Red dot and 32 s& w LONG

[RED BEAR]

R.B.. FYI only. Not that I'm recommending, 1964 Lyman book of cast bullets; 32 long, 95 gr 313226 rn bullet. Unique sug grs 3.o sug max gr 4.3 vel1010. bullseye sug grs 1.5 sug max grs 2.7 vel 910fps.
BD

I have old manuals as well i even have one that list up to 3.2 but there is a reason these are old and the data is old. More modern manuals do not come close to these charges. Powders change from lot to lot and unique was even reformulated. There are better methods for testing pressure. The new alliant manual list 4.4 grains or unique as max for 32 hr magnum and i can tell you that a lot of alliant data is quite warm. The new lyman manual does not come even close to that. I have been reloading a long time but i will admit that i am not even close to knowing everything. But i was always taught to use the latest loading info and never to exceed max loads listed. When i was young i ignored this and got into trouble. I would hate to see someone else have bad things happen. Now everyone is more than free to do as they please. If you feel that the posted data is not going to do what you want you are free to load as you want.

[bigdog454]

Good debate, I really enjoyed it!
BD

[psweigle]

Me too! Ive learned some things from it as well.

[psweigle]

Ok, went to get the crony out this weekend, and realized my shooting buddy has it. He is bringing it to work today, so I hope to have the results in a day or two. I only have 2 guns to try the load out in, the 4" s&w hand ejecter, and the 3" sp101 327. I'm pretty sure the ruger will have better velocity.

[gnoahhh]

One thing I have learned from reading Larry Gibson's posts over the years is that he is one of the rare cast shooters who approaches the game with a sense of employing the scientific method. I rarely have had reason to take exception with his findings, and always follow his posts with interest.

My personal .32 is a 1917-vintage Colt Police Positive. My go-to load is 2.2 grains Bullseye under a 95 grain SWC, bullets cast of WW/lead alloy (bhn 9-10), sized to .313 for a slight interference fit in the throats. I've burned through several pounds of Bullseye with that load and the revolver remains as tight as the day it was made- and brass lasts forever, accuracy is great, and leading unheard of.

I never felt a need to load it hotter. If I want/need more oomph I reach for the 1911 Gov't Model.

[psweigle]

Agreed. Larry knows his stuff. Agreed, a 100 year old gun need not be hot prodded. I have a 327 federal magnum for just that.

[psweigle]

I have the chronograph, now just need to wait for morning. Should have the speed to post in the am.

[RED BEAR]

Look forward to seeing the results. A chronograph is something i need. I have to go to a friends to check my loads.

[psweigle]

Ok. 1.6 grains of red dot starline brass cci small pistol primer. Lee 100 grain round nose, powder coated. 10 shot average is 549 tried holding the muzzle down first, then up. Saw a slight difference in velocity by an average of 20 fps. All in all I'm happy with it. I may at some point look at upping the charge, but for now I'm leaving it alone.

[psweigle]

Ok. 1.6 grains of red dot starline brass cci small pistol primer. Lee 100 grain round nose, powder coated. 10 shot average is 549 tried holding the muzzle down first, then up. Saw a slight difference in velocity by an average of 20 fps. All in all I'm happy with it. I may at some point look at upping the charge, but for now I'm leaving it alone.

[35remington]

The velocity is certainly as low as I predicted.

I will see a spread in velocity in excess of 100 fps doing the same thing. Or, at least by doing it the following way. You may have done something different.

Procedure: point gun straight down, slowly raise to level, fire. Cock gun and manipulate carefully before so doing to ensure powder stays bunched by bullet.

Point gun straight up after carefully cocking, lower carefully to horizontal, fire. Do each for five shots.

If the relevance of such is questioned, the handling of the revolver prior to shooting can make such powder positioning a strong likelihood.

Given the amount of testing I have done, I will note spreads of velocity I have mentioned are the usual situation. With poor powder choices spreads may exceed 140 fps. Extreme spreads of only 20 fps do not occur for me even when the powder is positioned the same way for every shot. Keep in mind I speak of five or six shots or more in testing.

Said by a guy who has done a whole lot of such shooting of the 32 Long, and chronographed many many hundreds of shots. I have commented extensively on this phenomenon in instances where largish amounts of powder space and low pressures exist in pistol cartridges. I find it to be a real issue to be given thoughtful consideration when developing loads and assessing their suitability under such loading conditions.

FWIW.

[RED BEAR]

I will say there is room to higher with the charge. As i don't own a chronograph i must go to a friends to check my velocity i don't do a lot of checking. Just shoot for fun so don't much care what the velocity is. If it is accurate is all that matters to me. Well as accurate as i can get with my old eyes. If your happy with the results then i say go for it. I would say 35 remington is right i am sure he knows more than i do about it. But if you are happy with a load thats all that matters.

[35remington]

Well it hurts nothing if it meets your needs. But it also hurts nothing to go faster within firearm limits and more consistency is obtained so I do that. Being particular about such things is a result of having tried various loads and establishing a preference after observing the results.

Using the same 1.6 grain charge of Red Dot under a 98 grain RCBS cast wadcutter would see a gain of about 80-100 fps in velocity and a considerable reduction in velocity variation. This from a 4-4.25” barrel. If I can run a WC around 700 fps I am happy with that for most 32 Long use.

[psweigle]

The only mold I have for 32 is the lee 100 grain round nose. With range scrap lead it drops at .3115 from this mold. I powdercoated the first batch, and recovered a few of them. The powder coating was intact, but they are most definitely way undersized as the rifling in print is very shallow. But for knocking over bottles it works. Not the optimal boolit for the old hand ejector. Looks like another mold is in the near future for the old girl. Was really hoping this would work for both guns, but that is rarely the case. It will work for now as its what I have to work with.

[Green Frog]

The only mold I have for 32 is the lee 100 grain round nose. With range scrap lead it drops at .3115 from this mold. I powdercoated the first batch, and recovered a few of them. The powder coating was intact, but they are most definitely way undersized as the rifling in print is very shallow. But for knocking over bottles it works. Not the optimal boolit for the old hand ejector. Looks like another mold is in the near future for the old girl. Was really hoping this would work for both guns, but that is rarely the case. It will work for now as its what I have to work with.

If you want to go cheap, the tumble lube WC and SWC moulds from Lee ( think they still make them) seem a little larger... in fact I have to size the ones given my by Dale53 from his moulds DOWN to .313 so they'll go through my tight chambered K-32. It sounds like they might be just your huckleberries. Be sure and let me know how those MP hollow points work for you... they were sized to .313 in a Star sizer with (heated) Carnauba Red (I call it "Panama Red" )

Froggie

PS If you want to try out a sample of those bullets, I think I still have some from the last batch Dale53 gave me...

[35remington]

An as cast diameter of .315” is about optimum for the 32 revolvers, especially those of any vintage. My Colt is a little tighter than my Smith but .315” works in both.

.311” would definitely be a detriment in my revolvers with gas cutting and accuracy loss.

[35remington]

Lee makes an appropriate diameter SWC of about .314” or a little more as cast but unfortunately has discontinued the WC.

[RED BEAR]

The only mold I have for 32 is the lee 100 grain round nose. With range scrap lead it drops at .3115 from this mold. I powdercoated the first batch, and recovered a few of them. The powder coating was intact, but they are most definitely way undersized as the rifling in print is very shallow. But for knocking over bottles it works. Not the optimal boolit for the old hand ejector. Looks like another mold is in the near future for the old girl. Was really hoping this would work for both guns, but that is rarely the case. It will work for now as its what I have to work with.

You might try a strip of heat tape. Or you could lap it .

[psweigle]

I've been thinking about the lee 314 90 grain semi wad cutter.

Froggie, I will let you know for sure how they do. And I truly appreciate you giving me them to try.

[Green Frog]

CORRECTION: They still make the SWC (actually a sort of truncated cone) but they no longer list the wad cutter, which is a pity since that was a promising design. The remaining mould is the TL314-90 SWC and as the model number suggests it is advertised as running about 90 grains. This design is pretty close to my old favorite swaged bullet that Hornady used to make in that size. If I didn't have so many moulds in 32 already, I'd probably get one of those moulds myself, especially if I wanted to tumble lube (or PC as you seem to be working toward, psweigle)

NOTE: I typed this up over an hour ago, but for some reason it never posted... I'll try again. In the meanwhile I just went down to the shop and sized 50 of the SWCs and loaded a sample of 25 of them over 2.3 gr Bullseye. When I compared one of these bullets to my small stash of Hornady SWCs, it appears the nose is about 1/8" or so shorter on the Lee cast than the Hornady swaged bullet.

Froggie