What powder charge for 32 cal 98 gr hollow body wad cutter in 32s&wL and 32-20??

[Clark]

The bullets are 0.55" long and 0.314" in diameter.
132185

Thanks in advance.
I have most powders, but I do the 38 sp wad cutters with Bullseye.

[Scharfschuetze]

In my Model 31 4" 32 S&W, that boolit has always shot best over 1.6 grains of Bullseye for a velocity of 762 fps. At 1.8 grains of BE, the boolit holes in the target show some evidence of the skirt starting to blow out, although accuracy is still OK. At two grains the issue is more pronounced.

In my Hand Ejector S&W in 32/20, 2.8 grains of BE does as well with similar groups as the one shown below. Velocity is 743 fps with the larger case.

Keep your velocity in the neighborhood of 750 fps and you should be good to go. By the way, this is a great rabbit thumper or plinking boolit in the 30/40 Krag or similar rifles.

Here's 18 shots at 50 feet on the NRA 50' RF target with the 1.6 grain load from the 32 S&W Model 31.

[EMC45]

I used a similar bullet recently from Magtech and I used 1.7gr. Bullseye I believe. They were fired from my Smith Model 30 and pre model 30. They did very well and clustered tightly.

[rintinglen]

I like 2.0 grains of ww 231 for the 32S&W Long, while 3.1 grains works well for the 32-20.

[Tar Heel]

I too like 2gr of 231 under my 110gr bullet in the 32 S&W Long. I shoot a heavier bullet in the 32-20 (a 120gr bullet) over 7gr of AA7. It's a real tack driver. I should point out the 32-20 load is for a T/C Contender.

132261

[Clark]

I have Little dandy that can measure 2.7 gr Bullseye 98 gr HBSWC flush seated, and I have been doing that for 32-20 for a few days.

How can I measure less than that for the 1.6 Bullseye for the 32 S&W Long?

[tejano]

Lee micro disk, but am not sure if it is still in production.

[Scharfschuetze]

Do you have a powder scale Clark, or are you depending on your Little Dandy? I'm only guessing here, but I'm assuming that you don't have one.

While time consuming, you can weigh each charge with a powder scale. Electronic scales are fast and accurate, but a beam scale should be affordable and is also accurate when balanced properly.

You'll eventually need a good scale to set a good adjustable rotary powder measure if/when you upgrade.

[Clark]

I think I have 4 powder scales, Ohaus, RCBS, RCBS, and Dillon, but they are all made by Ohaus.
I have a Lyman 55 loaned out to a guy who wanted to reload a few years back, but he never started. I never used to that powder measure, but maybe it should come home to get tested.

[richhodg66]

The Lyman 55 I have will very consistently measure charges as low as 1.1 grains of Bullseye. I found this out loading for an old .32 top break. Use your Lyman 55.

I love the RCBS Little Dandy, but I don't have the three or four very smallest rotors and have also found that some rotor/powder combos with it vary significantly from what the chart says they should, so be careful.

[Gus Youmans]

Clark,

I had the same problem with the .32 S&W Long and light powder charges and found three of my powder measures would go low enough for what you need; RCBS Uniflow powder measure with the small drum, Hornady Lock-N-Load powder measure with the pistol rotor, and the Dillon powder measure with the X-Small powder bar. I have not run any side-by-side tests to determine if any one of the three is more accurate than the others at measuring light charges, so I can't make a recommendation.

After reading Tejano's post about the Lee Micro Disk I went to a couple of the big vendors' websites and found that the Micro Disk has been discontinued. You might shop around and find one if you are so inclined.

Good luck,

Gus Youmans

[Larry Gibson]

Under either the Hornady or Speer HBWC I use 2 gr of Bullseye in Starline cases. I seat the Speer HBWC to very lightly taper crimp in the 1st lube groove. Out of my S&W M30 (3") 2.1 gr will slightly blow the skirt a bit causing wobble at 50 feet (noticeable in the slightly oblong bullet holes). The 2.1 load runs 722 fps and is very deadly on small game. Same load runs right at 800 fps out of my Ruger SS 32 H&R with 6 1/2" barrel.

Larry Gibson

[Clark]

I did not realize there is a smaller RCBS little dandy bushing, for 1.7 gr Bullseye.
I ordered one.
My 32-20 revolvers are all ~~ 100 years old and the old 32 WCF brass is kind of failure prone when the shell holder pulls on it.

My 32 S&W Long and 32 Colt Long revolver are even older. I cannot make target loads for them until the 1.7 gr bushing arrives.

[saleen322]

I have tried about all the common powders, W231, Titegroup, Bullseye, VV N310, Clays, Zip, and a bunch I have forgotten. Win Super Tgt and AA#2 always are at the top. I compete with 32s and I have done a lot of testing and I have not found anything better. Here are 10 shots from 25 yards with 1.5 grains of WST. Good luck to you.

133426

[tejano]

Saleen322, do you use a flush OAL and crimp, or something else?

[saleen322]

Saleen322, do you use a flush OAL and crimp, or something else?

Yes, flush OAL and crimp. It seems to help both keeping the pressure consistent at ignition and feeding as I have three autoloaders; a FAS 603, and two Benellis. The round also shoots as well out of revolvers.