only loaded light range loads in 32 S&W long so far and am going to get out next week to test some 32 magnums using 85 and 100gn XTPs with HS6, Autocomp, Bluedot and Power Pistol.

*Subscribed to thread*.

I bought my 32 H&R Starline cases from reloadingeverything.com at an excellent price for bags of 100.($19.86)
Right now the site says 2 left in stock.

 

[GBertolet]

Out of my 16-4, I am content to shoot 2.5 gr of Bullseye, with the Lee 100 gr cast bullet, sized to .311, which matches my cylinder throats. I use 32 long cases mostly, as I have many of them. Good plinking load, very accurate. You could safely use the 32 H&R cases for this load also.

The 32 H&R is an under rated cartridge. In high quality revolvers, it can be loaded to 9mm ballistics. https://www.handloadermagazine.com/32-h-r-magnum-pet-loads

 

[StakeOut]

The batch of new virgin Starline 32 H&R Magnum brass that I bought recently measure 1.071" in length.

 

[Erich]

I don't do "mild-to-medium" in the .32 H&R.

 

[StakeOut]

I don't do "mild-to-medium" in the .32 H&R.

OK,that's good to know

 

[Erich]

Do let me know if you ever want a hot load for a strong gun, though! The cartridge is a real winner, turns out.

 

[zeke]

From Ruger 6.5 in SS, Fed 100 primer, Meister 94 g lrnfp
3.5 gn hp-38 = 969 fps ex accuracy
3.8 gn 7625 = 1010 fps ex accuracy

From Ruger 6.5 in SS, Fed 100 primer, New starline brass
Sierra 90 gn jhp, 9.0 V V -N110 = 1189 fps, very accurate
Hdy 85 gn xtp, 9.0 V V -N110 = 1225 fps, ex accuracy

Yes you can use Lilgun for heavier loads with 100 gn bullets, but i did experience the start of throat erosion and top strap cutting in about 10 rds with the particular combination/pistol tried.

 

[rkrcpa]

I just started loading 32 H&R mag myself. My first foray is with 100gr. XTP and AA#9. The next step will be locating a suitable cast bullet.

 

[mtgianni]

I no longer cast bullets and Bullseye is nowhere to be found.
I have PB38/W231 and Accurate #2

I've been looking at the Missouri Bullet Co. Hi Tek 98gr DEWC and there 100gr RNFP for light and medium range loads and Hornady 85gr JHP for carry but the powders available are not what I'd like to use.
Hazmat on only a 1lb powder purchase doesn't make much sense.

I would use AA 2 with either of those bullets. My Western Powders handloading guide shows a start load of 3.3 gr with a 100 gr Speer jacketed and a max of 3.7 gr. 100 gr Lyman bullet 313631 has a start of 3.2 with a max of 3.6 gr. CUP on the Speer is 20,700 and the Lyman is 18,700. I have exceeded that some with good accuracy. Velocities max loads were Speer, 1146 fps and Lyman 1160 fps. Shown was a 10" test barrel with 1 in 20 twist.
Hodgdon was closing out these excellent manuals for $0.01 a few weeks ago. I don't know if there are any left.

 

[Ethang]

My Single Six likes a Missouri Cast 100 grain and 4 grains of Unique. Just over 1000 fps, not not ear splitting. Cheap to shoot and packs a solid punch, much better than a 22.

This reminds me I have not shot that in several years. Need to pull it back out. It used to be my dog walking pistol.

 

[Model 15-4ever]

I've done considerable loading for 2" and 3" .32 H&R Mag revolvers, and quite a bit of testing into ballistic gel, both handloads and factory ammo.

All of the factory ammo - when available - feature lightweight bullets at .380-level velocities. The industry thinking is that this is a calibre for recoil-adverse folks and that's the main point of the cartridge. None of these weak factory loads exceed 170 ft lbs out of a 2" barrel. Forced to use one of this lot, my testing suggests the Hornady 80 grain FTX to be marginally the better one.

32 H&R Magnum has a lot of potential for the handloader. However, finding a suitable bullet and full-strength data is the difficult part. Speer has nothing to offer, Sierra has given up on producing revolver bullets, and the Hornady supplies the it's .32 XTP bullets once every blue moon. The 85 grain XTP bullet will expand to .40 and penetrate 17" if driven to 980 fps+, which is easily obtainable in a 2" barrel. The 100 grain XTP bullet needs closer to 1100 fps to expand to .40, which is borderline in a 2" barrel, and kicks like hell. Finding either of these XTP bullets during the current situation is frustrating.

This leads a lot of folks to just use a cast bullet, most of which are better than a sharp stick, but not great. The various 95-100 grain commercial cast SWC bullets available are basically RNL with a small flattened meplat. They penetrate over 28", but offer little else. In a SWC bullet I would suggest the largest meplat you can find. The various cast 98-100 grain WC bullets have a larger meplat, and might be a slightly better choice. Both these bullets can obtain 850-1000 fps in a 2" barrel, depending on powder choice.

Heavy weight 115 grain bullets are available, and in RNL form often tumble in the target, increasing effectiveness. The SWC styles offer greater penetration. These can attain 800-850 fps in a 2" barrel.

If you cast your own bullets, there's a wider selection of molds with excellent shapes and meplats. In 50 years of reloading and shooting in various competitions, I've met exactly two people who cast their own bullets. I have enough trouble finding time to reload with components.

For the non-caster, I've found great success with GT Bullets RNHP style cast bullets in 100 and 115 grain. They can be special ordered in 40:1 alloy. These will expand to .50-.60 when pushed to 980 fps and 840 fps, respectively, and penetrate 9-12". In .32 H&R Magnum revolvers with 2-3" barrels, I think they are the very best choices for the handloader.

If you are looking for a light recoil load, the Hornady 85 grain XTP @ 980 fps would be best.

Loading data is another bugaboo. Most published manual data is compiled in a 5" or longer barrel, and is pretty wishy-washy. Your 2" barrel velocities will be 100-200 fps less than what is listed. The best source for full-monty .32 H&R Magnum data is the excellent article by Brian Pearce in Handloader Magazine Vol 53 October/November 2018. This is well worth obtaining for the handloader.

For milder practice loads, any faster-burning powder works fine - I use 700-X or Titegroup, usually with 95-100 grain cast bullets. You're not winning bullseye events with a 2" revolver.

For full-strength loads, medium and slow burning pistol propellants will give you the highest velocities, as usual. There is plenty of case capacity to utilize them in .32 H&R Magnum. Hodgdon Lil 'Gun powder is tops for the highest safe velocity - and recoil. I've experimented with HS-6, and while the velocity and accuracy is good, there is unburned powder even at the top of the pressure limits. Currently for 2" and 3" barrel guns, I am using Accurate No.5, which gives excellent accuracy and velocity, with lower recoil than Lil'Gun. In manuals the Accurate data in this cartridge is rather lame; I again suggest the Handloader article mentioned above to learn what this cartridge is capable of.

The .32 H&R Magnum is excellent for the diligent handloader. In my S&W 431 PD, it's a great small revolver for carry. Good luck and be safe.