Cast in the .32 H & R Magnum

By: John Goins/akabeagle

Several years ago, a reloading acquaintance gave me a bag of .32 Magnum cases that came from proof loads used at a well-known manufacturer’s firing range.  I removed the primers and tumbled them and stashed them over the loading bench and labeled the box and moved on.

Every time I looked up at that box, the label “.32 Magnum” haunted me and kept calling out, “use us”.  My local gun shop went out of business several months after I acquired the brass.  In their inventory was a new Single Six .32 H & R Magnum that tempted me but it had fixed sights so I passed despite the attractive cost.

I also looked at the Buckeye special order Ruger Blackhawk made with a .32 H & R Magnum cylinder and a .32-20 interchangeable cylinder. I’d lusted after a .32-20 Ruger for years and I knew several dealers that had one but the price was a little high to pay just so I could use up some .32 Magnum cases. 

The week before Christmas of 2005, I was in my newly adopted local gun shop and here’s a Single Six, with adjustable sights and holster at a very attractive price.  I asked the caliber and was told, .32 Magnum.  Despite the fact that it was Christmas, this little gem was in the truck when I got home.  Kind of an early Christmas present to myself was the way I explained it (to myself).

While sitting at the bench cleaning the new acquisition I spied a set of Butler Creek grips on the overhead shelves for a Ruger Blackhawk. I tried them and they fit.  My hand requires a pretty large set of grips and these felt good.

There I was.  New pistol, loads of brass, .313” sizing die, 4 acceptable moulds and no shell holder or dies.  Out came the plastic and I hit Midsouth’s web site and soon, a shell holder and a set of tungsten carbide dies were on the way.

By now, I was champing at the bit.  I searched through my moulds and came up with four likely candidates.

Figure 1: L-R; 311252, 313492, 308244 and 311008 HP

I have plenty of .30 moulds that cast big and probably would work but I was kind of worried about the pressures involved in using bullets in excess of 100 grains in the Single Six and the .32 Magnum’s small capacity case.

Based on this criteria, I selected a (See Figure 1) Lyman 311252, Lyman 313492,  an old Ideal 308244, and one of my favorites, the Lyman 311008 HP and made up a fair run of each.  I was worried about the length of the 311008 HP, but later loading showed me that it is probably workable. The .311 moulds are marginal as far as diameter in the .313” applications.  By the process of “beagling” I was able to bring all of the moulds up to around .315” and then sized them down to .313” using a nose first sizing rig designed by Orygun Mark. Subsequent checks on both the barrel and cylinder were very revealing.  A .311” diameter bullet wouldn’t fit through the chambers and wouldn’t begin to start down the barrel. Bullets sized .311” shot just fine and were more accurate than the .313” diameters I had worked so hard to obtain. This smaller diameter really opens the realm of light .30 bullets to .32 Magnum owners as many of the current light .30 moulds will hit .311” just fine. So much for accuracy of the loading manuals in the case of the Single Six.

L-R: 311252, 308244, 32-98-WC RCBS, 311008 HP, 3118

Then “the little brown truck” delivered my dies and shell holder.  I hadn’t bought a set of Lyman dies in some years but have always had good luck with them in pistol calibers.  I was pleased. This is a multi-purpose set and designed to load the .32 S & W Short, the .32 S & W Long and the .32 H & R Magnum. It came with two seating punches: one for wad cutter bullets and one for round nose bullets. Also included are both long and short expanding plugs for the M die for use with the .32 S & W Short.  My shooting partner has promised a box of each type of brass so I’ll try those as well and see how they load and shoot.

The First Test

The first test was carried out in a blowing wind and cool temperatures.  I was a little surprised that the initial loads showed no more signs of pressure than they did.  I’m always apprehensive about firing a new caliber for the first time…especially a small capacity case.

Shooting at targets at 50 and 100 yards and noting drastic deviations of the bullets at that range employed my usual method of testing. I was surprised that the .32 Magnum could hold up at 100 yards as well as it did.

The 313492 did not shoot well at all at 50 or 100 yards so its use will be discontinued from further testing.  I have never obtained satisfactory results with this bullet in the Ruger Blackhawk .30 Carbine either.

.32 H & R Magnum

First Test Results

Bullet	Wt	Powder	Wt	AV Vel	Stan Dev	Primer	Szd Dia	OAL	Accuracy
308244	94.0	700-X	3.1	955	5.3	WSP	.313	1.400	Good
311008 HP	105.0	Blue Dot	4.9	789	29.4	WSP	.313	1.395	Good
313492	90.4	Bullseye	3.5	1073	19.5	WSP	.313	1.258	Not Acc
311252	97.8	WW231	4.0	1103	17.3	WSP	.313	1.360	Good

Encouraged by the first test results and based on perceived bullet performance, I decided to use the two heavier bullets available to me for further testing.

Follow on testing

The 311008 HP has always shot well for me in the Ruger .30 Carbine Blackhawk so I decided to see if it was possible to achieve 1,000 FPS with it and its “solid” counterpart the 311008 which weighs 119.7 grains from my mould. I felt that either of these bullets would be sufficient for a good, heavy plinking bullet.  Testing was continued on the 308244 weighing 94.0 grains as a possible small game bullet to be used on squirrels.

.32 H & R Magnum

Follow On Testing

Bullet	Wt	Powder	Wt	AV Vel	Stan Dev	Primer	Szd Dia	OAL	Accuracy
308244	94.0	Bullseye	3.5	1040	14.0	WSP	.313	1.400	Good
311008	119.7	Unique	4.0	1064	18.2	WSP	.313	1.392	Good
311008 HP	105.0	Herco	4.1	1069	33.2	WSP	.313	1.400	Good
311008 HP	105.0	Unique	4.1	1035	15.6	WSP	.313	1.400	Best
311008 HP	105.0	Blue Dot	5.3	884	29.6	WSP	.313	1.400	Good
32-98-WC RCBS	102.0	Unique	3.0	998	8.6	CCISP	.313	1.174	Good
32-98-WC RCBS	102.0	Bullseye	2.3	868	9.0	CCISP	.313	1.174	Acc@ 50 yards Not acc @ 100 yards

.32 Smith and Wesson (Short)

I never intended this project to go this far but last Sunday my shooting partner, Earl, gave me a box of .32 S & W and a box of .32 S & W Long once fired cases. Since my new Lyman .32 Magnum die set was advertised to load all three rounds and both the .32 S & W and the .32 Smith & Wesson Long can be fired in the .32 Magnum and I had never attempted loading a case this small, I decided to give it a try.

Inspection of the cases quickly pointed out that about half of them were “balloon” head so these were immediately culled.  Be aware that a lot of vintage .32 brass is of this variety so be on the alert for it.

I’m not a great fan of the .32 S & W round.  My sole experience with it was from college days.  My partner and I were the local campus “shootists”. I had a Smith & Wesson Model 10 38 Special and he had a Model 28 Smith & Wesson .357.  In those frugal days, I brought cast #358495 wad cutters from home and we loaded in his off-campus apartment using my press and economical loads of Bullseye.  The local police chief had blessed the use of his range when not in use by his people. After Christmas holidays one year, Roger brought grandma’s .32 Smith & Wesson break top back with him. Naturally on the next outing this was a topic of interest.  He had a box of vintage bullets (the short variety).  The barrel was far from pristine but the remainder of the gun looked mechanically sound so we loaded her up and he selected a 55 gallon barrel off the edge of the range and let fly at about 25 yards. He finally corrected the point of impact and achieved two hits.  Both were slightly high and bounced off the barrel. My turn next and the same result was achieved. Our next experiment was to place a 2 X 6 against a pine tree at the range of about 15 yards to see if the bullets would penetrate it.  He hit it the first shot and something came rebounding back and hit him on the thigh.  Lucky he was wearing Levis as all it did was raise a whelp. At this point, we relegated the remainder of the ammunition supply to a plinking role and that was the last time either of us mentioned that gun. It may have been the bad barrel but since that day, I have not had any faith in the power of the .32 Short.

With that experience in mind, I loaded about 30 rounds using the Lyman 311252 sized .313.  The dies functioned perfectly and I’ll chronograph these and see if the round has improved over time and will do better in a modern gun.

I encountered a problem during firing of the 32 Short ammunition.  The loading gate for the Single Six is very close tolerance.  The cylinder and loading gate have to be almost perfectly aligned in order to load cartridges and extract fired cases. Hopefully, this has been corrected on later guns as this is a fairly early model.  R-P .32 Short cases were very hard to load and it was almost impossible to remove fired cases from the cylinder due to this tolerance. On returning home, these case rims measured about .004” larger than the .32 Long and .32 Magnum cases and just enough to make extraction difficult.

.32 Magnum case rims - - - - - - - - .3676 average

.32 Long case rims - - - - - - - - - - -.3699 average

.32 Short case rims - - - - - - - - - - -.3717 average

So, be aware that this problem exists in some early guns. I’ll make a mandrel and remove about .005” from the rim diameter and the problem should be resolved. I don’t plan on making a habit of firing .32 Shorts anyway.  I just wanted to see how they did.

The data listed below for the .32 Smith and Wesson Short and Long cartridges was tested using a Ruger Single Six.  Use at your own risk.  Do not under any circumstances use this data in older guns such as breaktops.

32 Smith and Wesson Short

Bullet	Wt	Powder	Wt	AV Vel	Stan Dev	Primer	Szd Dia	OAL	Accuracy
311252	79.8	700-X	1.8	812	28.7	WSP	.313	.860	Accurate 50 yards
311252	79.8	Red Dot	1.9	945	37.7	WSP	.313	.860	Accurate 50 yards
311352	79.8	Bullseye	1.5	579	11.1	WSP	.313	.860	Accurate 50 yards
308244	94.0	Green Dot	1.9	950	28.3	CCISP	.313	.888	Not Accurate

.32 Smith and Wesson Long

I have vastly more respect for the Long round. I’ve lusted for years for a mint K-32 but so far my lust has been frustrated.

I loaded a box of once fired Mag-tech cases with both the Lyman 311252 and the Lyman 308244 sized to .313.

Again, the dies functioned perfectly so they are as advertised and work well.

.32 Smith and Wesson Long

Bullet	Wt	Powder	Wt	AV Vel	Stan Dev	Primer	Szd Dia	OAL	Accuracy
311252	79.8	Red Dot	3.3	1165	23.9	WSP	.313	1.155	Accurate 50 yards
308244	94.0	Bullseye	2.9	952	10.4	WSP	.313	1.178	Accurate 100 yards
308244	94.0	Unique	3.7	968	33.0	WSP	.313	1.187	Accurate 100 yards
311008	119.7	Green Dot	2.6	1100	8.0	CCISP	.313	1.188	Accurate
311008 HP	105.0	Green Dot	2.6	1084	6.8	CCISP	.313	1.188	Accurate
311008 HP	105.0	Unique	3.5	927	12.2	CCISP	.313	1.188	Accurate

.32 ACP

Yes, even the .32 ACP case is useable in the .32 H & R Magnum cylinder. I’m not real hot on shooting these “shorties” including the .32 S & W Short but they may have some application if you’re really hard up for reloading brass. The Lyman dies also handled these cases as well as the other cases.

.32 ACP

Bullet	Wt	Powder	Wt	AV Vel	Stan Dev	Primer	Szd Dia	OAL	Accuracy
311252	79.8	Green Dot	2.3	933	19.5	CCISP	.313	.952	Accurate 50 yards

More mould designs enter the picture

After I was almost done testing for this article I was blessed on an E-Bay auction and a Lyman 313631 double cavity mould showed up in the mail box. At virtually the same time, through the efforts of one of those famous three way trades, I acquired a RCBS 32-98-SWC mould.

L-R: 32-98-SWC RCBS, Lyman #313631 PB  and Lyman 313631 PB HP

The little #313631 mould was designed for the .32 H & R Magnum.  I cast 100 and gas checked, sized and lubed them and will try some warmer loads.  Of course, with a new mould in hand, my modification shenanigans got the best of me and I had the gas check shanks removed on both cavities and had one cavity hollow pointed. The 32-98-SWC RCBS is almost a dead ringer for the 311008 but shortened to weigh about 100 grains.

Tests with the factory design 313631

Bullet	Wt	Powder	Wt	AV Vel	Stan Dev	Primer	Szd Dia	OAL	Accuracy
313631	104.7	2400	9.2	1347	32.1	WSP	.311	1.335	Good acc@ 100 yards Max Load
313631	104.7	WC820 L50276	7.0	961	13.4	WSP	.311	1.335	Good acc @ 100 yards
313631	104.7	Lil Gun	10.5	1320	57.8	WSP	.311	1.335	Good acc@ 100 yards Max Load
313631	104.7	AA#9	7.1	1148	29.9	CCISP	.311	1.335	Good acc @ 100 yards
313631	104.7	WC820 L50276	8.0	1076	31.3	CCISP	.311	1.335	Good acc @ 100 yards
313631	104.7	2400	8.0	1148	29.6	CCISP	.311	1.335	Good acc @ 100 yards

The tests above told me that Lyman had pretty well hit the nail on the head with the design of the #313631.  Never to be satisfied with a production bullet, and knowing the whereabouts of a second 313631, I entered the mould in hand into surgery.  The first modification was to remove the gas check shanks. This time, since the GC shank is so long, I elected to have the machinist mill out the bottom .060” and left .045” as a small grease groove.  It worked perfectly. Then one cavity was opened to take a .100” hollow point pin.  The resulting bullets look great.

Tests with the modified #313631 plain base

Bullet	Wt	Powder	Wt	AV Vel	Stan Dev	Primer	Szd Dia	OAL	Accuracy
313631PB	102.7	2400	8.0	1175	16.8	CCISP	.311	1.335	Good Acc@ 100 Yds
313631PB	102.7	AA 9	7.1	1089	20.0	CCISP	.311	1.335	Good Acc@ 100 Yds
313631PB	107.2	Lil Gun	10.0	1319	30.3	CCISP	.311	1.335	Good Acc@ 100 Yds
313631PB	107.2	Herco	4.1	1163	23.1	CCISP	.311	1.335	Good Acc@ 100 Yds
313631PB	107.2	Tite Group	3.6	1120	18.9	CCISP	.311	1.335	Good Acc@ 100 Yds
313631PB	107.2	Universal	4.0	1145	29.2	CCISP	.311	1.335	Good Acc@ 100 Yds
313631PB	102.7	WC820 L50276	8.5	1156	12.4	CCISP	.311	1.335	Good Acc@ 100 Yds
313631PB HP	98.2	2400	8.5	1255	29.9	CCISP	.311	1.335	Good Acc@ 100 Yds
313631PB HP	98.2	AA 9	7.1	1113	31.0	CCISP	.311	1.335	Good Acc@ 100 Yds
313631PB HP	98.2	WC820 L50276	8.5	1153	28.4	CCISP	.311	1.335	Good Acc@ 100 Yds

Loads tested using the 32-98-SWC bullet

Bullet	Wt	Powder	Wt	AV Vel	Stan Dev	Primer	Szd Dia	OAL	Accuracy
32-98-SWC	104.3	Tite Group	3.6	1014	19.8	CCISP	.311	1.435	Good Acc
32-98-SWC	104.3	Lil Gun	10.0	1317	20.5	CCISP	.311	1.435	Good Acc Max Load
32-98-SWC	104.3	Herco	4.1	976	23.6	CCISP	.311	1.435	Very Acc
32-98-SWC	104.3	Universal	4.0	953	26.4	CCISP	.311	1.425	Good Acc
32-98-SWC	104.3	WC820 L50276	8.0	994	14.3	CCISP	.311	1.425	Very Acc
32-98-SWC	104.3	2400	8.0	1011	21.4	CCISP	.311	1.425	Good Acc

Now, here, I got a little surprise.  I was down to less than ½ box of CCI Small Pistol primers. I’d planned for enough CCIs to finish the test but the acquisition of the RCBS 32-98-SWC mould caused me to over run the supply of CCIs and go to Winchester Small Pistol primers.  Velocities dropped across the board even though I attempted in several cases to reach the 1,000 FPS threshold by upping the powder charge by a couple of tenths. This leads me to caution readers again to start low and work up with your particular primer/powder lot combination.

32-98-SWC loads tested with Winchester Small Pistol Primers

Bullet	Wt	Powder	Wt	AV Vel	Stan Dev	Primer	Szd Dia	OAL	Accuracy
32-98-SWC	104.3	Unique	4.0	918	9.6	WSP	.311	1.430	Good Acc
32-98-SWC	104.3	Herco	4.3	922	40.9	WSP	.311	1.430	Good Acc
32-98-SWC	104.3	Universal	4.2	928	20.3	WSP	.311	1.430	Good Acc
32-98-SWC	104.3	WC820 L50276	8.5	867	82.1	WSP	.311	1.430	Good Acc
32-98-SWC	104.3	Blue Dot	5.5	737	51.8	WSP	.311	1.430	Good Acc
32-98-SWC	104.3	AA # 9	7.2	738	56.3	WSP	.311	1.430	Good Acc
32-98-SWC	104.3	Lil Gun	9.0	1036	75.3	WSP	.311	1.430	Good Acc

I was a little surprised when I compared the results of firing the 32-98-SWC with those of the 313631 with the same loads.  Both bullets are fairly close as far as weight is concerned and I couldn’t explain the velocity drop with the 32-98-SWC with all else being the same.

After thinking about this for a while, I went downstairs and measured the two bullets.  The results were very revealing:

Comparison of physical dimensions

313631 PB to 32-98-SWC

Bullet	Bullet Length	Base to  Crimp  groove
Lyman  313631PB	.625	.370
RCBS  32-98-SWC	.578	.200

In the 313631, the majority of the weight is in the bullet base.  In the 32-98-SWC more of the weight is in the nose.  This design difference gives us about .170” more powder capacity in the case if the bullets are both crimped in the crimp groove and this is enough to give the difference in velocities.

It also means that the 32-98-SWC can be driven to higher velocities with less pressure than the 313631 given that the bullet weights are more or less the same.

I still had nagging questions over what was causing the velocity differences with the 32-98-SWC bullets and WSP primers.

As a result, I ran the following tests.

Follow up testing with .313” diameter 32-98-SWC bullets.

Bullet	Wt	Powder	Wt	AV Vel	Stan Dev	Primer	Szd Dia	OAL	Accuracy
32-98-SWC	104.3	Blue Dot	5.5	947	29.8	CCISP	.313	1.430	Good Acc
32-98-SWC	104.3	WC820 L50276	8.5	1094	24.8	CCISP	.313	1.430	Good Acc Max
32-98-SWC	104.3	AA9	7.2	1044	40.3	CCISP	.313	1.430	Good Acc Max
32-98-SWC	104.3	Universal	4.2	1036	21.3	WSP	.313	1.430	Good Acc
32-98-SWC	104.3	Herco	4.3	1028	17.3	WSP	.313	1.430	Very Acc
32-98-SWC	104.3	Unique	4.0	1034	11.1	WSP	.313	1.430	Good Acc
32-98-SWC	104.3	2400	8.0	1015	26.6	WSP	.313	1.430	Good Acc

There is definitely an increase in pressure and as a result, the velocity with bigger diameter bullets and also with the use of CCI small pistol primers.

In the .32 Magnum, this is not critical unless you’re operating right at the upper end of the pressure envelope.  In smaller, high pressure cartridges such as the 9mm and .30 Carbine, this could definitely be  a factor to watch.  This is another reason to start low and work up loads to match your specific gun, sizing diameter and powder primer combination.

313631 PB HP recovered at 100 yards.

32-98-SWC RCBS bullets recovered at 100 yards.

In Conclusion

Since obtaining the little Single Six, I’ve learned a lot about loading for small bores.  After shooting it for several months and over two thousand rounds with .32 Magnum, .32 Long, .32 Short and .32 ACP cartridges, I find it to be a nice, handy little six shooter for plinking and probably for small game shooting as well.

The abundance of light .30 bullets that can be “beagled” makes it attractive to bullet casters who want a light, handy carry gun for plinking.

If the ownership of a .32 Magnum “forces” you into buying a new mould, my recommendation goes to the RCBS 32-98-SWC for all around use. This little gem can then be downsized for use in the .30 Carbine or other light .30 caliber applications.

The .32 Magnum round is good for plinking up to 100 yards and so are certain loads in the .32 Long cases. 

The .32 Long with the round nose 94.0 grain 308244 will make an excellent load for squirrels over a dog or the occasional shot at a cotton tail..

The “shortie” .32s, are all right for short range plinking up to 50 yards and would probably be nice for carrying on one of my favorite pastimes…canoeing.  Great for disturbing the sleep of a Cotton Mouth Moccasin dozing in the sun or gathering a mess of bullfrogs along the creeks or rivers that I canoe where ranges are really short. Nice to have on the hip when walking the woods trails where the occasional Copperhead is encountered. For normal range work, I’ll not load any as I don’t think they’re worth the effort as plenty of .32 Long and .32 Magnum cases are on hand but the “shorties” will shoot in the Single Six just fine.

It’s just a nice little plinking and companion gun and economical as far as lead and powder are concerned.

It’s a great little gun to have in your cabinet.

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