32 cal BP loading???

[poor man]

Hi yall i got a old iver johnsom's arms and cycle works in 32 cal, somewhere in the date of 1894 anyway to the point,,,, i was thinking of reloading some of the original brass with black powder like its supposed to be, BUT i need some info on how to do it safely, i also have pyrodex p if that would be better But again i dont know how to load that either, thanks for any advise.....


PS i reload regular powder for pistol and rifle cases all the time so reloading isnt new to me JUST BP loading :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/shan38574/21165570.jpg

[Springfield]

Fill up the case with either ffg or fffg so that it will be slightly compressed when the bullet is seated. Use a bullet with a softer lube if possible so that it will keep the powder residue soft to avoid hard build-up that will ruin accuracy. Also the bullet alloy should be on the softer side, hard bullets will not seal the bore sometimes as these are not high pressure rounds. I like to use these bullets in my older .32's.

[poor man]

thanks il look for that powder,

[Dale53]

The comments from Springfield are correct. You NEED a rather large lube groove (see Springfield's bullet picture) and the lube needs to be a black powder lube. SPG is the commercial standard. I mostly used Emmert's home mix. This is 50% beeswax, 40% Crisco, and 10% Canola Oil. I later replaced the Canola Oil with Anhydrous Lanolin for a longer life lube.

Dale53

[shdwlkr]

I have a 32 caliber muzzle loader and the powder to use is FFFG as you need the fine powder to burn up when fired. FFG is meant for larger calibers and just for the record I use FFFG in all my muzzle loaders much better burn. You have to cut the loads down in larger calibers by 10-15% but that is no big deal.

I would say your load of powder should be around 30-40 grains. Hope this helps

[I'll Make Mine]

I would say your load of powder should be around 30-40 grains.

I think it's unlikely you'll get anywhere near 40 grains -- a .45 Long Colt holds less than 40 grains of FFFg in a modern case (original load was 42 or 43 in a balloon head case, just a tad more than a .44-40 or .38-40 because the case wasn't necked); your .32 S&W Short cases will probably hold around 15, maybe as much as 18 with compression if your "original" cases are as old as the revolver (less if they're "modern" solid head cases).

[shdwlkr]

Yep missed the size of brass he was loading more like 12-15 grains of powder.
My 32-20 and 256 win mag hold about 10-12 grains of powder might be able to put in a few more grains but what for.

[nwellons]

I do some BP reloading with boolits that don't have a good deep groove for BP lube. For those, I make grease cookies and use with wax paper wads. Yes it is more trouble but sometimes it is hard to find a mold in the right size that has big grooves.

[Dale53]

That bullet above appears to be a "Big Lube" bullet:

http://www.biglube.com/BulletMolds.aspx?ItemID=e082c3d3-ea98-4bb0-b649-7c1e7d5347df

I shoot a lot of smokeless .32's and my Group Buy mould for the 100 gr Keith also holds enough lube (Emmert's) for black powder. You might be able to find one of those Group Buy moulds that somebody has "extra".

Frankly, the RCBS 98 gr SWA is a dandy bullet with smokeless in the .32's and should work well with proper lube (and soft bullet metal) with black powder:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/128149/rcbs-2-cavity-bullet-mold-32-098-swc-32-caliber-314-diameter-98-grain-semi-wadcutter

Just a thought...

Dale53

[Kermit1945]

Your first link didn't work. Let's try this...

http://www.biglube.com/BulletMolds.aspx?ItemID=ab4ea15a-a002-435f-a5a4-f9e9035a0082

Or this for the .32:

http://www.biglube.com/BulletMolds.aspx?ItemID=e082c3d3-ea98-4bb0-b649-7c1e7d5347df

[Kermit1945]

I've been searching this new interweb thingie for HOURS to finally find this thread. I've been searching for info on loading BP into tiny brass. I have a S&W Lemonsqueezer (3rd) in .32 S&W and want to shoot it. I've been a handloader for a good while, but haven't (yet) loaded BP. Not much advice out there. Could someone--please--give us some idea of how you go about it? I've read something about using a coffee filter "wad" under the powder to keep it out of the primer hole? Good idea? If so, how to do it? Then there's "enough powder to compress somewhat" kinds of statements. What does that mean exactly? Should I use an overpowder wad of some kind? A grease cookie? I'm thinking about using a .311 roundball. Any special considerations for RB cartridge loads? I'm just full of questions, but I sure don't want to spend a bunch of time reinventing the wheel when you guys know what you're doing already.

I guess it comes down to this: Is anyone loading BP in a .32 S&W or similar tiny brass? HOW DO YOU DO IT?

[Dale53]

I have loaded BP in a number of calibers in both handguns and rifles (competitively). However, I have NOT loaded the .32 S&W.

The process will NOT be any different than larger calibers except you SHOULD use 3F BP in that small case. Black powder in revolver calibers is really quite simple IF you follow these suggestions:

1 - Each case brand may vary slightly in capacity. It is probably a good idea to keep the brass
segregated. Having said this, I do not (except I DO separate ballon head brass from solid
head brass - the capacity varies too much).

2 - You need to put enough black powder in a case that seating the bullet will compress it 1/16".
That is regardless of type of bullet. I believe you'll be happier with a conventional bullet.
Black powder creates a large amount of fouling. To deal with it, you need a good black powder
lubricant. SPG is the commercial gold standard. I use home mixed Emmert's exclusively with
equally good results (not better, not worse, just as good in every way). Emmert's is 50% pure
natural beeswax, 40% Crisco, and 10% Canola Oil. It is important to mix this in a double
boiler as overheating damages it. I use one of Milady's sauce pans but put an empty large
Pyrex pitcher/cup to hold the lube (no lube touches Milady's pan). I use melted volume to
measure my components - the Pyrex cup has measurements to make it easy.

3 - Emmert's can be used in a Lube/sizer (I have a spare RCBS lube/sizer dedicated to black
powder lube). Emmert's, like SPG also works well with smokeless for standard loads. The
only caveat is that it has a relatively low melting temperature (around 135 degrees). It is also
a FINE pan lube.

4 -In that small case standard small pistol primers should suffice.

5- Black powder loads benefit from softer bullets. I use 30/1 lead/tin.

6 - Measure the cylinder throats and size the bullets accordingly.

7 - I would use a bullet similar in weight to the original bullets. That way your gun will more
nearly shoot to the sights.

Have fun, my friend.
Dale53

[Kermit1945]

There's something weird about the BigLube server. Try going here and then look at Bullet Molds and the first one in the list. Might work better. Nifty little pill. His molds are aluminum, BTW, and fit the Lee 6-bullet handles. Surprisingly reasonable price.

http://www.biglube.com

Something's going sour with the "/" on the addy.

[Dale53]

The Big Lube bullet moulds ARE Lee moulds (at least the one that I used, was) that explains the "reasonable" price. However, they ARE a custom design, and if you need that design, then having to pay three times the street price of a regular Lee mould MAY be worth it.

However, the minimal demands that a short barreled revolver places on the size of the lube groove in a .32 S&W I rather think any bullet for the .32 will have enough lube capacity (they did when they were the only game in town one hundred years ago) before smokeless.

FWIW
Dale53

[Nobade]

Just as Dale 53 says, the normal 32 S&W bullet will work fine with black powder. Cast them soft, from lead/tin and lube with Emmert's or other black powder lube. Enough FFFg in the case to offer some compression but not enough to tear up the boolit when it's seated. Normal pistol primers. That's all there is to it! In that little short barrel you won't have foul out problems, at least not if you don't try to fire 100 shots without wiping. If the fouling starts to build up, just wipe the bore. If the cylinder starts to bind spray a little moosemilk on it and keep shooting. Black powder really is very simple to work with, there isn't anything mysterious about it, and it sure is a lot safer than smokeless powder. Go for it, have fun!

[John Boy]

I've been searching for info on loading BP into tiny brass.
Kermit, here are black powder loading data tables for nearly every caliber ...
http://www.goexpowder.com/load-chart.html

[Kermit1945]

If it's by Lee, it must be a custom run for him. I'm more and more disappointed with the diminishing number of bullet designs available from the large market mold makers. Lee has discontinued many, and no longer makes single boolit molds. I've turned to outfits like NEI and Accurate for molds. I especially like Accurate. The choice of three block metals and number of cavities in a mold is great. Another is that he'll make you a custom mold for the same price as anything in his catalog. A good way to replicate a discontinued design. An example is the old Lyman "collar button" for .45-70 gallery loads. NEI has it, or one very close. I'm glad to pay small businesses for quality and hard to find products.

And DANG, JohnBoy--that's flat wonderful!!! Bookmarked!!!

[Springfield]

The Big Lube moulds are a copy of the LEE mould but are now made by another party. I have some of the non-LEE made moulds and they are a bit better in quality, but are basically a LEE 6 cavity mould. I like LEE moulds, some don't. If you want a 6 cavity they or LEE are the only game in town, and are a bit cheaper than NOE, Mihec or Accurate molds, but the the latter 3 have much better quality. Depends on what you want and how many bullets you are gong to make, and your budget. I load the 32 Big Lube bullet for my 32 pocket pistols just because I already have the mould. If I didn't most any bullet with a decent size lube groove would work in a short barrelled gun. For example, I shoot BP in my 45 auto when I shoot Wild Bunch matches, just for fun. I use a non Big Lube 452374 bullet and they work fine for 40 rounds.

[Kermit1945]

Tom (Accurate Molds) make up to 5 boolit molds. Ain't cheep. I am, so I stick with mostly one pill at a time. Seems to work better for me pouring with a dipper, getting into a rhythm.

http://www.accuratemolds.com/moldSpecs.php

[nwellons]

The only thing I can add is my experience with primers.

I developed a load for the 7.65 Nagant cartridge for the Russian Nagant revolver. It is a quite small case similar in size to the .30 carbine but one in which the boolit is completely in the case, sunk just below the neck.

Most primers gave widely varying readings on my chronograph. I started with small pistol, then magnum small pistol, then small rifle, and lastly small rifle magnum. I used FFFg Goex as the powder.

Only with the magnum small rifle primer did I get a consistent reading on the chrono. And it was very consistent.