WST powder, .32 S&W Long

I just spent over an hour searching the net looking for loads for the .32 S&W Long Wadcutter using WST powder and cast 85 grain DEWC bullets. Not much luck at all. I loaded 20 rounds with 1.6 grains of powder, and got failures extract / eject at around 20%. I'm sure it's because the slide is not traveling fully reward. My next 20 rounds are loaded at 1.9 grains of WST, but haven't tried them yet.

Pistol works flawlessly with my standard load with 98 grain bullets and Titegroup, so it's not the pistol.

Anyone have a load data range, min-max, for this combination? Again, .32 S&W Long, 85 grain cast DEWC, WST powder. Thanks.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/524424-32-s-w-long-target-loading-data-post139630107.html

Most is for a 98 WC.  For an 85 dewc, I’d load the max listed of 1.7 or use a different powder.  Winchester listed 1.4 231 with the 85 RN for 600 fps and 9600 cup.

When Don Nygord was selling Pardini HP's he recommended 1.5gr. of WST with a 98gr bullet.

Greetings,

Lapua offer an 83 grain commercial load suitable for autoloaders.

Might be a good idea to buy/mooch some and chronograph them.

This will give you a fairly reasonable "maximum" velocity.

Then, add powder to your cast bullet loads until the maximum velocity is met.

The best accuracy may be a lower velocity, saving wear and tear on the pistol.

Cheers,

Dave

Where did you find 85 grain DEWC bullets? Must be shorter than normal, what’s their length and diameter? Out of a slow twist Walther barrel these would be very interesting.

Dave, How prophetic .

I don’t have any experience with 85  gr DEWC, but have experimented with WST and 98 gr cast and swaged bullets. I’d be hesitant to jump from 1.6 gr directly to 1.9. Seems like too big a jump?

I would go with faster powders like BE for lighter bullets

jabberwo wrote:Where did you find 85 grain DEWC bullets?  Must be shorter than normal, what’s their length and diameter?  Out of a slow twist Walther barrel these would be very interesting.

www.mattsbullets.com .315 diameter. They shot absolutely horrible in my Benelli. Diameters measured anywhere from .315 to .319. I resized the ones that were oversized, but still no luck. They may work for someone else, but no luck for me.


BTW, anyone looking to buy a .315 sizing die cheap?

gregbenner wrote:I don’t have any experience with 85  gr DEWC, but have experimented with WST and 98 gr cast and swaged bullets. I’d be hesitant to jump from 1.6 gr directly to 1.9. Seems like too big a jump?

I settled in with 1.8 grains of WST. A little bit stiffer recoil, but anything less and I get failures to extract. 1.6 may work in a normal pistol, but my Benelli doesn't have an extractor, but it did at the time of my original post. Yes, it had one, but it keeps popping off, so I left it off. Good or bad, it works, and that's all that counts to me.

Mike38,

Many (most?) blowback pistols will function well enough without an extractor. I’m not familiar with the Benelli, but make sure you have a way to handle the situation when a range officer or match director calls for the line to be cleared when you have a live round chambered. With many guns that would require a rod through the barrel.

Mike38 wrote:

gregbenner wrote:I don’t have any experience with 85  gr DEWC, but have experimented with WST and 98 gr cast and swaged bullets. I’d be hesitant to jump from 1.6 gr directly to 1.9. Seems like too big a jump?

I settled in with 1.8 grains of WST. A little bit stiffer recoil, but anything less and I get failures to extract. 1.6 may work in a normal pistol, but my Benelli doesn't have an extractor, but it did at the time of my original post. Yes, it had one, but it keeps popping off, so I left it off. Good or bad, it works, and that's all that counts to me.

I started to ask if you had had chance to test LL accuracy, but saw your reply (which mirrored my results with cast 32 long Bullets). When I was loading.314 cast bullets, it seemed easy to bulge certain cases, particularly Fiocchi (they are a bit thicker than Lapua). Have you tried the “plop” test with the failures?  Perhaps a contributor?

gregbenner wrote:

I started to ask if you had had chance to test LL accuracy, but saw your reply (which mirrored my results with cast 32 long Bullets). When I was loading.314 cast bullets, it seemed easy to bulge certain cases, particularly Fiocchi (they are a bit thicker than Lapua). Have you tried the “plop” test with the failures?  Perhaps a contributor?

Before I tried resizing the cast bullets that were oversized (.316 and larger) they failed the plunk test. I then bought a .315 Lee sizer to give them an honest test. Even then, I could not get them to hold the black at a 25 yard target off a rest, so I gave up on those cast bullets.  So, being a glutton for punishment, I tried some cast .314 poly coated bullets made by a local company. Same thing, couldn't get them to hold the black at 25 yards. I thought they would have potential because this local guy makes a .357 LTC poly coated that shoots great in my 9mm. No luck with his .314. Cast bullets just don't work in .32 S&W long.

Those cast bullets don't work, l have rcbs that do, but it's a 2 cav mould...too slow to bother with

Greetings,

"Cast bullets just don't work in .32 S&W long."

Bad news. Cast bullets can be made to shoot in the 32 S&W Long.



The target above was a Haemmerli SP-20 barrel mounted in a mechanical fixture.

Distance is 50 yards.

Cheers,

Dave

Dave, I should know how to interpret your targets by now, but what brand were the bullets, or were they hand cast? I was of the impression that the hardness of the lead was very important for 32long bullets and commercially available bullets were generally too hard? (This is 2nd hand info, I’ve never cast bullets myself)

And btw, do you still own that SP-20 barrel? The one I have seems quite accurate although I have not used the RR to test it.

Greetings Greg,

The barrel I tested is yours now. At least I know I cashed your check.

The bullets are hand cast with a Hensley & Gibbs #66 mould.

Alloy is 20:1 Lead:Tin hardness is about 10HBN.

I have several 32 moulds and every once and a while I dig them out to see if I can out do the HBWC.

To me, swaging is a better route. Fewer rejects once the dies are set.

Cheers,

Dave

Ahh, I thought it looked familiar (lol).
 
Isn’t 10 BHN softer than commercially available bullets? I thought they might be in the +-15 range?  

Have you found BHN to be important in accuracy for 32 long?

Greetings Greg,

My efforts with cast bullets is an ongoing journey.

The problem I run into is Lead fouling of the barrel.

While the fouling also occurs with HBWC bullets, the cast versions foul more quickly and heavily.

I tried purchasing commercial cast bullets "as cast and not sized". The quality was so bad, I swaged them into practice bullets.

To be redundant, if you want quality cast bullets you need to make them yourself.

Cheers,

Dave