32 S&W Plinking Discovery (In a Hollow)

  • 10K Views
  • Last Post 17 December 2018
bruce posted this 29 September 2008

Saturday I visited my son's cabin, which is in a hollow. It is considered ok to plink there, so I brought along my ancient H&R breaktop revolver. I had a box of store-bought .32 S&W and a box of .32 longs that I had handloaded with some 93 grain bullets from a Lee mold.

I was shooting at a paper plate about 5 yards away. With the short rounds, I never managed to hit the plate at all. I switched over to the longs, and pretty much just hit the plate wherever I pointed. I'm assuming I was hitting way low with the shorts.

I was just surprised that there could be such a vast difference in POI versus POA at such a short range. Now the barrel is only 3 1/2” I think, not a real target gun, especially with its miniscule rear fixed sight.

One reason for even buying the plain short .32 S&W rounds was that I thought it would be fun to see how this old-time round fired, plus having the empty brass to play around with. I supposed it would be a nice quiet round that would be reasonably accurate at close range. Now I'm thinking that there isn't much point in even reloading the brass.

Has anyone else noted this phenomenon? I'm assuming that Plinker's Hollow is the correct place for such non-scientific rumination.

While I was up there I pulled out my NAA mini revolver and plugged the plate a couple times with .22LR. I'll have to say this for the .32 S&W: it is much kinder on the ears!

Attached Files

  • Liked by
  • David R.
Order By: Standard | Newest | Votes
John Alexander posted this 11 April 2018

Thanks Jim. When a shooter says a gun shoots cast "very well," "accurately", "into small groups"," like a lazer", or whatever, it would be helpful if they then give a hint about what their adverb of choice translates into in group measurements. 

John

Attached Files

Ed Harris posted this 17 February 2018

Expand case with .44 Mag or .44-40 expander to reduce taper and make case more cylindrical, flare mouth a bit. 

Charge primed case with 5 grains of Bullseye. 

Keep powder charge light due to large flash hole in blank case. Patterns are better too.

Thumb Walters .44 card wad into case mouth and seat onto powder with 3/8" dowell.

Insert Federal 410SC shotcup firmly on card. 

DO NOT omit the overpowder card, as powder will leak past the .410 plastic shot cup and cause bloopers.

Fill shot cup to case mouth with fine shot, No.8 or No.9. 

Place .36 cal. card over shot inside protruding fingers of shot cup and crimp shell in .44 Game Getter Long Shot, or .45 ACP Shotshell die.  Also possible to make your own crimp die by cutting 1/2" off bottom of Lee .308 Win.seater and insert blank Lyman or RCBS lubricator stem inside seater and adjust to mid-point of shoulder in die to position card while you bump case mouth against shoulder to form crimp. 

After crimping trim protruding wad fingers flush with sharp knife.

Photos below show full process and typical patterns in .44-40 rifle and cylinder bore .410

   

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

Attached Files

  • Liked by
  • RicinYakima
  • M3 Mitch
Ed Harris posted this 30 September 2008

I've also accumulated about 100 .32 S&W cases, the short ones, and have had similar experiences in shooting them, both firing up garage sale odds and ends of various odd-lot factory loads, and attempting to reload the brass.  Best results have been with the 94-gr. Meister .312 LFN using 1.7 grs. of Bullseye, crimped in the normal crimp groove.

This is the same charge I use with this bullet in the .32 ACP.  This load is fairly quiet, but less accurate than my usual .32 S&W Longs.  I've kept the brass in case I stumble across a really nice revolver, such as an S&W New Departure Safety Hammerless which would require the shorter .32 S&W cartridges, but .32 S&W Long is my plinker of choice in either walking rifle or revolver.

Soap block below shot with The Bunny Gun using my normal .32 S&W Long load.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

Attached Files

  • Liked by
  • M3 Mitch
Ed Harris posted this 13 April 2009

Easiest way I found to cut bullets in half was to roll them on a steel plate while “worrying” them in half with a sharp knife. Then file the “button” on the base flat.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

Attached Files

  • Liked by
  • delmarskid
Ed Harris posted this 16 February 2018

.... Reading Ed's various pieces about bunny guns, especially the converted small frame shotguns is likely what got me back into the CBA.  This is fun stuff indeed.  One of those small frame H&R break opens is in my gun safe, marked .44 Shot I think, and will be sent off for conversion when my time in Nevada is done.  If it is reasonable to safely accomplish the existing barrel might become a .410 too...

Rechambering to .410 is feasible, but so is loading the .44 Shot using Starline 5 in 1 blank cases.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

Attached Files

  • Liked by
  • M3 Mitch
Ed Harris posted this 18 February 2018

Ed have you try that with a 44mag case?

 

Never saw the need to use .44 Magnum brass this way, as in the shorter case the Speer capsules are better, loaded in accordance with their directions.

The 5 in 1 cases closed with the .44-40 Game Getter Long Shot will fit into .44 Magnum chambers, and the longer case holds more shot.  If you use the .45 ACP Shot-crimp they might not go in, depending upon your chamber...

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

Attached Files

  • Liked by
  • M3 Mitch
RicinYakima posted this 11 April 2018

Not really, as the 32/20 has a normal twist rate of 1/20 and the 300 BLK is 1/7. One should not expect bullets to interchange very well for accuracy. One of my shooting partners has one, but it doesn't seem to be very accurate with any cast loads, yet. So far every 10 shot group at 100 is about 2+ inches. FWIW

Attached Files

  • Liked by
  • M3 Mitch
Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 11 April 2018

300 blk .... sometimes we have lots of answers but not very many questions ... applause

Attached Files

  • Liked by
  • TRKakaCatWhisperer
max503 posted this 17 December 2018

Regarding light 32 loads - I've used a primer tray cavity for a powder dipper and loaded 38 special to shoot out of a snubbie.  (The bullet could get stuck in a longer barrel.) These are very quiet.  I swear, under the right conditions I could shoot them straight up and see the bullet reach its zenith then fall back to earth.  I call it my slingshot load because that's about how powerful it is.

Attached Files

  • Liked by
  • M3 Mitch
hseaver posted this 31 December 2008

     Back years ago when we lived way back in the woods and I did a lot of hunting and trapping, and ran sled dogs, I used to carry a nice old S&W hammerless in .32 short. I handloaded it with the same round balls we used in my son's .31 cap and ball revolver, but with smokess powder. The ball weighed 51 grains, and I developed top loads of 3.5gr 630 or 3.0gr of Unique.      This was a very accurate and flat shooting load in that gun, and I used it regularly for years for snowshoe rabbits and red squirrels. The S&W ND hammerless can be very accurate if you learn to squeeze the trigger properly -- there is a distinct hesitation just before the sear breaks and you can hold it there easily while you sight in on the target. I'd say the velocity of those loads had to be up around 1000fps as it punched a clean hole through sheet metal like a car door, same as a 22 rifle would and, as I said, shot pretty flat. I shot a goat with it once and it went right through both sides of the goats skull with no problem.

Attached Files

Bret4207 posted this 06 January 2009

Until the barrel was stupidly ruined by yours truly, I regularly used a Remington #4 Rolling Block converted from RF to CF with 32 S+W Shorts and Longs. My son + I took a large amount of small game with the shorts and the Lyman 311316. The boolit was a bit heavy but at ranges up to 50 yards or so it worked fine. I don't think they went much more than 8-850 fps from the shorts, I never did chrono them. At 100 yards the drop was significant, although we could certainly bust clods in a field at those ranges using a bit of Adirondack windage!

I also have a Rem #6 I converted in the same manner but it needs the chamber opened just a tad with a real reamer rather than the ho'-made job I used. If I ever get the Green Mtn barrel I want for the #4 it will be in the woods with me again. Plus, I have a 5+6 year old to train yet.

Attached Files

Dale53 posted this 12 April 2009

When I was a young lad, my uncle, who was in the grocery business kept a .32 S&W lemon squeezer in the store for “protection".

He lived on and farmed about 100 acres. He decided to butcher a large hog. He took the revolver home, and point blank shot the hog in the forehead. The hog shook his head and he shot him again, and again. The hog had enough of this and broke out of the pen and got clear away running down the lane. Half way down the lane, he changed his mind and came charging back, REALLY mad, popping his molars and set on HURTING his tormentor. In the meantime, my uncle grabbed an axe and when the hog came for him he settled the matter (my uncle settled the matter).

When the hog's head was skinned there were three bullets spread out the size of nickels and there was a slight crack at the point of impact with each round:doooah:.

One very positive thing came out of this scene, my uncle purchased a .38 Special for store defense. He decided that if he shot a robber with the .32 S&W it would probably just “make him mad":uhuhuh:.

Dale53

Attached Files

hseaver posted this 12 April 2009

Yeah, the factory .32 S&W short is not much on power. When I tried them out on a car door, they just dented it. My handloads with a 51gr. round ball made a clean hole right through. But... they were also on the edge. I measured base diameter with a micrometer as I worked up the load and backed off when I got too much expansion, which also caused a bit of sticky extraction.     But at any rate, for bunnies, squirrels, and partridge, they work just fine.

Attached Files

gnoahhh posted this 12 April 2009

My very first reloading experience with a pistol (40 yrs. ago @ age 15) was with an old “British Bulldog” in .32 S&W. After de/re-capping and charging with a miniscule amount of Red Dot I thumb seated bullets made from 311241's. Made them by cutting them in half with a pair of side cutters and then filing the pinched ends sort of flat. I'm not making this up! After slaving away and getting 6 rounds loaded, I repaired to the backyard for the test firing. The first shot out the barrel hit the telephone pole I was shooting at about 15 feet away. The bullet bounced back and hit me on the shin bone. Although it hurt like hell, it didn't even make a bruise. 1 shot, lesson learned. The remaining rounds got dismantled and all shooting with that little gem from then on was with “found” ammo. I do credit that experience with igniting a passion for reloading that continues to this day. (I no longer cut 150gr. bullets in half for pistol fodder with side cutters though. Now I use a hacksaw.:P)

Attached Files

tturner53 posted this 16 January 2010

I'll have a Ruger SSM soon. I've managed to get S&W Long dies, a bunch of new .32 mag brass, and just scored over 300 longs. Got a mold too, the Lee TL. I assume the difference in brass will be similar to using .38 Sp. in a .357. Any issues I should be aware of, besides the loads being different?

Attached Files

Dale53 posted this 16 January 2010

I shoot mostly .32 S&W longs (with my cast bullets and reloaded) in all of my .32's. I shoot far more target loads than I do high velocity loads. For that purpose, Longs do quite well. In fact, loaded with a Keith 100 gr SWC 2.8 grs of 231 in a Long case makes for a dandy edible small game load. I use these in my S&W 631, My S&W 16-4, and my SP 101.

Just like when using a .38 Special in a .357 Magnum it IS important to thoroughly clean the cylinder before trying to shoot .32 H&R Magnums after shooting .32 S&W Longs.

FWIW Dale53

Attached Files

TonyT posted this 18 July 2010

When I shot bullseye centerfire with a Walther GSP in 32 S&W Long I used either WST or W-231 with a 98 gr wadcutter. My scores really improved in the centerfire stage when I switched to the 32 from a 45.

Attached Files

Baltimoreed11754 posted this 28 January 2016

I picked up a nice nickeled H&R .32 Bicycle with the box years ago with the plan of using it as a sidematch CAS revolver. A very nice looking revolver but too small so I sold it for twice of what I paid. I bought a nice .450 cal British Bulldog which I used as a sidematch pistol. I still have the Bulldog.

Attached Files

M3 Mitch posted this 06 April 2016

I think in general shooting a short cartridge in a longer cylinder, and probably with a rifling twist rate more suited for the generally heavier bullet of the longer cartridge, the short does not perform as well as it would in a properly fitting chamber. In my experience this is true of the .22 Short - works way better in my old bottom-eject Browning that is chambered for it, with the slower rifling twist tuned to the 29 grain bullet of the short, not the 40 or so usually found on Long Rifle ammo (when you can find any!)

What do you guys think?

Attached Files

Urny posted this 14 February 2018

My wife has a Smith&Wesson Model 1 1/2 .32 S&W that I load with 1.1 grains Bullseye and an 0 buckshot thumb pressed into the unsized case.  Even with such a light load it twists uncomfortably in hand when fired, but will not penetrate a raised dryer lid at 10 steps.  With the balls coated with liquid alox there is no leading so far, though we have probably fired only five or six hundred of these through the old revolver.

Twenty years or so ago I came upon 2,000 new or once fired (the memory fails) W-W cases, so we probably have plenty for our uses. Sometimes the cases are loaded with the same balls and shot through an adapter in one of our 30-06's.  A heavier powder charge is used for that, and the barrel is checked after every shot just to make sure.

While I don't have a rifle chambered for .22 Short we have used Shorts for critter control and have found as M3 Mitch says, that they generally are less accurate in .22 LR chambered rifles than shooting the LR cartridges.

I hope it is not bad manners here to bring back old posts.

 

Urny

Attached Files

Show More Posts
Categories
Search
Popular Tags
This Weeks High Earners
Hot Topics
Close