.32 S&W load / question

[Sound Dude]

I have a Uberti revolver in 32-20 and it came with a change-out cylinder that does .32 S&W / .32 H&R Mag. I have a nice load for the 32-20. Trying to load that little .32 S&W has been a chore. The recipe I'm using calls for 1.4 gn of HP38. I finally got my measure to throw that small and made up a small lot. I went to fire them this morning, and i got the pipsqueak "Pop" I'm used to from .32 S&W. Felt just like factory loads I've shot. But, when I ejected the brass 80% had primer punctures. I shot 18 in total before hanging it up. Definitely not double charged. All went off the same. I opened one when I got home - 1.4 gn. I'm using a 78 gn lead RN cast bullet, sized to .312

By the way, the 32-20 load I use is 3.5 gn of HP-38 pushing a 115 gn bullet. Accurate and no signs of being too hot.

Question 1 - any idea why I'd get punctured primers on this pipsqueak load? Primers are WSP, same as I use in many, many applications.

Question 2 - any recommendation on a powder meature that will consistently throw very small charges? I have an old Lee "Safety Disk" measure and even it doesn't go low enough. The RCBS green Uniflow measure will, but just barely.

 

[MMCSRET]

I've loaded and fired many 32 S&W using that same bullet but I use bullseye, I'm finding it hard to believe it is over pressure. I'd look at your firing pin and cylinder dimensions, what is the gap between the cyl. and the recoil shield? Maybe you firing pin is hitting too deep. I had this problem with a colt 32-20, turned out the pin was too long and too sharp. If the gap is different between your 2 cylinders this could explain the punctures, the rim thickness in the cartridges is not the same so this could be difficult to resolve.

 

[Sistema1927]

I shoot the same load (1.4 W231* /78 gr. LRN) in both an 1849 w/R&D conversion cylinder and an original S&W 4th Model DA and I have not had any problems. I use Winchester or CCI primers, basically what I have laying around.

As to question #2, I have found that I have found that the only way that I can get 1.4 gr. loads with my equipment is to trickle the powder into the scale pan. That really is a tiny load.

*for the uninitiated, W231 is the same powder as HP38.

 

[rcmodel]

Yep!

It's not the load, it's the Uberti firing pin.

I went through three replacements without success on a .45 Colt, and finally made one using a Colt SAA for a pattern before I cured it.

rcmodel

 

[Sound Dude]

OK - kind of what I suspected. The weird part is the .32 H&R loads use the same cylinder - and no problems with about 150 rounds fired. The handful (maybe 20) of the factory .32 S&W loads also fired without a problem. I'll do some investigation, measurements, etc. The brass I used was virgin Winchester.

I have a trickler, but was hoping there was more of a "production" method conducive to a higher rounds per hour rate of manufacture. I see that RCBS sells a smaller cylinder for the Uniflow measure - perhaps I'll try that.

 

[MMCSRET]

Lee makes a very small dipper that I use for my bullseye load. The dipper is size .17 and is not included in their powder measure set. I really like the dipper set up and have been using them for selected loads for over 30 yrs. Even use a set of the old red ones. If it interests you, give Lee a call. Another way is to solder a handle to a case and then cut the case down to where it is level full with your selected powder charge. I've done this several times over the years.