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Source for New .32 S&W (short) Brass?


TN Mongo, SASS #61450

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I unexpectedly, just acquired an H&R hammerless revolver in .32 S&W (short).  The bore and chambers look brand new.  The exterior shows some honest wear - carried a lot and shot very little.  See stock photo below:

 

 .32 H&R hammerless revolver - Bing images

 

I'd love to shoot it, but I've struck out on finding brass.  I have a decent amount of .32 S&W longs that I could cut down, but I would prefer to find brass that I wouldn't have to trim.  I've back ordered from Starline, but none of my other regular sources have it in stock.  I'm sure that there are other sources that I don't know about.  Any info would be greatly appreciated.

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12 minutes ago, TN Mongo, SASS #61450 said:

I unexpectedly, just acquired an H&R hammerless revolver in .32 S&W (short).  The bore and chambers look brand new.  The exterior shows some honest wear - carried a lot and shot very little.  See stock photo below:

 

 .32 H&R hammerless revolver - Bing images

 

I'd love to shoot it, but I've struck out on finding brass.  I have a decent amount of .32 S&W longs that I could cut down, but I would prefer to find brass that I wouldn't have to trim.  I've back ordered from Starline, but none of my other regular sources have it in stock.  I'm sure that there are other sources that I don't know about.  Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

If you were able to back-order from Starline, you'll receive it shortly.  They don't open it up for back-ordering unless they know it will be available soon.  My backorders arrived within 2 weeks.

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1 hour ago, McCandless said:

 

 

If you were able to back-order from Starline, you'll receive it shortly.  They don't open it up for back-ordering unless they know it will be available soon.  My backorders arrived within 2 weeks.

I’ve had a back order for .44 Russian open unfulfilled since April of last year. I wish it was only a matter of weeks. 

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1 hour ago, Sedalia Dave said:

If after 3 or 4 weeks Starline hasn’t shipped, pm me and I’ll sell you a few of mine. I likely have more than I’ll ever need. 

 

 

Thank you!

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1 hour ago, Goody, SASS #26190 said:

Be sure yours is rated for smokeless, or load light BP loads.

This one was manufactured in 1905.  I think I should be okay for smokeless.  I also have no intention of shooting anything but mild loads in this revolver.

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1 hour ago, Kid Rich said:

You can use 32 acp in that pistol. The rims are not quite as large so extraction is not as easy. If you shoot smokiless in it .7-.8 g of Bullseye works well. That is 7/10 of a grain.

kR

I was going to mention 32 ACP brass, just have to make sure that the case mouth doesn't interfere with your chambers as ACP is also longer than S&W short.  Additionally SAAMI chamber pressures are significantly higher, so I would err on the side of trying to reload ACP brass with BP or some other low pressure load, differences in internal volume of the two cases means you should be wary of using the 32 load data in the ACP case trimmed or not.

image.png.ff3fb51d2d8cad8461b05d6741c1e34b.pngimage.thumb.png.7e0870657690173e4d98a0e8a81b431c.png

 

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Since my wife shoots Ruger .32 mags, I had hoped to re-size, expand, and seat with .32 mag dies and crimp with a Lee .32 acp taper crimp die (I've already ordered this die).  Do any of you who have reloaded this cartridge know if this will work?

 

On ebay, I have found a new Lyman 3 die set that says it will handle .32 S&W, .32 S&W Long, and .32 acp.  There are also numerous individual .32 S&W dies for sale.  I don't want to buy anymore dies if my original plan will work.

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The 32 mag sizing and belling dies will definitely work

 

Not sure if the 32 ACP taper crimp will work or not as the 32 ACP neck diameter is about 0.0025 larger than 32 S&W.

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I sent an email to Lee Precision.  Although they didn't have their .32 S&W die sets in stock (and no else did - that I could find), they sent me a link to Precision Reloading.  Precision had them in stock and I have a set on the way.

 

Thanks to the help of Sedalia Dave, I will also have some new brass to "play with".    :D

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6 hours ago, El CupAJoe said:

I was going to mention 32 ACP brass, just have to make sure that the case mouth doesn't interfere with your chambers as ACP is also longer than S&W short.  Additionally SAAMI chamber pressures are significantly higher, so I would err on the side of trying to reload ACP brass with BP or some other low pressure load, differences in internal volume of the two cases means you should be wary of using the 32 load data in the ACP case trimmed or not.

image.png.ff3fb51d2d8cad8461b05d6741c1e34b.pngimage.thumb.png.7e0870657690173e4d98a0e8a81b431c.png

 

You will notice the load I suggested for using 32 acp in 32 S&W.  Less than one g of powder. My wife has several breaktops and the length of the brass has never been a problem. I don't now nor would I ever suggest using full load 32 acp in a breaktop.

kR

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On 3/1/2022 at 4:42 PM, Turkey Flats Jack said:

My pal @Flint N. Steele found half a dozen or so at a gun show last weekend. Not a guarantee but gun shows usually produce a hidden gem from time to time

Yes, and I found some loaded ammo on (Gun Broker or Ammo Seek) from Liberty Shooting Sports.
Others had some, but were higher priced, almost $60 a box.
If your revolver only has one patent date on the rib, it is a second model, and OK for smokeless.
If it has three or four patent dates, it was a black powder gun.
Hope this helps.
Flint

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Flint,

 

After a little research, I found multiple sources that stated a surefire way of determining if the H&R .32 S&W is a smokeless powder model is if the cartridge designation is stamped on the barrel (left side).  If so, the earliest production date was 1905 and it is safe for smokeless powder.

 

My newly acquired revolver has the cartridge stamped on the barrel. 

 

Thanks for your input. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

.32 S&W dies are in stock at Titan Reloading.  Anyway, they were last week when I ordered mine.

 

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