New to casting, think I want a .32 HP

[patrick_sween]

Extremely new to casting, but quite a lot of time reloading both jacketed and commercial cast bullets. Finally decided to try it myself and bought a dipper and a Lee 314-90 mould. I haven't even sourced any lead yet, but found one clip on wheel weight in my junk box and turned it into 6 bullets because I just couldn't wait. They mic'd at .3140 X .3152 as cast so I lubed with LLA and shot them yesterday into a very nice group. Here's my dilemma: I bought this .32 H&R Single Six for pest control around my farm because I wanted something cheaper and lighter to shoot than my .38 and .357 stuff, and with more oomph than my .22s. I have about convinced myself that I want a SWC HP for these purposes, but aside from custom I don't see much like that out there. I'm handy, and have a fair amount of machining experience so I'm not against converting my Lee mould, but is this what I really want/need?

Here's my goals: accurate at moderate velocity (850 fps or so), cheap to produce (I don't want to invest in a lubri-sizer now or bother with pan lube, so TL design), and expansion and good "thump" on coon/possum sized pests at those relatively low speeds. I'm leaning toward HP'ing my Lee mould and casting them soft, like 30-1 or similar, then just play with the load until I get the desired terminal effect. Any good advise or do's and don'ts for a really new guy? Thanks,

Patrick Sween

[EMC45]

I would say cast them pretty soft (clip on wheel weights should do), and shoot them non-hollowpointed. That bullet at decent speed will punch holes in critters and they will die. The .32 is a very accurate round and doesn't need to be blistering fast to be very effective and accurate. There are several .32 caliber threads on the board and they are great reading.

[OuchHot!]

EMC has good advise. I love experimenting with HP in various calibers and working up loads while testing expansion. One thing is the smaller the HP plug the more infernal the casting experience can be. If it is just a varmint buster, I can say the wadcutter works real well. It is surprising how fast a wadcutter at 800fps can put down feral cats and raccoons. You might buy a small quantity of the hornady WC to try....they are really accurate in my .32HnRs.

[Echo]

My suggestion, that's worth exactly what you're paying for it, is to find and use a Lee 32 full wadcutter mold, and use COWW's w/2%Sn. These will thump the varmints nicely, even @ 850 fps. HP unnecessary...
Dang. I thought Lee made a 32 WC mould, but I can't find it listed anywhere...

[OuchHot!]

But don't let me stop you from experimenting and telling us how it works!! More boolit molds is good!

[Mk42gunner]

I think I would look into getting one of the Forrester hollow pointing tools, or making a jig to use on the drill press instead.

First thing would be to do some expansion testing with the solid, and compare it to both a .22 and your .38/.357. You may be satisfied with it as it is.

Robert

[patrick_sween]

First things first I suppose, need to get a few lbs. of lead and cast a bunch more and do some testing to see what I'm starting with. I'm a born tinkerer though, so don't be surprised if I come back with a HP anyway Thanks for the advice, reading stickies has given me a lot of ideas to think about.

Patrick

[runfiverun]

woa a 32 cal hollow point.
a wire set up for the torch to keep your pin hot will be a handy tool to make.

[Mk42gunner]

Don't get me wrong, casting hollow points hasn't been all that difficult for me, I just don't really think they will be necessary for your intended purpose. Some people even cast .22 caliber hollow points.

Go to the Castpics website and read some of the articles about using cast HP's in the smaller calibers.

Robert

[Mohillbilly]

I think you'll find these gents right . I use the little Lee semi wadcutter and it does what I need it to . I have the old obsolete 6 gang , same as the 2 holer . i suggest you may want the 6 hole gang , or start/persuade a group buy .I would buy another or two if it were ran again .

[SteveS]

I bought this .32 H&R Single Six for pest control around my farm because I wanted something cheaper and lighter to shoot than my .38 and .357 stuff, and with more oomph than my .22s.

I bought a .32 H&R Single Six about 25 years ago for the very reason you have and it has served me well. I'm sure you will be quite happy with it.

I started out loading the 85gr. Hornady hollow point but found it didn't expand at low to moderate velocity so I went to Saeco #323 WC and the Lyman 313631 SWC. They all do the job on animals up to and including coyote so I've stayed with the cast bullets.

But there's nothing wrong with tinkering and if you find a HP mold that works for you, let me know. I'd be up for giving it a try.

[OuchHot!]

From time to time ingenious members of our group have posted examples of HP pins that they have crafted and fitted to their molds with just a table top drill press for tooling. You might copy the HP spud design of the lyman single cavity mold. It would be pretty easy to reproduce. That said, I get right at 900fps out of a 4" M16-4 32HnR with the hornady WC (3.0g Red Dot). I seat it out about .125" so it locates well in the cylinder throat. I haven't measured velocity at 25-30yds but calculated that it should be near 800fps. It went clear through a rather sick looking raccoon at 20yds and was very effective.

[MT Gianni]

My suggestion, that's worth exactly what you're paying for it, is to find and use a Lee 32 full wadcutter mold, and use COWW's w/2%Sn. These will thump the varmints nicely, even @ 850 fps. HP unnecessary...
Dang. I thought Lee made a 32 WC mould, but I can't find it listed anywhere...

They used to, it has been unobtainable for almost 10 years.

[Outpost75]

In the .32 H&R I have good results with Saeco #325 with 3 grains of Bullseye. HPs of 50-50 ww and pb willnot expand at less than 900 fps. www.hollowpointmold.com did 2 cavities of my 4-cavity mold. The HPs weight 93 grs. Cavity is .15 diameter with 30 degree draft angle.

[MT Gianni]

I would go the soft route and a Forester HP attachment on a trimmer if it were me. I have a 3118 NOE 5 cavity with one cav a conventional HP and the others have to bee kept full of hot alloy to keep the mold warm enough for good HP bullets. I am not sure a Lee 2 cavity would hod enough heat to keep you happy with the results.