32 H&R Magnum "Ruger Only" loads

I recently traded into a 1986 Ruger SSM with a 4 5/8" barrel. A buddy of mine wanted to sell it, I wanted one, so exchanged a duplicate SS Police Service Six for it. I think we both ended up happy.

So, after perusing the forum archives and other resources, including Brian Pearce's excellent article in Handloader #270 on the 327 Federal Mag and 32H&R Mag, I am setting forth to work up some higher performance loads than the 21K psi standard set for the weaker H&R revolvers so many years ago.

I just tried a first handload based on Pearce's Handloader article using AA#9 and a Sierra 90gr JHC (the LGS didn't have any of the Hornady 100gr XTPs in stock). I must say, true to form, this load delivered the accuracy it was reported to have. I was getting a group in the 2.5-3" range at 50 yards from the little revolver, which isn't too bad for iron sights at that range. Didn't get a chance to chrono it though, but again if true to form it should be pretty impressive. AA#9 is a good powder, but I still get a little grittiness residue. I know that Lil'Gun and H110/WW296 are excellent too.

I also have a Lee TL314-90-SWC tumble lube bullet mold coming in to try casting up a few. It may not be the best cast bullet for the cartridge, but seemed a good inexpensive first mold for a usable plinker bullet. Or it may be a very good bullet. If there ever was a bullet/cartridge that seems economical to shoot for enjoyment and performance, the 32 H&R must be it! I plan to load that with WSF, my favorite go to powder for over 15 years for most lead bullet loads in straight walled cartridges using self developed loads.

There are certainly plenty of conventional pressure level loads out there.
Anyone have any favorite "Ruger level" 32 H&R Mag loads, especially jacketed bullet ones? If you don't feel comfortable posting them here, then please PM me. I have considerable experience as a handloader and load developer for over 45 years, but local knowledge is always a good place to start.

I have used Brian Pearce's data with the 100 gr XTP from 11.5 - 11.8 grains W296 and CCI 550 primers. It's a crackerjack load and cases fall from the cylinder of my little Single Six.

I have also loaded up the Sierra 90 grain jhp with W296, but I switched to Blue Dot with the lighter bullet, partly because I think the 296 is a little slow with the lighter bullet, and partly because I have a lot of the old Hercules Blue Dot on hand. There is data in the 49th Lyman manual with the Sierra and a max of 6.5 grains of Blue Dot. I only ever use standard primers with Blue Dot, but my max is a might higher than the Lyman data.

I will say that I won't reorder the Sierra bullet. It just seems too light for the Ruger only loads in 32 mag. It seems I can push the 100 gr XTP's faster anyway and it holds up better when attacked by gallon water jugs. Like you, I first bought the Sierra bullets because I couldn't find any of the xtp's.

Mostly, though, I load 3.5 grains W231 under a 94 grain rnfp (looks like more of a swc to me) and could shoot those all day long. My daughter likes this load, too.

I like the 32's better than .22's any more.

Doug you like the 100 better then the 85 XTP? Just curious since you did not like the 90 Sierra.

I just picked up 300 of the 85's to try but I have not loaded any yet. I normally shoot a 100 grain lead MC bullet at around 1000 fps, but I wanted to try some jacketed hollow points for if I ever get a shot at a coyote when I am out hunting.

Good info, dougader, thanks!

I agree about the Sierras being a little light for full potential. I plan to pick up some XTPs. I have always had good performance with that bullet whatever the caliber and weight. It delivered good accuracy, no doubt about that, but I'm not sure I could easily push it as fast with the right powder to maximize it. Way to light to even consider Lil'Gun. Blue Dot is a good choice.

I had some Georgia Arms 100gr ammo thrown in with the deal and was not particularly impressed with its performance at the range. I thought about pulling the bullets and reloading. They are not XTPs, but may perform better with an improved powder charge.

First the disclaimer. I don't know if these loads are safe in your gun or even in my gun, and I'm not advocating any of them. Having said that,

The gun is a Ruger SP 101 with a 4 inch barrel, and I've done almost no load development. The first load was 11.0 grains of H-110 behind a hornady 85 grain. It chronographed at 1200 ft/sec, and gave a lot of muzzle flash. Didn't like it.

For cast bullets, I prefer to shoot a bullet that's heavy for the caliber at a low velocity - 850 to 950 ft/sec. I tried 4.0 grains of unique behind a 115 grain lead cast. Seemed to work OK but for some reason, I never chronographed it.

Ethang said:

Doug you like the 100 better then the 85 XTP? Just curious since you did not like the 90 Sierra.

I just picked up 300 of the 85's to try but I have not loaded any yet. I normally shoot a 100 grain lead MC bullet at around 1000 fps, but I wanted to try some jacketed hollow points for if I ever get a shot at a coyote when I am out hunting.

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I haven't tried the 85 grain XTP. Maybe it will hold up better than the Sierra 90 grain jhp. Either, I suspect, would be fine for jack rabbits. For coyotes I'd just feel better with the 100 grain XTP.

I ran 10.9 grains W296 with the 90 grain Sierra and it got about 1120 fps in a 4-5/8" single six. It was closer to 998 fps frmo a 1-7/8" S&W 431 PD.

Only been shooting water jugs up to this point. But the Sierra's shed the lead nose of the bullet clear down to the bottom of the hollow point in the first jug and then the little stubbin continues on into the 3rd jug. The 100 grain Hornady XTP holds together and penetrates well into the 4th gallon jug of water.

My single six has since been chopped to 3-3/4" by Alan Harton and so the velocity is a bit less now. IIRC I got 1167 fps with the 100 gr XTP and 11.6 grains of W296.

I run the cast bullets at a leisurely rate of 850 fps and save the barn burners for the jhp bullets.

Here's some info by John Taffin that uses Hornady bullets along with cast:

http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/taffin.asp?Caliber=32%20Magnum&Weight=All&type=Handgun&Order=Powder&Source=

Oh, I have also loaded the 94 grain cast bullets with 4.2 grains W231 and that got me right at 1,000 fps in the single six when it still had the 4-5/8" barrel. I didn't get any leading, but decided I didn't need that much velocity for punching paper targets and shooting the occasional rat or squirrel.

Here's some more info:


www.reloadammo.com/32hr-mag.htm

For those shooting cast bullets, what size do you find works best? I know that it is usually dependent on the specific revolver's throating. I haven't measured mine yet. The Sierras at .312 will not even come close to passing through them with a pencil push. But I understand that the Lee mold usually drops them at .314, or even see reports of up to .315 with some alloys. I have a sizer for .311 so have some room to experiment and suspect it may be a winner both for accuracy and ease of loading. Some of the earlier SSM's were reported to have tighter throating and that being the case I would rather size down the bullets than opening the throats, especially given the performance so far with the Sierras. I expect that the Hornady 100 grainers at the same diameter will perform well too.

The 90 gr Lee SWC is good for plinking loads. With heavier slugs, the usual powders work well, AA9, and 2400 have worked well personally, and Unique for lighter loads.

I've gotten my best results with AA #7. I'm surprised to see people doing their best work with the slower powders like 296/110 and #9. Perhaps that is because I've never loaded anything heavier than a 90 grain bullet.

The data that follows if far above anything you will find in a reloading manual. I'm sure it would take apart an H&R top break in short order. But it is data which was published and tested by a couple of the leading experts in our field so consider the source. Just start out well below their final load!

This is from Gun World magazine, March 1986. Pages 50-53. Skeeter and Dean Grennell co-wrote a reloading piece on the .32 Magnum using a Ruger Single Six. They wanted to see what they could come up with as a ".32 Magnum +P." Their top load they I adopted and have used as my gold standard was 9.4 grains of AA #7 behind a Horn 85 grain JHP. They were using a Ruger SS with a 6.5" barrel and that load hit 1500 fps. Now that's a little Magnum!

In my guns, that load is usually right on the borderline of too hot. Depending on which SS I shoot it out of and depending on the ambient air temp, I may get flattened primers and difficult extraction. So I long ago just went to a straight 9.0 grains. Easier to remember anyway.

But I guess I'm different than you guys. I love those little Sierra 90 grain JHC bullets. They have always been very accurate for me. I've never shot anything huge with them but they seem to kill what they hit. I was hoping to be able to push them with 8.5 grains of #7 but my SS's didn't like it. I had some split case mouths and difficult extraction. So I dropped back to 8.0 grains of #7 and I will tell you that is one of my magic loads. And it isn't even all that hot. Much hotter than a factory load but not crazy hot. Just gets the job done. Probably 80% of the .32 Magnums that I fire are that 8.0 grains of #7 behind a 90 grain Sierra JHC. Good thing I bought a bunch of them years ago!

Gregg

Excellent info, tulsamal.

I had suspected that AA#7 would be a good choice for the little Mag in lighter bullet weights. Normally, powders like H110, WW296 and AA#9 are best for standard or heavy for caliber bullets. This is especially true as a general rule for Lil'Gun, although it can achieve some remarkable velocities at low pressures.

I was planning on trying some AA#7 for some old stock priced Hornady 85 grainers I just picked up cheap, so this gives me a good start point to drop back from your load and work up.

Anyone got any pet loads for 115 grain lead bullets? I'm looking for 950 fps or so.

About 4 grains of 231 will get you there.

I finally got around to casting a test run of the 90gr Lee tumble lube bullets this past week. The alloy was more on the soft side, probably about 15:1 tin, and cast some very nice looking bullets from that mold. Since my revolver has very tight throats, I ran a hundred of them through a Lee .311 sizer die after lubing them with Hornady One Shot. They seemed to fall mostly around .313 as cast, but would only barely pass through the revolver's cylinder after sizing, and then with some effort. I did the tumble lube thing with Lee Alox (and a squirt of One Shot since I didn't have any mineral spirits handy and it seemed pretty thick), let them dry overnight, and loaded them up with 4.2gr of WSF (this load is over SAAMI spec, but since I was looking for a "Ruger level" load, bumped it up about 10% to start).

The results look pretty good so far. I did not chrono them, but the accuracy was generally good except for some vertical stringing. I had noticed a little vertical stringing with the jacketed bullets. It could be my shooting and the lighting conditions, or perhaps variation in weight, maybe even lube technique since this is a new one for me. I did not weigh them for consistency. At 25 yards the groups ran about 1-1.25" wide but about 3" vertical. The charge seems a good start point, and although there was no sign of any leading at all, I suspect a harder bullet would be preferable if I want to push it. It was encouraging enough for some further development fun though.

FergusonTO35 said:

Anyone got any pet loads for 115 grain lead bullets? I'm looking for 950 fps or so.

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I have used HS-6 with these bullets. My 1894 marlin shoots fantastic with it!

From my 4 inch SP-101
Sierra 90 Gr JHP
OAL 1.315
CCI SPMP
Federal Brass
9.0 Grs 2400
1217 FPS
American Handgunner Magazine
July & Aug 2002
Your Mileage may Vary

Anyone got any pet loads for 115 grain lead bullets?

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115g RN . I've settled on 5.0g AA#5 under this bullet. That gets you 1088fps out of a a 5 1/2" barrel. 4.0g of Unique was ok too at 1095fps but metering was awful -- had to weigh every load. 5.0g of True Blue is also a good load at 1092fps. Above with standard primers CCI-500 primers. 5.0g of HS-6 (magnum primer) shot well 1071fps. Note that with a standard primer HS-6 gave me a ES of 115fps but with the Magnum primer ES was 50fps. Working up some CFE-Pistol but haven't found a good load there yet. YMMV of course.

I use 100gr. coated by SNS bullet they work well in both of my 32s.