.32 S&W Long WC

Just went through all my reloading manuals and the only WC loads shown for this caliber are for 90 grain hollow base WC. I have just purchased 2,000, 1,000 Lapua .314 98 grain LHBWC and 1,000 .312 Meister,  100 grain Hard Cast, Double End WCs. I went this route because: 1. - I was able to find them in stock 2. - I have been told to stay away from shooting hollow base WCs in my Benelli as they can cause barrel bulge as they expand.

Anyone have pet loads for these WCs?

I have about 30 different powders so I am sure I will have about anything needed.

Thanks, Bob

Search the forum for 32 S&W, there's a lot of info. This is a very tricky caliber to load for if you expect sub 2" groups at 50yd. I recently sold all my 32 equipment, was too finicky to get extreme accuracy and I didn't love the recoil impulse when loaded to 50 yard velocities. Most that really want their gun to shoot are taking Speer Plinkers then swaging them to fit their bore better, some are getting custom barrels made to better match commercial bullets. BE powder is very commonly used and readily available. Good luck.

Greetings,

Accuracy with cast bullets is second to the HBWC.

Your Benelli barrel may measure 0.314" groove diameter. At least all the Benelli's I have measured are that size.

The cast bullet needs to be the same diameter or slightly larger (0.314" - 0.3145"). Smaller bullets will foul the barrel quickly and accuracy will diminish.

In the past, I have had good results with cast bullets using Winchester WST powder.

Use 1.5 - 1.6 grains and chronograph the loads. Seek a load that clocks about 700-730 FPS.

Why a chronograph? To avoid over charging the ammo and beating the gun up.

By the way, there are no HBWC bullets suitable for your Benelli available in the USA. If you, or friends, travel to Europe, have them bring back a box of H&N 0.314" 100 grain Match Greased bullets. They come in boxes of 500. Use these for 50 yards.

Best of luck.

Cheers,

Dave

Hi, I did find factory ammo with HBWCs. And these guns are WC only anyway.

Thanks for the input. I will search back. I have plenty of Bullseye and a Labradar chrono, so thanks too for the heads up about tuning the loads for less beat up of the rifle.

Bob

A few  links:  
http://www.targettalk.org/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=44518  
https://www.bullseyeforum.net/t11463-whats-your-32-sw-long-load-using-hn-314-wadcutters-or-bumped-speer-clones  
https://www.bullseyeforum.net/t9916-sw-32long-copying-the-hn-314-hbwc-for-reloading  
http://www.targettalk.org/viewtopic.php?t=39661  
https://www.bullseyeforum.net/t10045-32-sw-sizing-expander-plug  
https://www.bullseyeforum.net/t4766-32-sw-loads  
https://www.bullseyeforum.net/t678-32-sw-long-basics  
https://www.bullseyeforum.net/t6926-huge-fliers-with-32long-reloads  
https://www.bullseyeforum.net/t8353-bullet-swaging-at-home?highlight=Swaging  
http://tonybrong.blogspot.com/2010/05/loading-32-s-long.html  
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/868358708  
http://www.corbins.com/sale.htm  
https://bulletswagingsupply.com/main-price-sheet.pdf

I have used 95 gr hard cast wadcutters that measured .314” from the National Bullet Co which is now out of business. The wadcutters looked like the same as the RCBS mold casts. They were very accurate at 25 yards out of my Walther GSP Expert which has a .314” barrel. Unfortunately I went through all 500 without testing them at 50 yards. The load I settled on was 1.60 grains of Bullseye, Federal GM100M, .94” OAL in GECO cases. It chronographed 735 FPS with an ES of 28. Hope this helps!

Thanks Guy ....... Puts me well on my way.

Bob

Good links above. The 32 is fussy to load as you can see. Bulging occurrs due to bore obstruction from underloaded rounds, or no powder, BTDT sort of. Caught it each time but with light recoil, it's possible to overlook the malfunction and rack a new one in.
Good luck

I just bought a bunch of factory ammo from TargetSportUSA, so will see how they shoot first.

Bob

My 98 Grain Lapua Projectiles are .314 and Lubed. Can I assume that it is save to shoot the .312s in my Benelli, but just clean the barrel better and not expect as good accuracy?

Bob

Greetings,

The 0.314" bullets will be fine in smaller barrels. Speer conducted pressure tests long ago using bullets of varying diameters and concluded very little difference in pressure. Handbook #8, I think.

My concern is that if your Lapua bullets have the black coating.

I was never able to get them to shoot at 50 yards with any barrel I have in my stash.

If your Benelli is stock, chances are the barrel groove diameter is 0.314". It would be wise to measure it.

Cheers,

Dave

I will measure it as well as the barrel on my Sag Hammerli P240 - Thanks

Greetings,

The Haemmerli P240 barrels I have measured gauge at 0.3125" groove diameter.

Cheers,

Dave