The .32 S&W Long:
A Sentimental Shorty Story
The line-up used for the .32 S&W loads.
We shoot for many reasons; many stem from our curiosity, thoughts, fantasies or desire to dip our toes into bygone eras. It’s the last category we’re going to be exploring today: shooting old guns with handloaded ammunition and old-style bullets. The guns we’re talking about are classics — S&W Model 31s and a Colt Police Positive Special. The cartridge is none other than the classic .32 S&W Long.
Bullets included the Lee .32 93-grain roundnose,
RCBS .32 98-grain SWC, and MP Molds 100-grain HP.
Elmer’s First
The .32 S&W Long was developed in 1896 for Smith & Wesson’s first-model Hand Ejector. It was known for being an extremely accurate cartridge and was carried by numerous police departments of the time. It was also the first sixgun cartridge Elmer Keith ever shot at the ripe old age of 10. The gun was a Police Positive Colt.
Keith states, “While going home from a fishing trip, we stopped at an old bridge. A ground squirrel stuck its head out a knot hole 15 yards from us. A friend who was with us and owned the gun asked me if I could hit the squirrel? He told me to hold the tip of the front sight level with the top of rear notch and then set the squirrel’s head on top of the front sight. I rested my arms on the banister of the bridge and shot. The squirrels head slowly slid back into the hole. I was a tickled kid.”
Later, Elmer went on describing the virtues of the .32 S&W Long when loaded with flat-nosed bullets and praising its propensity for accuracy.
Starline Brass was used for Tank’s handloads.
Cast Perfection
Recently, while perusing the Lee Precision website, their .32 caliber round-nose slug caught my attention. I’d seen these mold for years but always skipped over it. For some reason, this time, it caught my eye in an “old timey” kind of way, so I ordered a six-cavity mold. Listed as a 93-grain bullet, my alloy drops them piping hot from the mold at 95 grains.
The second bullet I use quite frequently is the .32 caliber 98-grain RCBS SWC. It drops from my mold at 100 grains and looks very much like a smaller “Keith” slug. I’ve always had wonderful luck with this slug accuracy-wise when shooting it in other .32 H&R sixguns. Its flat nose makes it a hard hitter. Friend Dick Thompson says he easily shoots through 6” quakies when driving this bullet 900 fps from his .32 H&R.
The last bullet I use frequently is from Slovenia-based MP Molds.It is a radiused flat-nose design, weighing 100 grains and has a hollow point (HP). It has always behaved well in the accuracy department and is deadly on varmints with the huge HP cavity.
Round-nosed cast bullets are great for plinking. Flat-nosed
and hollowpoint bullets hit harder and produced more damage.
Colt Handloads
The .32 S&W Long is best suited for faster burning powders ranging from Power Pistol, Winchester 231 and Red Dot. All loads were assembled using my Lee Precision Classic Turret Press with Lee dies. A Lee Auto-Disk Powder Dispenser was used with the Lee Micro Disk (#441523) since the charges were so small.
I was able to drop 3.0 grains of 231 with this disk. When numerous calibers are handloaded, the Lee Classic Turret is the way to go. Dies can be in their preset position and stored in the die plate. This makes swapping calibers quick and easy, taking just seconds to accomplish.
When using 3.0 grains of Winchester 231 powder with the RCBS SWC and MP Molds bullets, velocity runs around 880 fps from the 4” barrel of the Police Positive Special. The Lee Precision 95-grain roundnose went just over 900 fps.
With 3.8 grains of Power Pistol, muzzle velocity was 885 fps for the 100-grain bullets and 914 fps for the 95-grain Lee slug. Glen Fryxell shared his favorite load of 2.6 grains of Red Dot. With the RCBS SWC and MP Molds HP, they run at 800 FPS and are very accurate. The Lee slug clocked at 840 fps with this load and was very accurate.
Shooting was done at 50 feet and all loads ran in the 1-1.5” group. As stated, the .32 S&W Long is an inherently accurate cartridge.
A Lee Precision Class Turret Press was used for all loads.
The S&W Model 31s
Both Model 31s are five screw guns having 3.25” barrels. The ivory stocked gun was once owned by my good buddy, Mike “Madbo” Hytura. Naturally, velocity ran slower from these shorter barrels than for the Colt. For both the RCBS and MP Molds, bullets using 3.0 grains of Winchester 231, velocity averaged 834 fps. The 95-grain Lee was around 861 fps. Once again, 3.8 grains of Power Pistol were a tad faster for all loads.
The Red Dot load of 2.6 grains drove the RCBS and MP Molds bullets 773 fps, while the 95-grain Lee bullet went just over 800 fps. The Power Pistol charge of 3.8 grains went 820 fps. The sights on the S&W guns were easier for me to see and groups were just a tad tighter than those of the Colt.
Shooting the .32 S&W Long is a lesson in fun low recoil shooting but having enough punch to easily dispatch small rodents.
Power Pistol and Red Dot are wonderful powders for the .32 S&W Long.
Hot Lead & Blued Steel Versatility
Shooting vintage guns with cast bullets is as classic and natural as it gets. The great thing about the easy shooting .32 S&W Long is you can also shoot it in your favorite .32 H&R, or .327 Federal sixgun. Nothing says you need to shoot heavy loads all the time. There’s a place for both easy and hard shooting loads and the .32 S&W Long lets you do just that. Being the first sixgun cartridge Elmer Keith ever shot will keep you in good company.
