Georgia Arms .32 H&R Wet Phonebook Test

[280PLUS]

4 rounds fired from my S&W 332 snub nosed revolver. 2 of the Georgia Arms 100 gr SJHP / and 2 of the newer offering in 85gr JHP. One of each shot through a synthetic "polo" type shirt and the others shot through just paper. The 100 gr are claimed by GA to travel 1100 fps leaving from a 7" barrel and at one time a while back I clocked one leaving my 1 7/8" barrel at 977 fps. The 85 gr, through a verbal over the phone claim, are said to leave a 2" barrel at "well over 1000 fps". First off, this was my first time trying this and one thing I learned is that I did not pay close enough attention to which rounds went through which material when I was digging them out of the books. So I can't tell you that. Anyhow, one of the 100 gr was not recovered and presumed to have passed completely through the ~21" of wet phone books. The other shows minimal distortion. However BOTH the 85 gr stopped ~ 2" from exiting the books and as you can see both expanded nicely. I didn't think to take a pic with them next to unfired rounds but I will do so ASAP and post for comparison. Hopefully, I will be able to answer any questions you may have.

 

[Bob79]

Thanks for the post 280PLUS!

I just picked up a 332 (with NO LOCK) and sold my 432PD. If the phone books were 21" thick, and the 85 grainers stopped 2" shy of exiting the books, then they penetrated to about 19"? If thats the case thats pretty good, and that the JHP's expanded is good also.

How far away were you from the phone book when firing into it?

I like seeing at least a few of us interested in this "unpopular", but good small handgun round. Hopefully when NAA has thier 32 H&R mini out it will prompt more people to make ammo in this caliber. And hopefully NAA's relationship with Corbon will result in Corbon coming out with a new round in the caliber. This round certainly beats out 22's, 25acp, 32acp, 380acp, and even some .38's!

My order from GA is/was delayed from them because they were waiting on supplies for both their 32 H&R and 32 S&W long ammo. Hopefully it will arrive to me soon.

I look forward to any additional pics, information, further tests, etc with this round, thank you.

 

[280PLUS]

Your welcome Bob. I've been pushingthis round for a while now, mostly in the interest of getting it picked up by other manufacturers and getting the price down a little.

I should have included that. We were 21 feet from the books. Incidentally we also fired some .45 JHP and some 9mm JHP at them too and all of those rounds passed through completely.

How did you manage to get ahold of a 332 without a lock?

When did you order your ammo? I picked up a few hundred of the 85 gr from them not too long ago.

 

[Bob79]

I ordered the ammo about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks ago, and I talked to them on the phone at the end of last week. They said I should have the ammo this week, so I'll have to see.

Well, I liked my 432PD a lot, but the thought of finding the same set up in a lighter gun w/o the lock had me hooked. The recoil was so almost non-existant to me with the 432PD that I knew it wouldn't be very increased with the 332, and its not. So I decided that if I could find one w/o the lock I would buy it.

I typed in "gun shop" under a search engine, and found a site, which I don't recall the name to now. There was a site that came up that had a bunch of links to gun stores. Then I found the gun stores that had web sites and e-mail addresses. I ended up e-mailing about 60-70 places all across the US, and one in Washington state said they had that gun used in their case. They said it was in great shape, and had only a box of ammo through it.

So I told them I'd take it. When I got it I could tell it had more than a box of ammo through it though, around the forcing cone most of the finish had been removed down to the shiny aluminum from cleaning. And there were spots on the exterior of the gun from carry wear at all the usual points, but the gun wasn't abused at all. It locked up tight, gap was good, no marks in unusual spots from being mistreated, just marks/wear at the proper places. So I sent it to clark to have the service action job, trigger polished, and front sight colored insert. I also talked to them and asked them specifically to check out the gun's function/safety because I bought it used, and didn't know the -previous owner. Clark said it was fine.

So now I have a great gun, and ended up selling the 432PD. I don't really have a use for two of almost the same gun. Only downside is, if it ever breaks where it would need a part unique to that caliber, I'd have to get it replaced w/ something else.

 

[280PLUS]

Nice, I may have to do that Clark thing myself. I REALLY like the idea of the sight insert cause IMHO the factory sights suck. Did you go orange hi-vis?

Yea, you have to be careful with your brass brush. I took a little finish off the swing arm myself. Live and learn...

I take a nylon wire tie and clip it off at a sharp angle and use it to dig the crud out of the tight spots. Soaking with Hoppes will help take the scorch marks off of it. And, where the cylinder gets scorched on the outside above (?) the outgoing end of the chambers I LIGHTLY take a brass brush and Hoppes on them. Doesn't get it all but it's the best I've come up with. No brass to the frame though. The finish IS delicate. Mine has shiny aluminum spots from pocket carry. Seems to only go so far though.

 

[pete f]

If you want to try the hi vis go to a fishing shop and ask for day glo or flourescent Jig paint. little bottles like nail polish will cost you about 3 bucks and you can try that. it is TOUGH vinyl paint and if you degrease the front sight with gun scrubber or acetone, it will last for a couple of years. you can remove it with gun scrubber and a cotton ball later if you want. you can also use nail polish to see if white or orange is the color you want. your significant other may have some already.

 

[griz]

Thanks for the info 280. I really like seeing someone test something instead of assuming brand X is better than brand Y. Do you know which brand of bullet is in each load? The round on the right has an XTP look to it.

 

[280PLUS]

Thanks, no I don't. I'll try to make a call to GA tomorrow. Under the weather today.

 

[P. Plainsman]

I believe GA's 100 gr .32 Mag load uses an old-tech Speer JHP and their 85 gr load uses the Hornady XTP.

Wouldn't mind having this verified, to be sure.

 

[280PLUS]

Well, the more I think about my last conversation with them the more I remember him telling me the 100 gr was discontinued beacuse Speer wasn't making them at the time. Somehow I think the name Hornaday came up too so I think you guys are right on.

 

[P. Plainsman]

[[EDITED -- pointless speculation deleted. I had a long steer in here about why GA went with the Hornady XTP, but in fact the 85 Hornady and 100 Speer are almost the only .32 Mag/.32 S&W Long defense-type hollowpoint bullets available, which is sufficient reason right there.

Sierra also makes one, but query whether they could supply them in the sorts of commercial quantities needed by reloading houses.

I would be very interested in chrono data for the GA 85 gr load, in order to compare with the Black Hills .32 Mag JHP, which also uses the Hornady 85 gr XTP. A Gunblast.com article clocked the Black Hills load at around 870 fps. That seems pretty slow. Yet Gunblast reported perfect expansion from the Black Hills load when fired into water. ]]

 

[280PLUS]

I recall he told me they had tried the 85 gr round because they couldn't get the 100 gr and it turned out they got "better performance" out of the 85 gr and would probably continue with it. That's why I did the test. Wanted to see for myself. Seems right. Also just to see how they both worked. Glad I did.

 

[cocojo]

280 were those books soaked in water or dry? Try soaking the phone books overnight, you will get a much better and more realistic result. I have a 432 S&W and love it. I just e-mailed cor bon for a DPX round. If enough people let them know how popular this round may be, it can get even better.

 

[280PLUS]

Yes, I did soak them overnight, they were pretty wet and mushy. I opened one before I bound them together and found no dry spots. As a matter of fact I had them sitting in the garage overnight in a rubbrmaid tub and there was a bit of ice going on in there when I tied them together. So it was actually a "slightly frozen wet phonebook test" Them suckers were pretty cold when I was taking them apart looking for the rounds.

 

[280PLUS]

Okie dokie,

Here's the skinny. The 100 Gr IS Speer and the 85 gr IS Hornaday. I talked to Curtis. He says, "If there's a ballistician around here, it's me." He invites us all to call him with our input on the rounds. He wants to carry only one or the other and is trying to decide whether to stay with the 85 gr or go back to the 100 when it becomes available. He said he likes the 85 better it goes faster and opens up better. He would stick with it except he's concerned about penetration through heavy winter clothing and leather jackets because of the lighter mass. I asked how the 100 gr performed in jelly tests and he said it DID open up. I failed to ask him if there was any available right now.

1-800-624-6861 ask for Curtis.

I gave him THR's address but he's not a computer type guy and he says he's pretty busy besides so...

 

[Byron]

280, Good post. I have loaded the 32 mag for some years and found the 85 xtp the bullet I prefer. I did some informal test on it a few weeks ago. I have a Ruger with a 4 5/8" barrel. The bullet is the 85 xtp. The load was my own data I worked up. I shot into a 55 gallon drum of water. The water temp was about 40. The bullet lost 7 grains of weight and the expansion was to about 43 caliber. Byron

 

[280PLUS]

Thanks Byron, That's something else I meant to include...

I just measured these both and they opened up to just about 3/8" or .375". I have no grain scale, sorry.

Did the copper "petals" fold all the way back over in your test like they did in mine? I'm assuming they did not.

 

[Byron]

The petals did fold in a perfect mushroom. The water allowed for no fragmenting or deforming.
Byron

 

[280PLUS]

Thank you!