32 S&W(short) load data and bullet molds

[bruce drake]

When you need very light .312” bullets for the Mrs’s "new" .32 S&W purse pistol and the store wants as much for the box of 50 plated lead bullets as a box of 25 cartridges and NOE wants also as much for a mold as what the pistol was purchased for...you build your own.bullet..

Thanks to a small core mold I had on the shelf for a 7.62 Tokarov project a couple of years back and some finagling with a .308 Corbin half-jacket and a little bit of swaying at the bench in a 95degree garage and some swaging in the press itself and boom...50 brand new Round Nose Flat Point Jacketed bullets with a concave bottom to help bump the base up from its current .311” to fully engage the barrel’s rifling. They weigh out at 66gr so they are 11grains lighter than the old black powder bullet but I also don’t want to try to create a hand cannon or a hand grenade out of the 110year old pistol. Starting loads of 1.4gr of Red Dot or 1.1gr of Bullseye from Lyman’s CB book should be more than enough for the small cartridge. Hand measuring the powder on the scale will be all trickled-work of course. This is load data for a Lyman 77gr RN bullet and the swaged bullet being lighter should give a little more velocity without a bad pressure spike. These loads are only going to be developed for basically 7yd distance accuracy. Basically if the bad guy is not within 21ft of me, I won't be planning to shoot it. But I will tell you that after I put 5 shots into a bad guy, the little pistol could be easily used to bludgeon a bad guy with the steel butt of the pistol if he decides to laugh off the little bullets (I've advised my wife if she uses it to aim for right about the belt buckle as that's all soft tissue there and the bullet should penetrate well there despite it's low velocity which is not a guarantee it would make it past a rib bone like a chest shot and face shots are too difficult for a casual shooter to master in a stressful shoot situation.

The reloading dies and the Starline 32S&W brass are due in from Midway this week and once they come in, I’ll start assembling the cartridges for the next range trip.

[35remington]

Since jacketed bullets get considerably less velocity than lead bullets with the same charges, I would suggest chronographing those before giving them to the Mrs. for self defense.

A solid nondeformimg bullet will easily penetrate sufficiently if of reasonable weight for a 32 and possessing a velocity approximating 660fps, which is what the 88 grain RN factory loads get in four inch barrels. Even if a rib is in the way.

A lot slower, not so much. Beware starting loads behind jacketed bullets if velocity has not been verified. If you don’t know, don’t use them.

[JoeJames]

I have really enjoyed this thread, but it is a mixed blessing. I have been loading the 32 S&W Long off and on far a pretty good spell, and shooting it in my S&W 631 4". Then about three months ago I came up with a Smith & Wesson Hand ejector model of 1903 fifth version, and it has been fun tinkering with hand loads to where it will shoot to point of aim.

But now, y'all have got me interesting in looking around for an old top break Iver Johnson or a Smith. Oh my.

[bruce drake]

32 S&W compared to a 50-70 Govt, My smallest reloadable cartridge and my largest...


I'm sure it's moving decently enough to poke a hole in someone close with 1.1gr of Bullseye as the nose expanded to full wadcutter status when it hit sand this afternoon. This is a starting load in the Lyman CB manual for the 77gr Lead Roundnose. The load sounds like a starter's pistol.

I have told the Mrs to shoot a bad guy with all 5 bullets and then turn the pistol around and clunk them over the head with the pistol butt repeatedly. I would then allow the coroner to decide which was the killing shot/blow....

[35remington]

If your wife is depending upon them, do her the honor of checking how fast they go. What a bullet does in unyielding sand is a poor substitute for actually knowing its velocity.

An adequately penetrating bullet is of considerable value. When all is said and done, though, she is your wife, not mine. I’d rather she avoid the fisticuffs and go with a sure to penetrate projectile, but that is how I roll as far as preferences.

Even if she is recoil sensitive a 32 like a suitable solid frame Colt or Smith with more velocity would be manageable. There is no good reason to pursue low velocity with bullets this light.

This is just advice. In the final accounting it is not my business or concern.

[bruce drake]

unrequested advice is worth the same as unneeded advice or well-needed advice.

Its the same as opinions.

People have died by being shot with a 32 in the past and this load is a viable load if you know where to shoot them. And you don't know my wife's ability to toss a punch. Adding a steel pistol butt to the mix would be deadly as well. A pocket 32 pistol is more of a visual deterrent when a perp doesn't have a firearm themselves. In that case, a 32 is better than just 2 hands...

[Green Frog]

unrequested advice is worth the same as unneeded advice or well-needed advice.

Its the same as opinions.

People have died by being shot with a 32 in the past and this load is a viable load if you know where to shoot them. And you don't know my wife's ability to toss a punch. Adding a steel pistol butt to the mix would be deadly as well. A pocket 32 pistol is more of a visual deterrent when a perp doesn't have a firearm themselves. In that case, a 32 is better than just 2 hands...

Agreed. A 32 S&W revolver in the hand of a potential assault victim is far superior to a 44 Mag at home in the safe. It’s the attitude... refusal to be a victim that will see her through, and having even a “little” firearm will just helps tilt the odds a little more in her favor.

Froggie

[Green Frog]

This discussion of loads comes at a propitious time for me. I've just assembled a S&W produced (late 1800s) hand loading set and need to load some ammo with it just so I can say I can and did! So far I've loaded the dozen short cases I could find here with BP like would have been used in 1890. Next week I'm heading to the Northwest Territories (Ohio for you non-historians) to visit Dale53, and among our various endeavors will be a trial run of 32 S&Ws using the round nosed bullet from the mould included in the S&W tool set along with Bullseye powder. They should be a hoot to shoot.

Froggie

[Clark]

My grandfather had an Iver Johnson break top 38 S&W hammerless in the Alaskan Gold rush 110 years ago.
18 years ago my brother and I would carpool to the gun show and buy piles of guns.
32 S&W revolvers were worth $50 working and $35 with the trigger spring broken.
I could get leaf springs from Wolff springs that were easy to replace, or one could wind up a piece of guitar spring in there, but that was not easy.

We had a lot of 32 S&W revolvers and I tried to blow a few of them up.
The case is probably the highest pressure capable case in the world.
The break top revolvers have probably the weakest latch in the world.
The latch mechanism goes through a thin piece of steel with a 5-56 screw IIRC going through the hole.
If the tiny hole in the sheet metal stretches from round to oblong, the latch becomes loose and the action is sloppy.



I came to the conclusion that the best load with any bullet was 1 gr of Bullseye, and the latch would not stretch.

[bruce drake]

I have found I like the 1.1gr of Bulleye with the 65gr jacketed bullet and a 1.2gr Red Dot load with a poly-coated 86gr RN (I mixed up a nice shade of purple for the PC run for the Mrs.)

[Green Frog]

I have found I like the 1.1gr of Bulleye with the 65gr jacketed bullet and a 1.2gr Red Dot load with a poly-coated 86gr RN (I mixed up a nice shade of purple for the PC run for the Mrs.)

What, no pink bullets? If she shoots the bad guy with a pink bullet and the wound doesn’t kill him, the mortification will!

[bruce drake]

What, no pink bullets? If she shoots the bad guy with a pink bullet and the wound doesn’t kill him, the mortification will!

She liked the purple. she hates the color pink.

[one-eyed fat man]

... you don't know my wife's ability to toss a punch. Adding a steel pistol butt to the mix would be deadly as well...

In that case, old Iver johnson made exactly what you need, knuckle duster attachment for their revolver. Here is a 2nd model Safety Hammerless .32, just so equipped. As a added bonus, when at the range and the Glock guy says, "Hey, that thing has a Glock trigger!" You can point out the revolver was made in 1896 while his Glock was still two liter bottles in 1996.

Almost forgot, I use the Lyman #313249, as cast with 11 grains of Goex 3F in my older Owl head revolvers.

[Battis]

I have a Colt .32 Police Positive (.32 S&W). I googled around and read somewhere - maybe here- that cops carried them not as a "man stopper", but as more of a "man marker". They'd shoot the fleeing bad guy, and that bad guy would keep fleeing and eventually end up in the hospital.

[9.3X62AL]

The 32 S&W is one of the few 30/31/32 caliber handgun chamberings that I don't load. Love them thar mid-calibers, I surely do.

It might have been me that brought up the subject of "Man marker" vs. "Man stopper" in the context of the lighter & slower handgun calibers. In days past, it was socially acceptable to fire upon fleeing suspected felons irrespective of their armed/unarmed status. Another element of those earlier times was the relative absence of effective antibiotics to treat the microbes and mangy critters that got dragged into a gunshot wound as the bullet traversed its recipient. And the illnesses prompted by those infections were no joke whatsoever, and were often fatal. So avoidance of the gunshot wound was wise reasoning on a couple fronts.

[bruce drake]

In that case, old Iver johnson made exactly what you need, knuckle duster attachment for their revolver. Here is a 2nd model Safety Hammerless .32, just so equipped. As a added bonus, when at the range and the Glock guy says, "Hey, that thing has a Glock trigger!" You can point out the revolver was made in 1896 while his Glock was still two liter bottles in 1996.

Almost forgot, I use the Lyman #313249, as cast with 11 grains of Goex 3F in my older Owl head revolvers.

I think they only made like 1000 or so of those knuckleduster grip frames and I've read they command a premium also.

[RED BEAR]

i use the lee 93 grain cut down so it only has one lube groove worked out to 65 grain. was originally for 32acp but was a little short for that but works great for the 32 sw. i load 1.1 grains bullseye shoots great in all my sw ( h&r iver johnson and thames). I've been on a 32 kick lately. very cheap fun at the range.

[Thin Man]

A while back a long time friend asked me to load a box of 32 S&W loads for him as he did not have a proper die set for that caliber. The box of 50 rounds I crafted were divided equally between an 85 grain wadcutter (Lyman 313492) and an 85 grain RN boolit from an early Ideal tong tool. My friend was thrilled with the gift and we joked all afternoon about the WC loads. Only 2 months ago he passed away from heart disease. Now I am helping his widow arrange all his firearms and handloading materials and other related accessories for her to sell. If I find that box of 32 S&W ammo it may come home with me to reside on a shelf and not be fired. Tribute to a friend.

[Outpost75]

I have a Colt .32 Police Positive (.32 S&W). I googled around and read somewhere - maybe here- that cops carried them not as a "man stopper", but as more of a "man marker". They'd shoot the fleeing bad guy, and that bad guy would keep fleeing and eventually end up in the hospital.

Here is a Pocket Positive .32 NP from 1920, just what you are talking about.
J. Edgar Hoover had one with a 2-1/2" barrel.

Attachment 224789

[Four Fingers of Death]

I just bought an Astra 32S& W Revolver (Spanish made). I swapped it for a lever rifle I haven't used in many years (and have two of). It came with Lee dies, 1000 commercial wadcutters, 450 loaded rounds (my friend who is a reliable reloader) and 400 new brass cases. I will have to grind off that raised bit on the trigger guard, it whacks the tripe out of my knuckle (big hands, little gun). I'm looking forward to lots of economical target shooting.