.32 S&W Long Black Powder Cartridge in .32 S&W with bored through chambers?

[vonfilm]

I have a Forehand & Wadsworth top break revolver in very good condition with a bright bore with strong rifling. A sock drawer queen I think. I would like to shoot it, but I can’t find any .32 S&W brass. There is no caliber designation anywhere on the revolver. I find that .32 S&W Long cartridges fit perfectly. I assume it is chambered for .32 S&W with bored through chambers.

My question is can I load .32 S&W Long cases with FFFg black powder and 73-78 grain cast boolits and shoot it safely?

What about 1 grain of Bullseye?

Alternatively, Could I use the long cases with primer only and wax bullets?

[Wayne Smith]

If you have 3F BP and a boolit you are recreating the original load, so no problem shooting it. I have an H&R 32 S&W top break and load it with 1-1.1 gr BE and a piece of sized buckshot. In the long case that pressure would be substantially reduced, so I would assume that it would be safe too. Of course a primer only and wax boolits are safe. Indoor shooting, though.

[racepres]

My neck split 32 S&W Long, become 32 S&W... Pretty sure they do Not need to be neck split, to shorten...
Just a side note; 38S&W is a bit different from 32's, in that the 38S&W is "fatter" than 38Spl. gonna get "smoked" cases if shortened 38Spl is used...

[vonfilm]

Thanks Wayne and racepres.
A round ball might be a great way to start out. I have some .32 round balls and FFFg on hand.

[vonfilm]

Today I loaded 25 rounds for the F&W .32. Filled Fiocchi .32 S&W Long cases to within .2” of the top with Goex FFFg black powder. I then seated a .311 round lead ball into the case with only about .3” of the ball protruding out of the case with a slight roll crimp. The black powder is compressed. The cartridges fit smoothly into all of the Forehands 6 chambers. The round balls weigh only about 45 grains.

I hope to get to the range very soon to try this load out. I expect that I will also shoot them in my Taurus 327 2”.

[racepres]

I love them .32 round balls...(forget what Aught they are) in my .32's, or, the 300 savage with Red Dot, they are very accurate , short range..as a step up...32acp FMJ's over Red Dot... really a Blast, in the 300 Sav... not so good in .32 revolvers for me anyway...

[Funky]

For a fair number of years, I shot a T\C Contender in .30 Carbine, loaded with a #1 1/2 buckshot [.310] ,1 1/2 grain Bullseye in bullseye competition, it shot better than I did, cheap and easy to load for. Also use the same ball in .32 muzzleloaders and .30 caliber rifles. Good Luck and Good Shooting Chris

[GBertolet]

I have the same revolver. The cylinder is bored all the way through. You can insert a cartridge from either end. This creates a problem. My revolver leaded like crazy, as the hot gasses were leaking past the bullets. .314 bullets, with .335 cylinder diameter, explains it all. I have shot BP and light charges of smokeless, in this revolver, with the BP being more accurate.

I came up with a solutions. First I purchased a custom heeled bullet mold, with it's driving band of .335. The band is thin, and the bullet is cast of soft lead, which swages down easily to the .314 bore of the revolver. It works out well. I have tried both 32 S&W and the 32 long cases in this revolver. I have a few boxes of 32 S&W cases, so that's what I stuck with. 6 gr of 3f, is what I used in the 32 S&W.