32 H&R mag/info/ammo

[Bob79]

I'm sure the 100gr GA ammo shoots different than the two 85gr bullets I fired today. But the Federal did have more flash/recoil, and I'm not saying it was a huge difference like I said "ouch" after shooting the Federal. The difference wasn't that big, I'd say the recoil was maybe 5-10% more with Federal, but the flash was very noticeable. The other guy there with me even made a comment about how he too noticed the bigger flash with the Federal ammo.

Thanks for the update on the .32 S&W longs/.32 S&W ammo. I think I may try that just for the range, and shoot about 1/2 and 1/2 between those and the magnums. And obviously carry the magnums. I think this gun offers a PERFECT balance of gun weight, bullet performance, and recoil control. After I bought it I wondered if I should have tried to find a 332/331, but now I'm very glad I did not and got the 432. The .32 H&R mag is better than the .380acp and just slightly less effective (I think) than the .38 special. And the reason I say the .38 is better is because they are both virtually equal in energy deposit, but the .38 makes a bigger hole. And yes one could argue that the 32 H&R mag is more likely to expand to a .38 diameter size because it travels faster, but JHP don't always expand.

Plainsman-I do like the .32HR round, BUT in such a heavy gun like the Ruger SP101 I would rather go with .357 mag. Recoil with .38's in that gun is almost non-existant (even +P) and .357 is fairly controllable. I've almost bought one now several times, I just think from a self-defense stand-point the .32 HR makes more sense in a lighter gun. ALTHOUGH, from a pure marksmen/entertainment point of view, I see what you're saying. Me personally, all my guns are purchased first for self-defense, and fun second.

 

[Stainz]

Ha! I told my wife years ago that my 7.5" .454 SRH was for home defense. Last year, on an episode of 'Monk', she heard the Ruger .454 Casull had been used in one of their episode's murders - ostensibly by the circus's elephant tamer - and it was their 'elephant' gun. She immediately quizzed me as to why I needed such a revolver. I quickly quipped that it had been most effective, as we had not been over-run by wayward pachyderms. She wasn't as amused as I thought she would be.

I, too, have lots of PD/HD revolvers... from Nagants to .44's to .45 Colt (The .454 is gone now... I may be susceptible to pachyderm attacks!).. Oddly, they sure get shot a lot. Odder still, try to find a loaded firearm in my home! Still, that little 432 does seem like a neat pocket revolver. BTW, the 977fps velocity only yields 1269 ft-lb for six...

Stainz

 

[280PLUS]

(The .454 is gone now... I may be susceptible to pachyderm attacks!)

You'll need the Blue Elephant gun then. The blue gun is universal because no matter what color your elephant is you can always hold it's trunk closed until it turns blue and then use the blue gun...

 

[cookekdjr]

I shot my 431PD for the first time today. I put about 50 rounds of GA Arms 85gr through it.
Recoil was much much less than firing .38's out of an Airweight J-frame.
I was shooting it all over the place, but my shooting buddy put 4 rapid-fire shots touching in the X-ring. Maybe I just need to practice.
Anyway, The gun was a total pleasure to shoot. Its light enough to forget you are carrying, has a six-round cylinder, and little recoil.
We decided it was the perfect package for concealed carry.
Have a great weekend,

David

 

[P. Plainsman]

Plainsman-I do like the .32HR round, BUT in such a heavy gun like the Ruger SP101 I would rather go with .357 mag.

I sympathize. The SP101 is indeed a robust little hunk, overbuilt for this low-recoiling cartridge. My ideal .32 Mag woods gun would be a S&W J-frame with a 3" or 4" barrel -- the Model 631/32 series included such a gun, I believe. Alas, they're no longer made and fetch big $$$ when you can find one on the used market.

Thus, if you want to take advantage of the .32 Mag's accuracy with a non-snubby double action .32 Mag revolver, you have only one choice among current production revolvers, the SP101. And they are good guns.

 

[Bob79]

Did Hornady used to make a 100 grain XTP H&R mag round that was JHP? Because I bought some that was labeled as such at the gun show this past weekend. However it was maked on a generic box with a computer generated label that the person had put on it. On the casing though it was maked like a Georgia Arms round with the two stars and said 32 HR. I asked the seller if it was GA arms ammo or Hornady and he didn't know. There were also some JHP S&W long marked on the box as Hornady XTP and I bought those also. So, does it sound like I got old Hornady ammo?

 

[scubie02]

Maybe its just ammo loaded with the hornady bullets? I bought a few boxes of those recently when they were on sale.

 

[280PLUS]

I can't answer that question but I DID want to mention I noticed Federal has a 95 gr Lead SWC offering in .32 H&R. I woukld have bought some but it was $8.99 for 20 rounds

 

[scubie02]

black hills makes a 90 gr lead flat point that's $13.99 for $50

 

[gunfan]

Hoe about a .32 Long in +P?

This is my simple proposition:

Take a 98 grain bullet (preferably WC or SWCHP configuration) load it into a .32 S&W long case to a velocity of 1000 fps, (from a 4" barrel) and denote it as a .32 S&W Long (+P) loading. Emblazon the box with a red sticker as did IMI on some .38 S&W Special loadings "only for use in revolvers chambered for .357 S&W Magnum." Said sticker would read "only for use in revolvers cambered for .32 H&R Magnum or as stated by the manufacturer."

Such a load would yield 217 fpe from a 4" barrel and from a 2 1/2" barrel should squeeze out 925 fps and 186 fpe. This should be more than adequate for self defense applications. Works for me!

Would that work for you?

Scott

 

[P. Plainsman]

This is my simple proposition:

Take a 98 grain bullet (preferably WC or SWCHP configuration) load it into a .32 S&W long case to a velocity of 1000 fps, (from a 4" barrel) and denote it as a .32 S&W Long (+P) loading.

Can you get a powder charge in a .32 Long case that will deliver 98 gr @ 1000 without excessive pressure?

Sincere question; I'm not a reloader.

None of the recommended .32 Long loads in my Hornady Reloading Manual (hey, I said I'm not a reloader, I didn't say I'm not a gun nerd! ) approach that level of energy.

 

[gunfan]

If you look on the other .32 Long thread...

You'll see Old Fuff's reference to P.O. Ackley's recipe for a hot .32 S&W Long load. back it off by 7/10ths of a grain and work up VERY slowly! At any sigins of excess pressure, STOP!

I hope that this helps,

Scott

 

[cookekdjr]

black hills makes a 90 gr lead flat point that's $13.99 for $50
Unfortunately, it runs about 750 fps out of a 4&5/8 inch barrel. :banghead:
At least GA Arms makes reasonably-priced carry ammo.
-David

 

[Dollar An Hour]

Reloading Costs?

Hey guys. The S&W M432 has my attention as a pocket carry gun - 13.5 oz and 6 shots.

I'm weighing the 432 against an ultralight .38 snub. Obviously the ammo is cheaper for the .38, but it's alot less pleasant to spend time with at the range.

Ammo costs - Plenty of Federal factory ammo on the shelf at Sportsmans Warehouse in .32 Long or .32 H&R Mag, but it starts at about $7/20 rounds and goes up from there.

So, what will it cost me to get into reloading this round? I may still have a RCBS Rock Chucker at my folks house - I reloaded .38/.357 some years ago, not sure if Dad kept the stuff though.

 

[gunfan]

Dollar an Hour:

You could spend about $260.00 and have everything that you need to get started with a full-blown single-stage press. After that, you could spend another $100.00 or so and have enough to load two to three other cartridges. (.38 S&W Special/.357 S&W Magnum or .44 S&W Russian/.44 S&W Special/.44 Remington Magnum.) It is worth the time and money to do this, or get into a Lee Loader for as little as $100.00 for a "one-at-a-time-type" of hand loading? I believe that you be better served by getting into a single-stage loading press. Extra dies will eventually permit you to expand your horizons and load just about any handgun/rifle catridge you wish.

Carbide dies will permit you to reload without lubricating straight-walled pistol cases. Look into geting either a handgun or rifle reloading manual that will illustrate the proper method of accomlishing this rather complex task.

Whatever, you decide, I wish you well.

Scott

 

[Ash]

You can get a Nagant Revolver and use .32 Mags in it.

Ash

 

[Stainz]

The proper Nagant round, 7.62x38r, tapers from .357" ahead of the rim down to .335" mid way and .320" at the chamber's exit. My new GA Arms Starline brass loaded 100gr JHP .32 H&R Magnum measure .335" ahead of the rim, and .334" at the mouth. After firing from a Nagant, besides spitting since the case is too short to gas seal, the rim end swells to fill the Nagant's chamber bores - well out of normal re-sizing range, rendering it difficult to extract, useless for reloading, as well as dangerous. One other danger involves the canting of the cartridge's straight walls in the tapered bore, causing one edge of the bullet to shave lead/cladding - more spitting. Don't use .32 H&R Magnums in a Nagant (I know, some distributors say it's okay... I won't use any more!).

The softer cased and lower pressure .32 S&WL's are less dangerous, although I have found that the MagTech 98 gr LRN variant's case splits ~50% of the time as well as swells, extraction isn't easy either way. They don't seem to spit as much - I have chronoed them ~620 fps vs the Russian 'target' real Nagant ammo's 590 fps - and the also proper commercial Fiocchi's hit 675 fps. The latter two don't spit, but still require the SA-style extractor to eject the cases. The best ammo I have tried is my homebrew - modified .32-20 cases sized in a tapered M1 carbine carbide die - and loaded with .32 lead/clad/jacketed bullets - over 2.5-2.9gr Titegroup (660-760+ fps). The spent cases fall out! A lot of work... but worth it, I suppose.

I tried 7 of those .32 H&R Magnums in each of two of my Nagants - and have 186 left - for a future S&W 432PD or SP-101 .32 purchase... makes sense - buy a gun for some ammo I have...

Stainz

 

[BluesBear]

Very good post Stainz!


And you forgot to mention that even the H&R priduced .32 Magnum revolvers will have a much better trigger pull.

 

[Hammerdown]

The INFAMOUS.. H&R .32 Magnum

Hello
This caliber is my PET. I have handloaded it for a long while now, and have found these loads to be about peak, for my wants. I have both frames The -J-& -K-In S&W wheel guns.Ealry on.. I tried ALL The powders that were listed for this round and found most slow and dirty, so I decided to give the H-110 a go.Here is a run down of what I found. Also this caliber is NOT shown with much data, and one NEEDS to be careful when handloading.
S&W-Model 631-J-Frame-2" Barrel results
The-J-frame load I worked up was as follows. I used star-Line Brass trimmed to spec. I loaded with Hogden H-110 Powder, carefully aproached and stoped increasing at a max. level of 10.0 Grains. I used a C.C.I. Magnum primer and a 85 grain Hornady X.T.P. Bulett. This load typically clocked 1015 out of my snubby checked with my Chrony. The load to me is MAX. It did show some mild signs of flatened primers. It extracted well, and there were no signs of case streching, nor other high pressure problems just the primer issue I mentioned.Accuracy was great with and average of 3/4" at 17 Yards and I was this close as it involved the Chronograph set up.


S&W-Model 16-4 K-frame-6" Barrel Results
The K-frame is a much larger frame so I worked the load slowly to max for me. I used the same cases from Star-Line trimmed to spec. I carefully worked up to 11.9 Grains of Hogden H-110 Powder. Again, a C.C.I. Magnum primer was used, along with the Hornandy 85 grain X.T.P. At 11.6 grains the extracted cases showed NO signs of pressure issues. I increased to 11.9 and noticed SOME showed a slightly flatened primer after ignition, so STOPED increasing there. The Barrel is much longer on my 16-4 at 6" so I was rather impressed with and average of 1488-1519 on a 25 shot string & suspect the slight spread due to crimping issues. I DID place a heavy crimp on some to see how they reacted. The part that was as equaly impressive was, the hotter I loaded this round, the MORE accurate it became.The final result was and average group size of 1/2" at 17 Yards using the chronograph set up. I was pleased with the results and have LOGGED this to be a stout load for the .32 H&R Magnum. "PLEASE" be careful if attempting to Load like what I have shown here as each and every gun may act different, and hand loading is a gamble to anyone doing so.You will NOT find any load recomendations for the H-110 Powder as they were given to me by a friend. be careful and have fun as "I MAKE-NO claims" of this load being safe in ALL guns that might be used. This caliber is highly UNDER RATED.. Hammerdown

 

[gunfan]

Bad boys, bad boys. Whatchagonna do? Whatchagonna do when they come for you?! I still think the the .32 H&R Mag is a "bad boy!"

Scott