32 H&R Mag Crimp

[jonp]

Ruger Baby Vaq
2.0 gr Red Dot(Promo)
100gr Acme rnfp

I'm seating to the crimp groove. My question is for a small round like this and the min target load how much crimp do you think I need? I'm leaning towards none. Usually if there is a crimp groove I use it but I'm not sure it's needed in this case.

I haven't shot my matched pair for quite some time and the smallest round I normally load is 38sp. I can't imagine there would be much setback considering the loading but the frames are fairly small and light.

[35remington]

Given that these will not even break 700 fps, unless your bullet/case tension is overly loose, which will cause problems in itself, it is sorta a moot point. Enough crimp to turn in the mouth flare should be sufficient.

There will not be enough recoil to cause bullet pulling.

[Larry Gibson]

What 35 Remington said...…..

[jonp]

700-750fps was what I was aiming for. Thanks, thats kinda what I thought but wanted another opinion.

[35remington]

You’ll fall a bit short. I usually don’t reach 700 fps using 2.0 of Red Dot in the smaller Long case depending upon what bullet you use approximating 98 grains, and the longer 32 H and R will lower pressure and velocity over that obtained in the shorter Long case. All this presumes about a four inch barrel.

[jonp]

That's fine. As long as there is no leading I'll be happy with it

[Green Frog]

What a neat find! I'm not a huge fan of revolvers without adjustable sights, but I think I might be willing to make an exception in this case. You may find that those super light loads you are proposing will hit somewhere other than POA and will require either work on the front sight or memorizing some "Kentucky Windage." Only trying them will tell you for sure, but with that little Vac and loading for yourself, you can fine tune a little bit without much if any change in recoil while making some pretty appreciable change in POI. It sounds to me like you have a great excuse to do a lot of fun shooting and call it "load development." Enjoy! :Fire:

Froggie

[jonp]

What a neat find! I'm not a huge fan of revolvers without adjustable sights, but I think I might be willing to make an exception in this case. You may find that those super light loads you are proposing will hit somewhere other than POA and will require either work on the front sight or memorizing some "Kentucky Windage." Only trying them will tell you for sure, but with that little Vac and loading for yourself, you can fine tune a little bit without much if any change in recoil while making some pretty appreciable change in POI. It sounds to me like you have a great excuse to do a lot of fun shooting and call it "load development." Enjoy! :Fire:

Froggie

Yeah, they are pretty darn cool. I haven't shot them for several months but I'm going to run some lead through them.

[Rodfac]

I have the same revolver...4-5/8" bbl'd, Mini-Vaquero with a birds head grip frame. I have found that 4.0 gr of Unique with 3 separate ~100 gr LSWC bullets shoots to the sights...in my case that means, bullet impact coincides with the tip-top of the front sight blade when it's centered and level with the notch rear sight...all of that at 10-12 yds from a two-handed Weaver Stance.

Minimal crimp is needed to keep the bullet from creeping forward under recoil...as 35 Remington suggests, removing only the case mouth flaring is sufficient. I'm using Lee dies in a Dillon 550B press by the way, and have plenty of case neck tension. Also, 3.0 gr of 231 is equally good...ie. less than 2" gps. at 25 yds from a rested position with either load.

I size my home cast bullets to 0.312" and the gun has cylinder throats that measure 0.3115". I use 50-50 lube on my own creations and re-lube all commercial bullets with Lee Liquid Alox, thinned 25% with mineral spirits. Commercial bullets that work well are available from Missouri Bullet Co or Bull-X. Their LSWC's of ~100 grains are particularly good.

All of the above also holds true for my S&W M16 in .32 H&R and my Single Six with 5-1/2" bbl.

HTH's Rod

[jrayborn]

I crimp enough that it allows the cartridge to feed well.

[cwlongshot]

I also shoot 2g RD under a 100 in a long case and don’t clear 600 FPS by much in a 4” Bbl...

Your gonna be less than that with the larger H&R case.

Leading should be total non issue as long as your sizing properly for the barrel.

I agree 100% with those suggesting just remove flair/ slight crimp. LONG ago I switched away from
Heavy roll crimps on cast. Even jackets only get it for the heaviest Magnum loadings and frankly I don’t that anymore either. A good Reding TAPER CRIMP die would for me now. It NICELY removed flair and makes a nice feeding cartridge.

Good luck

CW