.32 S&W long handloads anyone?

[Jamie Jackson]

I inherited a K-frame .32 S&W Long M&P (model of 1948 according to the good folks on the S&W forums). It was my father's bedside gun for a long time and has set in my safe for the past ten years.

The action is tight, locks up solidly and after a disassembly and through cleaning the DA pull is remarkably smooth. The single action pull is ridiculous! 

I should be receiving a set of dies, some 100 gr LWC bullets, and brass in the mail tomorrow.

Has anyone here ever handloaded .32 S&W Long?

The powders I have on hand are: Unique, Bullseye, Titegroup, AA#2, W231, 2400, Trail Boss and probably some others I can't think of at the moment.

And Yes, I do have a chronograph.  

I'd appreciate any info and experiences loading this cartridge... bullet weight, powder charge, OAL etc.

I'll attach a couple of pics of the .32 Smith below. I should have cleaned it innards and started shooting it earlier!

 

 

Dirty innards! 

Edited August 15, 2019 by Jamie Jackson
spelling

[Jamie Jackson]

I see I also have American Select and HS-6 powder. I knew there was more.

 

[cajunpredfan]

I have not loaded any 32 S&W longs as of yet.  I have only loaded 327 rounds.  I know I have loaded the 327 to 32 H&R specs not sure if I've loaded any to S&W long.  I will look at my load data tonight and respond.

I buy my 32 S&W longs at Academy.

[Jamie Jackson]

1 hour ago, cajunpredfan said:

I have not loaded any 32 S&W longs as of yet.  I have only loaded 327 rounds.  I know I have loaded the 327 to 32 H&R specs not sure if I've loaded any to S&W long.  I will look at my load data tonight and respond.

I buy my 32 S&W longs at Academy.

Thank you. I appreciate you sharing any info you have.

I've found some load data through Cast-bullets  and a few of the  powder company's online sites.

There's a very narrow powder charge range. It'll be interesting to develop some loads for this gun.

[Ronald_55]

Nice!

[gregintenn]

32-20 is as close as I've gotten to reloading the 32 Long. I think it should be pretty simple. Unique or Bullseye should both work fine. I'd probably start with a low end charge of Bullseye.

If they are true wadcutters, the ones I've loaded for 38 Special were pretty much all inside the case and crimped. Scary accurate.

Edited August 15, 2019 by gregintenn

[Jamie Jackson]

@gregintenn

I just got my bullets in the mail and the dies are en route.

I have a pound of Bullseye sitting out on my bench as that's what I've been running in my .38 spls. Reckon I'll give that a go. That's a narrow window (1.8-2.2 gr), so I'll be doing some careful measuring.

Being a K frame .32 and with this nice of an action, I am hopeful in the accuracy department. Time will tell.

 

 

[gregintenn]

2 hours ago, Jamie Jackson said:

@gregintenn

I just got my bullets in the mail and the dies are en route.

I have a pound of Bullseye sitting out on my bench as that's what I've been running in my .38 spls. Reckon I'll give that a go. That's a narrow window (1.8-2.2 gr), so I'll be doing some careful measuring.

Being a K frame .32 and with this nice of an action, I am hopeful in the accuracy department. Time will tell.

 

 

Unless you can’t shoot or your bullets aren’t any count, you’ll get phenomenal accuracy out of that old workhorse.

[Garufa]

Can’t help with recipes but that’s kind of a rare gun isn’t it?  Not many K-frame M&P .32’s were made.  Not saying you shouldn’t shoot it, I’m just impressed you have one!

Edited August 15, 2019 by Garufa

[Jamie Jackson]

21 minutes ago, Garufa said:

Can’t help with recipes but that’s kind of a rare gun isn’t it?  Not many K-frame M&P .32’s were made.  Not saying you shouldn’t shoot it, I’m just impressed you have one!

LOL. I know, Right?

I guess it is actually. The S&W forum folks tell me there was 4,813 of them made. I doubt this is a factory nickel job, most likely an after-market chrome plating. The plating kinda went hand in hand with the heat and humidity of SW MS.

My father had an affinity for .32 Smith's and carried a small .32 snubby in his right hip pocket from the time I was a small child until he traded it off sometime in the 1980's. He came up with this one somehow and I inherited it when he passed.

So it's a keeper, and I will definitely be shooting it. The action is pretty darn good and I've never been much of one to own a gun and not shoot it. Doesn't make much sense to me.

You'll need to shoot it when I get some loads worked up.

 

[cajunpredfan]

Nothing in my reload data would be of any use to you.

I looked in my books.

Hornady:

90gn HBWC 

COL .92

90gn SWC

COL 1.185

Bullseye 1.6gn to 2.0

Unique  1.7 to 2.5

Win 231  1.8 to 2.5

 

Lyman:

100gn JHP

COL 1.160

Bullseye 2.0 to 2.3

Unique 2.5 to 2.8

 

Hope that helps some.

[Jamie Jackson]

6 hours ago, cajunpredfan said:

Nothing in my reload data would be of any use to you.

I looked in my books.

Hornady:

90gn HBWC 

COL .92

90gn SWC

COL 1.185

Bullseye 1.6gn to 2.0

Unique  1.7 to 2.5

Win 231  1.8 to 2.5

 

Lyman:

100gn JHP

COL 1.160

Bullseye 2.0 to 2.3

Unique 2.5 to 2.8

 

Hope that helps some.

That helps immensely!  Thank you!

I'm still searching Castboolits and finding some great data. Unique powder info was minimal, so that is (to me) solid gold!

You are a gentleman and a scholar Sir.

Edited August 16, 2019 by Jamie Jackson

[Whisper]

I don't remember the charge, but I have used Unique behind a 115-gr SWC with good results in the .32 Long and .32 Mag.  The 115-gr bullet was originally used for the .32-20, I believe, but lots of shooters of the smaller-capacity .32 cartridges have found 115-gr to be an accurate weight for the caliber -- often better than the lighter weight bullets.

I expect I have the notes around someplace, and if I can find them I'll pass along info on the powder charge.  But I expect any cast bullet handbook would have some recommendations (and I probably got mine from the Lyman book or something similar).

Cheers,

Whisper

Edited August 16, 2019 by Whisper