.32 H&R Magnum and .32 S&W Long

[wcwhitey]

Gun is ordered (CA Professional), RimRock 100 Grain RNFP’s and DEWC’s on the way. RCBS dies are on the bench. I have Unique and Win244 available but open to other suggestions powders are starting to show up again.

So what are your favorite target loads. I will never carry this gun just range and woods use. Interested in seeing info for both cartridges. I have 250 rounds of Long Brass, will be ordering some for the Magnum.

 

[Dunross]

Unique, Win 231, Bullseye, and Trail Boss are the powders I like for these. I don't have access to my books right now so can't give you amounts. I mostly load H&R Mag power levels in 327 brass. Book loads in 32 Long are pretty anemic. You can do better by a good bit without stressing your revolver, but do make sure those loads are not used in older 32 Long revolvers, top breaks in particular.

 

[Walkalong]

A wadcutter with a light charge of AA#2, WST, or N-310

 

[wcwhitey]

Did my research, going to start with 2.7/8 Grains of Unique in the Long with the 100 Grain SWC. Most data for the 100 Grain Wadcutters is for hollow base. Having the DEWCs I am going to start on the lower end of the data 2.3/2.4 with Unique. Same idea with the Win244 1.8/1.9. Looking for a nice round that shoots to the fixed sights. I initially tried a few different boxes of factory ammo in both H&R and Long. The 85 Grain Magnums shot nicely point of aim. The two types of Longs, Remington and Fiocchi 98 RNL were night and day. Both low but the Remington was really bad at 670ish FPS. The Fiocchi shot close enough and were quite a bit more stout. Cannot find advertised velocity on those. My guess was 750 or better. This points me in the direction of an 800 FPS or so round with the 100 grain bullets in the Long cases. Close to the top end of published long data but still well below the 21,000 pressure max of the H&R. I picked a project. I found one!

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Did my research, going to start with 2.7/8 Grains of Unique in the Long with the 100 Grain SWC. Most data for the 100 Grain Wadcutters is for hollow base. Having the DEWCs I am going to start on the lower end of the data 2.3/2.4 with Unique. Same idea with the Win244 1.8/1.9. Looking for a nice round that shoots to the fixed sights. I initially tried a few different boxes of factory ammo in both H&R and Long. The 85 Grain Magnums shot nicely point of aim. The two types of Longs, Remington and Fiocchi 98 RNL were night and day. Both low but the Remington was really bad at 670ish FPS. The Fiocchi shot close enough and were quite a bit more stout. Cannot find advertised velocity on those. My guess was 750 or better. This points me in the direction of an 800 FPS or so round with the 100 grain bullets in the Long cases. Close to the top end of published long data but still well below the 21,000 pressure max of the H&R. I picked a project. I found one!

I use the Meister 100gr. DEWC over 1.8gr. of Bullseye for older guns and 2.5gr. of Red Dot for modern .32 Longs in Ruger, H&R and NEF revolvers. The Ruger is chambered in .32 H&R Mag and I do use those in it with the longer cases but the same 2.5gr. powder charge of Red Dot.
I've found for most loads where Red Dot gives good performance, Accurate No.2 works as well or better - and it's available! - but RD -> No.2 is not a 1:1 swap. Start low - for No.2, 2.1gr. is a good place for .32H&R and 1.8gr. is a good place for .32Long - and work up. It's a mighty small case to start playing pressure games with.

 

[blackhawk44]

https://www.handloadermagazine.com/32-h-r-magnum-pet-loads

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I don't have any load data for W244 but it does seem to be pretty easy to work with and W231 data *should* make a good starting point for target and plinking loads.

 

[wcwhitey]

https://www.handloadermagazine.com/32-h-r-magnum-pet-loads

Thanks this was one of the few good articles out there, they have an article on the 32 Long also.

 

[Bfh_auto]

If you run 9, 40, or 45. CFE-pistol is a good cross over powder.
Autocomp is my latest pet.

 

[GooseGestapo]

My Taurus M76 (equivalent to S&W Model 16) shoots very well with .32 Longs.
(Better with .32 mags).
With .32 long cases, I use a Lee 90gr TL-SWC over 2.2gr of HP-38. This is in deference to my two S&W hand ejectors which could accidentally get fed a hot load.
In the .32mag cases, I use 3.5gr of HP38. This is a factory equivalent load and is a tack driver! 1.5” at 25yds.
My field load is a Lyman 31108 (115gr w/GC) over 4.5gr of LongShot.for 1,050fps
Heavy jacketed load is the 100gr XTP over 11.0gr of Lil’Gun.
These are less than 20,000psi and both listed in Brian Pierces article. The Lil’Gun load is also in the Hodgdons on-line manual. It too is a tack driver!

aiming at top of diamond. 90gr cast over 3.5gr HP38 the vertical stringing is me!

100gr XTP 11.0gr Lil’Gun

Rested on sand bag @25yds.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

My Taurus M76 (equivalent to S&W Model 16) shoots very well with .32 Longs.
(Better with .32 mags).
With .32 long cases, I use a Lee 90gr TL-SWC over 2.2gr of HP-38. This is in deference to my two S&W hand ejectors which could accidentally get fed a hot load.
In the .32mag cases, I use 3.5gr of HP38. This is a factory equivalent load and is a tack driver! 1.5” at 25yds.
My field load is a Lyman 31108 (115gr w/GC) over 4.5gr of LongShot.for 1,050fps
Heavy jacketed load is the 100gr XTP over 11.0gr of Lil’Gun.
These are less than 20,000psi and both listed in Brian Pierces article. The Lil’Gun load is also in the Lyman #48 manual. It too is a tack driver!
View attachment 1077446
aiming at top of diamond. 90gr cast over 3.5gr HP38 the vertical stringing is me!
View attachment 1077449
100gr XTP 11.0gr Lil’Gun
View attachment 1077450
Rested on sand bag @25yds.

Are you SURE it was the Lyman 48th? Here's a screen shot of the Lyman's 48th section for the 100gr. XTP:


I don't see Lil'Gun listed anywhere for .32H&R Magnum in the 48th.

 

[GooseGestapo]

You right!
It’s in the Hodgdons on-line data!
Lymans has data for the 90gr w/Win296!
I corrected the post.
Good catch!

 

[Shivahasagun]

I've had no problems with Titegroup for both from my LCR snub nose and Longs or H&R Magnums.

But 700x has been the most accurate for me. 2.5 gr OAL 1.21 Avg 722 fps. in .32 S&W Long. I don't know if that's safe in a .32 S&W Long chambered gun but fine in a .32 magnum. Oops. Just checked and that was with a 90 gr SNS .313 bullet.

Anyway I'm happy with 3.0 gr of 700x in .32 mag with a 100 gr lead bullet for practice. Avg. 849 fps. Same snub .327 mag cal. LCR.

 

[wcwhitey]

Range Trip today! 2.7 and 2.8 Grains Unique in the .32 Long under RimRock’s 100 Grain SWC. Good news is the elevations were good in the CA Professional (apparently the issues were worked out). Wants to shoot left but if I take my time groups center up which I think is a matter of getting used to the fiber optic front sight. Not great for precision work.

I made the mistake of shooting the .32 H&R 3.7 Grain Unique load last and wound up with sticky extraction. This didn’t happen with factory ammo so either the gun got dirty or the load is hot. Accuracy was good and primers were fine. Will back it down a tenth for next time and shoot them from a clean gun and see how it goes.

Next will be the 100 Grain DEWC and start some Win244 work ups. Not as much data with that powder but enough to make some educated guesses.

FYI 2 hands unsupported.

 

[wcwhitey]

A few more targets from today. Finding Data for Win244 other than their website is impossible. I used their data for the 98 HBWC for 100 Grain DEWC after some math for the .32 Long. It worked well, some room there, no signs of pressure, POI was good. Will tweak a bit to see if the groups can be reduced. A good plinking load though as it is. Better than anything factory .32 long I have shot so far. The load is 2.0 Grains of Win244 over RimRocks 100 Grain DEWC, Remington .32 Long Brass CCI SPP. Based on the website data velocity is approximately 750 fps.

The .32 H&R was a total S.W.A.G. No Manufacturers Data that is close except for 95 Grain Jacketed. But using that and MD Smiths work with 231/HP38 (Hogdon Data is almost identical for those powders and Win244, slight heavier charges with the 244). I came up with a starting place for the RimRock 100 Grain RNFP, Federal Brass, CCI SPP. Being conservative I started with 3.2 and 3.4 grains respectively. Both loads were best described as firm but no signs of pressure. Cases looked fine as did primers, extraction was smooth. Accuracy favored the 3.2 load over the 3.4. 3.3 might be the sweet spot. Don’t see a need to go higher. Next week!

All of my shooting was done at 10 yards today, 2 hand unsupported. Target is a 1 1/4 inch dot. No chronograph. Once I get the loads I like I will set up a chronograph session for data purposes. At the moment I just want to find loads that make the smallest groups with available components. Everything was much, much cleaner than my Unique session last week. Just thought some would appreciate some loads with a new powder. Typed from IPhone forgive me!

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

View attachment 1079662 View attachment 1079663

A few more targets from today. Finding Data for Win244 other than their website is impossible. I used their data for the 98 HBWC for 100 Grain DEWC after some math for the .32 Long. It worked well, some room there, no signs of pressure, POI was good. Will tweak a bit to see if the groups can be reduced. A good plinking load though as it is. Better than anything factory .32 long I have shot so far. The load is 2.0 Grains of Win244 over RimRocks 100 Grain DEWC, Remington .32 Long Brass CCI SPP. Based on the website data velocity is approximately 750 fps.

The .32 H&R was a total S.W.A.G. No Manufacturers Data that is close except for 95 Grain Jacketed. But using that and MD Smiths work with 231/HP38 (Hogdon Data is almost identical for those powders and Win244, slight heavier charges with the 244). I came up with a starting place for the RimRock 100 Grain RNFP, Federal Brass, CCI SPP. Being conservative I started with 3.2 and 3.4 grains respectively. Both loads were best described as firm but no signs of pressure. Cases looked fine as did primers, extraction was smooth. Accuracy favored the 3.2 load over the 3.4. 3.3 might be the sweet spot. Don’t see a need to go higher. Next week!

All of my shooting was done at 10 yards today, 2 hand unsupported. Target is a 1 1/4 inch dot. No chronograph. Once I get the loads I like I will set up a chronograph session for data purposes. At the moment I just want to find loads that make the smallest groups with available components. Everything was much, much cleaner than my Unique session last week. Just thought some would appreciate some loads with a new powder. Typed from IPhone forgive me!

Nice! So far the only thing I've tried W244 in is .45ACP. Meh, it's okay. However, I shoot a LOT of .32Long and a good, low pressure plinking load is always nice to have.

 

[wcwhitey]

Nice! So far the only thing I've tried W244 in is .45ACP. Meh, it's okay. However, I shoot a LOT of .32Long and a good, low pressure plinking load is always nice to have.

I think the DEWC has the most potential. I wish I had a true target revolver in this caliber. Nothing against Charter Arms, I really like this gun. However, I already know I am going to get to a point where I have maxed out it’s ability to print. Not there yet though and hopefully I can get a nice consistent accurate round with what is currently available. Then I will get to loading and stack that load deep.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I think the DEWC has the most potential. I wish I had a true target revolver in this caliber. Nothing against Charter Arms, I really like this gun. However, I already know I am going to get to a point where I have maxed out it’s ability to print. Not there yet though and hopefully I can get a nice consistent accurate round with what is currently available. Then I will get to loading and stack that load deep.

My .32Long guns are a 1919 Colt Pocket Positive 2-1/2" (.32 Colt New Police), a 1926 Colt Police Positive (also .32NP), a 1980-something Rossi Small Frame (pre-number) 3" and a 1993 H&R 731 4" both in .32S&W Long. Not a target gun among them but the Colt's PP is pretty accurate for fixed sights and the H&R is pretty good out to 10yds. The Pocket Positive is basically a belly-gun, as is the Rossi. When I get some time to load up I'll try 2.0gr. under a Meister 100gr. DEWC.

 

[Frulk]

I have a lot of chrono’d data on #5 in .32 H&R. However, I’m shooting 120 gr RNFP .314s out of Rugers and a Henry Rifle.