.32 S&W Long questions...

[crgaston]

Anyone cast for this?
I recently picked up a Model 30. Any suggestions about moulds and loads would be greatly appreciated!
http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/P1140155.JPG

[JRW]

Beautiful piece!

[9.3X62AL]

Oh, that is a JEWEL!

My longtime favorite boolit in the 32 S&W Long (and a lot of other 32 caliber revolver calibers) is the RCBS 98 grain SWC design. It has been an accurate boolit in over a dozen revolvers for me.

The 32 S&W Long as factory loaded runs about 675-700 FPS with a 95-100 grain bullet. This is a fine bullet weight range for the caliber, but your Model 30 can be stepped up a bit in power from the rather anemic pressures that factory loads are limited to. I once had a revolver very similar to your own, a Model 31 x 3". My first boolit casting activity was conducted in 1981 to create ammo for this revolver.

Over the years, other 32 SWL revos have come along, many of which have stayed. Your M-30 can very safely absorb loads that approach 875-900 FPS in its 3" barrel with the RCBS SWC. One of my favorites is 2.5 to 3.0 grains of WW-231, which clocked about 775 FPS on the low load and close to 900 FPS at 3.0 grains. Countless jackrabbits and more than a few cottontails have met their end courtesy of such concoctions. I still use the 2.5 x 231 load in an aged Colt Pocket Positive x 6".

[dubber123]

+1 on the RCBS 98 gr. Swc. It shoots fantastically in my old S&W HE. 2.2 grains of Bullseye is the load I used.

[Lloyd Smale]

very nice gun! My 32 load is ether the rcbs bullet or the balliistic cast 105swc and 2 grains of bullseye.

[Bret4207]

Get Ken Waters "Pet Loads" articles (or the book, it's fantastic!!!) and read up on his findings. He steered me right. I've used a variety of boolits in my 32's and never found a really bad one. I used the Lyman 311316 for years as it was the only mould I had. Even w/o the GC I got decent grouping.

I'm just letting you know I'm jealous that you got such a nice little Smiff. I've been looking for years for a 30 or 31 and haven't found one.

BTW- The Lee Soup Can shoots great in my K-32. If you have access to a few they're worth a try.

[Dale53]

I have been shooting the .32 S&W Long ever since the .32 H&R Mag hit the market. I couldn't get .32 H&R cases so started loading the Longs.

My "go to" load is quite similar to Al's - I use 2.8 grs of Win 231 behind either the RCBS 98 gr SWC or the Group Buy 100 gr Keith. It shoots VERY well and is a dynamite edible small game caliber.

Amongst other .32's I own and shoot, is my 631 "Kit Gun". These are VERY nice trail guns. You'll love it on the trail.

Dale53

[Shooter6br]

I use a Lee 90 grain TL SWC in my 32 Mag Ruger SP 101 I use universal clays powder . Nice bullet for target or small game

[crgaston]

Wow! Thanks for the response, guys!

Any chance of a GB Keith mold floating around unloved, or a reissue? Any other Keith-type moulds?

It is a little jewel. It was sitting in a little old lady's saftey deposit box for a loooong time. Also, the pin that holds the DA sear to the hammer was dragging inside the frame enough to where the hammer wouldn't fall in SA, so she's been shot not hardly at all.

[Glen]

Yup, I sure do. It's my favorite grouse gun of all time. For details see:

http://www.lasc.us/FryxellThe32S-WLong.htm

[Larry Gibson]

+1 on the Lee TL314-90-SWC except I load it over 2.8 gr of Bullseye for 875 fps and excellent accuracy out of my 3" M30. I've several other moulds that work also but since I cast thousands of the Lee 90 gr bullets out of the 6 cavity mould I mostly use that load. However I also will pick Speer or Hornady swaged lead WCs and Hornady swaged SWCs when a deall comes around. Either of the WCs over 2.1 gr of Bullseye is a very accurate and fun load. Great as a "trail" gun for small game, especially grouse and snowshoe rabbits.

Larry Gibson

[NoDakJak]

I still shoot four of them. I like 311008 ahead of 5.7 grains of 2400 in my Police Positive. This is a 950 fps load. For the other revolvers I prefer the same boolit ahead of 2.8 grains of ZIP for 820 fps. I also cast the RCBS 90 grain boolit and it shoots almost as well. Oddly enough I have never fired any wadcutters in the 32 but this will be rectified in the near future. Neil

[sargenv]

I have a model 31-2 that I picked up off Auction arms many years ago before California had their asinine *drop safety test* requirement for all firearms allowed for sale or import here. I had been loading Hornady 90 gr HBWC and SWC's into it until today. I was curious what the BHN on those were and put them through my tester, the Hornady;s are dead soft, barely registering on the LBT tester.

Today I am sitting down and making up some 90 gr boolits cast with 10 BHN range scrap lead with a TL314-90-swc from Lee. I haven't used this mold before so it'll be a little different I figure from using the Lee 12 gauge slug mold and my LBT mold I use for my 40 cal RN's.

A definite good use for the 10 BHN range scrap that I get.

[Dale53]

Glen;
Thanks for sharing your article on the .32 S&W Long with us. It is a dandy!

My grouse hunting in Ohio is quite different than I have seen in the North (Canada) and the West. In many areas in Canada and the West, the grouse are relatively undisturbed and will easily sit for you to pop them with a handgun. I have had Grouse land and actually walk around me within fifteen yards or closer in the mountains. In Canada, of course, the handgun was unavailable to me (frustratingly so, I might add). I could have taken a bushel basket of grouse with a good handgun when bear hunting in Canada...

As a matter of fact, I had a couple of friends who hunted in Canada and they took a couple of wrist rockets (a superior sling shot) with them and did quite well.

However, in Eastern Ohio where I have done most of my grouse hunting, the grouse are the same species but act COMPLETELY different. They are downright spooky and a real challenge for the shotgunner. In fact, you had better be a GOOD shotgunner or they can become the most frustrating game birds of all time.

My use of the handgun when grouse hunting in Ohio is to use it for cripples. Due to the heavy cover where grouse are normally hunted, here, the shots come unexpected and furious. You must be extremely quick or the grouse will be behind cover in a heart beat. This will occasionally cause even a good gunner to cripple a bird. Grouse are easily knocked down. When they get on the ground, they stay just tantalizingly out of reach. If you try to chase them on the ground they will end up in a brier patch that would take a bulldozer to get them out. On the other hand, you CAN get close enough to make a head or neck shot with a handgun (if you can shoot, of course) and it becomes a good, solid way to bring them to bag without further damage. I have never had good results trying to shoot their heads off with a shotgun at close range and have NO desire to shoot them on the ground with a shotgun at close range in general. The handgun (with the .32 S&W Long being especially efficient) is the tool of choice.

In addition, when grouse hunting I often had the opportunity to take a sitting rabbit with the handgun. I have used just about every handgun in my stable for this purpose and all worked well from the .38/.357 to the .44 Special/Magnum. The little .32 with a Keith style bullet does the job most efficiently.

Dale53

[9.3X62AL]

Glen;

Thanks for sharing your article on the .32 S&W Long with us. It is a dandy!

The little .32 with a Keith style bullet does the job most efficiently.

Dale53

Hear, hear!

The 32 runs REALLY CHEAPLY, too. Both alloy and powder go a LONG way , and the caliber outclasses the usual range of 22 LR "trail guns/Kit Guns" by quite a margin. I can load 32 S&W Longs for less money than purchasing CCI Mini-Mags.

It seems The Mid-Caliber Revolver Enthusiast's Association is on watch and reporting in as scheduled.

[Larry Gibson]

Dale

"Grouse are easily knocked down. When they get on the ground"

Are you insinuating that grouse fly?

Larry Gibson

[Dale53]

Larry;
You're BAD!!:mrgreen:

In the Eastern Ohio thickets, they EXPLODE from cover and are doing thirty miles per hour almost instantly! The thick woods cause them to twist and turn like dodgem cars making for difficult targets.

I started a new job one time, and a fellow came up to me and said that he heard that I was a grouse hunter. He said that he heard that I had actually shot some. I said yeah (wondering). He told me he had been hunting grouse for four or five years and had yet to hit one but he had hopes (true story and I had a heck of a time keeping a straight face). He was a very nice fellow that just needed a bit of help. Within a year, he was able to say, in all truth, that he too was a successful grouse hunter.

Dale53

[Glen]

Dale/Al -- Glad you liked it. I sure do like the .32s!

Yes, I've heard that eastern and western grouse behave very differently. I never hunted grouse when I lived on the east coast (a character flaw that I am still trying to make up for), but one of the first things I did when I moved up to the northwest 21 years ago was to go grouse hunting. I had a Contender .22 LR that I was using, and I had flushed a pair of birds. They set their wings and coasted into a nearby thicket. I followed and could hear them sneaking through the woods ahead of me. I followed them (by sound) for several hundred yards when suddenly the woods exploded around me -- I had inadvertantly stalked my way into the middle a herd of about 15-20 bedded down elk! I was so busy looking for little birdies on the ground 20 feet in front of me that I had never looked up to see the big critters. That single-shot .22 felt VERY small in my hands as those elk were snapping branches and saplings all around me to get away. I never did get those two birds....

[exile]

I really enjoy your articles as well Glen. Off topic, but I wondered if you had any plans to do an article on the .327 Federal? Sorry if I hijacked the thread.

exile

[machinisttx]

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/imakechips/smith%20and%20wesson/100_0836.jpg

My M31-1 above. .32 long is a bit too puny for me. Might like it a little better in a K frame, but I'm not paying the retardedly high prices for one.

[TAWILDCATT]

I have an I frame S&W 32 so am careful about the load.I bought it at a gun show for $20 and past up the colt which I kicked my self after.same price.I load 32acp
for a colt and savage autos.:coffee:

[Dale53]

machinisttx;
You know, if you put a pair of Pachmayr Compac grips and install a "J" frame adjustable rear sight you can make that little M31-1 into a wonderful little trail gun. A .32 S&W Long using a 100 gr Keith at 900 fps is not to be sneezed at for an EXCELLENT trail gun. My 631 has a 4" barrel and adjustable sights and is just "lovely" in the field.

My Model 60 "Target Chief" with the 3" full underlugged barrel is also a good candidate for "trail gun of the year". Using the proper ammo either is a pleasure to carry and quite efficient as an edible small game getter (and will also handle the odd coyote at fifty yards or less handily).

Dale53

[machinisttx]

Dale,

J frames aren't my thing. I had a model 63 no dash for about one week, never even fired it. I've had the M31 for about a year and have less than 200 rounds through it...the original owner said he bought one box of ammo when he bought the gun(new, in the early 80's), and I got what was left of the box.

Other than being a 3", the gun doesn't interest me in the least, and the cartridge even less so.

[9.3X62AL]

Machinist, I suspect that if you ever choose to dispose of that little M-31, the onlookers here would likely find a place for it. Little doubt as to that.

Dale, I did a similar thing early this year--I scored a nice-shape Colt Police Positive x 4" in 38 S&W, and put a set of Pachmayrs on it. It's The Kit Gun From Hell in all respects, and its .359" throats and .358" grooves get along very well with Lyman #358477s sized @ .359". I shoulda/woulda/coulda gotten a M-631 around the time I bought the Model 16-4, but didn't and regret it greatly.

[Dale53]

The Ruger Single Six in .32 H&R was the first "real revolver" to hit the market in this very useful field cartridge (I do NOT consider the H&R to be a "real" revolver, sorry). I bought one and made the statement to my shooting buddy that if Smith came out with a double action I would be all over one. I bought the 4 5/8" barreled SS and my buddy bought the 6½". When testing the two side by side I learned that I could shoot his 6½" one "easier" - it allowed me to score a couple of points better. The difference was NOT dramatic but WAS in favor of the longer barrel.

Not long after, Smith came out with the 631, a stainless 4" barreled revolver in .32 H&R Magnum. I was true to my word and jumped all over it. It is wonderfully light to carry, shoots well but is barrel light and you have to really concentrate to shoot it well. It DID work rather well in the field, however. Another friend lusted after my Ruger and he ended up with it for a short time (then, a couple of thieves stole it from him).

At any rate, not long after Smith came out with the 16-4. I bought the 6" and have never regretted it. I shoot the 16-4 a lot more than my 631 but the 631 often gets the call when woods loafing.

Not long after I bought these wonderful little guns, our "good" friends at Federal stopped component sales to individuals (a POX on that decision!). They were the ONLY suppliers of .32 H&R Mag cases. I bought a couple boxes of factory loads and the brass was garbage. They split so badly that I lost about 20% every time I fired them. A good friend was in the ammo and custom reloading business and he had a barrel of .32 S&W Long cases. I bought a couple thousand of these cases (once fired) and had excellent results with them. So good, that even tho' I ordered a thousand .32 H&R Mag Starline cases when they came out I have seldom used them. In the .32 caliber, my needs are pretty much satisfied with a 100 gr Keith at 800-900 fps. The .32 S&W Long handles that very well.

Al, your Colt Police Positive should make a Jim Dandy trail gun. I believe that many overlook the small handy guns, past and present, in favor of the big boomers. I have done my share of packing of the bigger bores but definitely realize the utility of the smaller pieces. The .32's and .38's have it all over the .22 rimfire as a field pistol. I have been much disappointed in the .22's and VERY happy with the smaller center fires "in the real world"...

Dale53

[S.R.Custom]

...Yes, I've heard that eastern and western grouse behave very differently...

That's putting it mildly...

The eastern variety is indeed quite difficult to wrangle. (The farther east you go the trickier they get, with the Vermont kind the hardest of all to hit.) It's easier to grab a coiled rattlesnake by the tail without getting bit than it is to make a shot on an eastern grouse flushed from a thicket. On the opposite end of the spectrum are the forest grouse common around here. There's a reason why the locals call it "chicken hunting." They quite literally stand around like barnyard chickens and wait for you to shoot them.

In the fall of '03 I was hunting up around Stanley, Idaho, and stumbled across a covey of grouse by a creek. Being from back east, I was quite amazed at even being able to see them, much less being able to get a shot off. But as stunned as I was, I still kept my wits about me. As I was quite close and didn't want to shred the meat, I pulled my shots to one side, relying on the spread of the choke to get just a few terminal pellets on each target. By doing so I managed to kill only half of them before the Winchester Model 97 ran dry.

As I stood there looking at the remaining 3 or 4 calmly eyeing their departed brethren, I thought to myself that these stupid birds are waiting for me to run back to the truck to get more ammo. What the hell, I thought, so I did-- I ran the 100 yards back to the truck, reloaded, ran back, and damned if those stupid birds weren't still waiting for me. Not one to decline a respectful invitation, I obliged them.

Since then, I've modified my grouse hunting equipment checklist. Off the list is the 12 gauge, replaced by a Ruger Mark II .22 pistol loaded with round nose Super-X rounds. Anything else is just too much gun.

[Dale53]

That's putting it mildly...

The eastern variety is indeed quite difficult to wrangle. (The farther east you go the trickier they get, with the Vermont kind the hardest of all to hit.) .

SuperMag;
That's a GREAT story! You had me there with you.

However, I will put our Eastern Ohio Grouse up against any grouse (grouses, eh-h grice, what in the world is the plural of grouse?) in the country for explosive action. The only exception to this is on occasion I have caught them in the open (around an abandoned cabin or farmstead) and they just fly straight away and are "easy" even tho' they are going at high speed. However, in the thickets they're dipping and dodging to avoid the brush makes them a difficult target indeed! I have had them let me get past them then flush behind me. That takes some pretty fancy gun handling to bring them down.

One year, I was hunting in the hills of Eastern Ohio and there was six inches to a foot of snow on the ground. I had fallen and crippled a leg up, a bit, and was trailing along behind my hunting buddies. A grouse let them pass by and silently lifted off, not seeing me, and dove into a snow bank at speed. He totally disappeared. The suddenly he popped his head up from the snow to have a look (remarkably like a submarine periscope). This was a mistake. I had my revolver out and neatly clipped his head off (he was rather close). Of course, I gave my shooting buddies the raspberries for letting a cripple (me) outshoot them with a handgun:mrgreen:.

I have spent many an hour on a skeet field year round and when I say they are difficult, believe it! I do LOVE those birds, tho'.

Dale53

[beemer]

I am new to the 32 S&W Long so this is good info. I found a Colt PP Special with a 4in. barrel, it is nickel but it has been refinished. It looks good and is in great mechanical condition. Being refinished hurts the collector but doesn't mean a thing for my use.

The only moulds I have access to are the Lee soup can and the Lee 100 gr. round nose. Both do fairly well but I need to work some more with them. I lubed some of the Lee 100 RN with a flat punch and left a nice meplat but I haven't shot them yet.I have used Bullseye, Red Dot, Unique and am looking at 231 and Trail Boss. I am not as concerned with vel. as long as it shoots good.

I don't hunt much anymore but do live out in the sticks so it is good to have a little pistol around. I got rid of a 44 Mag so I could get a .32, the 44 has it's place but it's not what I want.

While I was playing with the revolver someone gave me some 32 ACP cases. The 32 dies will load both to here we go again. I have a nice CZ-50 that shoots pretty good but the reloads do much better. I tried the 100 gr RN and got down to 1.2 gr. of BE, talk about fun to shoot. The vel is low at about 550fps but it is dead on at 15 yds and dumps the cases at your feet.

beemer