Sharing a previously published article of mine which appeared in The Fouling Shot. I hadn't seen much mention of the .32 revolvers here, so thought I would post this as a thread starter for comment and to shake the trees...
Tales from the Back Creek Diary - Revisiting The .32 "Popguns"
The ".32 Popguns" are great small game guns which are much more effective on any game larger than bunnies than a rimfire. With today’s ammo scarcity and greater cost of .22 rimfire ammo, casting your own bullets and loading .32 cartridges with economical powders like Bullseye or TiteGroup is more cost effective. While the .32 ACP or .32 S&W Long would never be your first choice as defense guns, when loaded with flat-nosed, cast lead bullets which are heavy for their caliber, they are more effective than traditional LRN and FMJ factory loads, which served in police and military roles from about 1900 into the early 1980s.
It is interesting that the Colt 1851 Navy, firing a .375" diameter, 80-grain lead round ball with about 20 grains of 3Fg black powder, killed multitudes of bad guys in its day. That performance approximates a .32 S&W Long revolver with bullet of similar weight, being driven to about 850 fps with 2.5 grains of Bullseye. Using handloaded ammunition, in a strong gun, the ballistics of the .32 ACP, .32 S&W Long, .32-20 Winchester and .32 H&R Magnum and .380 ACP are all quite similar in terms of payload and velocity, about 90 grains at 900 fps.
In a sturdy, steel-frame WW2-era .32 ACP autopistol, you can safely drive a 90-grain .309" Hornady XTP bullet at 900+ fps from a 3.5" barrel using 3 grains of AutoComp. Substituting a lubricated cast lead flat-nosed cast bullet of similar weight you approach 1000 fps with that same 3 grains of AutoComp and penetrate 30+ inches of water jugs. While Beretta 81 former police pistols being recently imported have light alloy frames, their heavy slides and stiff springs enable them to handle heavy loads safely in moderation, if not for a steady diet.
A charge of 3 grains of Bullseye or 3.5 grains of 231 or HP38 gives about 900 fps in a sturdy post-WW2 steel frame, .32 S&W Long revolver like the S&W Model 30 or 31, or Colt Police Positive, approximating actual chronograph results for firing 100-grain .32-20 Winchester factory loads fired a 5-inch revolver.
In post-1918 S&W .32-20 Hand Ejectors having heat treated cylinders you can safely load 3.5 grains of Bullseye, 5 grains of AutoComp, 7.5 grains of Alliant #2400 or 10 grains of 4227 with a 100-115 grain lead flat-nosed bullet to produce about 1000 fps from a 5" revolver having a snug cylinder gap of 0.004-0.006".
That very level of performance defined the performance "envelope" for the .32 H&R Magnum, in which the "design intent" was to efficiently attain full .32-20 black powder velocity levels in a strong, modern case having correct capacity to efficiently use smokeless powder at pressures approximating the .38 Special +P, which could be chambered in small, compact pocket and "kit" guns. The .32 H&R does precisely that.
The .327 Federal is to our "little" .32s what the .357 Magnum is to our common .38s. It approximates the ballistics of Winchester 1892 High Speed .32-20 rifle ballistics, but from a revolver. I think of it as a rimmed, revolver equivalent of the 7.62x25 Tokarev round. Its high velocity appeals to varmint shooters and enhances its potential as a defense round, when used with expanding bullets, like the 90-grain Hornady XTP, but is unnecessary for a small game foraging gun, as full charge loads are overly destructive of edible game.
The great advantage of the .327 is that revolvers chambered for it can also use .32 S&W Long or .32 H&R Magnum ammo, but that you also have a sturdy gun for steady use with heavy loads which you are unlikely to shoot loose with what the late Frank Marshall, Jr. referred to as "adventurous experimentation." And if you really want to singe the hair off the backs of your hands, bring spots before your eyes with muzzle flash, and go deaf the first time you shoot full-charge .327s without ear plugs, then it's your huckleberry!
I use my .32 handguns for the same things that "normal people" use a .22 LR for, recreational shooting, small game and farm utility carry. I am told by rural-agricultural users the .32 does a much better job at humanely slaughtering stock than a .22. These days if you cast your own bullets from scrap alloy you can load .32 less expensively than buying fresh .22s at current prices. One pound of Bullseye powder will load about 2500 rounds.
In the rural south and Appalachia .32 handguns and ammo are common at estate sales. I expect that this is a regional preference. Factory ammo is readily available from Internet sellers. Starline makes the best brass. A great variety of suitable molds are available. I seek and accumulate partial boxes of various .32 cartridges in pawn shops and at estate and garage sales in my rural West Virginia county. I eagerly snap up all that I find. My pre-WW2 revolvers are used mostly with vintage factory ammo to avoid inadvertently stuffing them full of hotter loads I would normally use in my S&W Model 30 or Ruger SP101.
You need only ONE set of dies, a bullet mold, and two shell holders to reload for all of the common .32 pistol rounds:
.32 ACP
.32 Smith & Wesson
.32 Smith & Wesson Long
.32 H&R Magnum
.327 Federal
If just now starting to gear up to feed your new .32 Bunny Gun Fetish, buy RCBS .32 ACP dies having a carbide sizer, expander die and seater.
Get shell holders for the .32 ACP (or a .30 carbine will work if you already have one) and .32 S&W Long (or a .223 Remington will also work if you already have one). Buy the Lee Bullet Sizing Kit in .311" diameter if you will load for the .32 ACP, or a .314" if you intend to load for the .32 S&W Long, .32 H&R Magnum or .327 Federal.
The most versatile production "one fits all" molds are the RCBS 32-90CM which cast a 90-grain, flattened roundnose "Cowboy" slug, or the RCBS 32-98SWC or its clones from Accurate, Arsenal or NOE. The Saeco #325 semi-wadcutter is a great choice for the revolvers and will also feeds in the .32 ACP Colt 1903, Beretta 1935 and CZ27 pistols. In other modern guns, maybe, or maybe not.
If your .32 Auto feeds flat nosed bullets and JHPs, Accurate has several designs which approximate the Buffalo Bore shape, but with sufficient .26" nose length to prevent rimlock. These are 31-077B, 31-084H and 31-090B, are all good choices in .32 ACP, and I also use the 90B in the .32 S&W Long to shoot to the fixed sights of older revolvers.
If your pistol tends not to feed anything reliably but roundnose hardball, better bullet choices are Accurate 31-081H, 31-087T, 31-087B, or 31-094H.
Any of the 87 grain and heavier .32 bullets which drop no smaller than .313" are suitable for loading the .32 revolvers, will shoot close to their fixed sights and can tolerate sizing to .311 for the .32 ACP also if you want a dual-use bullet.
Accurate 31-105T is a double-crimp-groove design of traditional shape similar to factory bullets once used in the .32-20 and .32 Colt New Police. It is optimized for revolver use in the .32 S&W Long, .32 S&W Magnum and .32-20, but is a bit heavy and "fat" for successful use in .32 ACP auto pistols.
Cast your .32 pistol bullets from common SOFT range backstop scrap or wheelweights, 10-12 BHN is good. Drop them onto a folded towel and let them slowly air cool. Harder quenched alloy is completely unnecessary. Lube your bullets by tumbling in Lee Liquid Alox only until they are a light brassy color all over. There is no need to "fill" the lube grooves for subsonic rounds fired from short barrels. You don't need to buy a lubricator-sizer. If bullets from your mold drop as-cast at .313-.314 you can load them in revolver ammo without sizing. If bullets drop over .314" they should be sized .311" for .32 ACP and .314 for the revolvers.
Best bang for the buck is to buy Alliant Bullseye or Hodgdon TiteGroup powder, and anybody's small pistol primers.
The RCBS Little Dandy Measure is perfect for loading the small .32 cases.
Use the Rotor #00 to load 1.7 grains of Bullseye in the .32 ACP with the 87-90-grain bullets, or 2 grains of TiteGroup for the 75-84 grain bullets. This is also a safe load in .32 S&W Long with 90-105 grain bullets in the pre-1918 S&W 1903 Hand Ejectors and Colt New Pocket revolvers which are not heat treated.
Use the Rotor #0 to measure 2.2 grains of Bullseye loading lighter 75-80 grain bullets in the .32 ACP, or to approximate factory loads with your 90-105 grain Cowboy lead bullets in the .32 S&W Long for use in heat treated, but pre-WW2 revolvers. The same #0 rotor meters 3 grains of AutoComp as a +P load for sturdy .32 ACPs and as a “full-charge” load with 90-105 grain bullets in the .32 S&W Long.
Use the Rotor #1 to assemble "full-charge" loads in the .32 S&W Long, using 2.5 grains of Bullseye for about 850 fps with the 90-105 grain lead bullets in .32 S&W Long brass for general use in postwar S&W Models 30 and 31 and postwar Colt D-frames chambered in .32 Colt New Police.
Rotor #1 and the same 2.5 grains of Bullseye with 71-grain FMJs at 0.97” minimum cartridge OAL in the .32 ACP, which approximates CIP-Euro loads at 905 fps from a 3.5 inch barrel and should not be exceeded in WW2-era steel frame holster pistols, and being OK for moderate use in the postwar light alloy frames such as the Beretta 81, if you are not shooting high volume competition quantities.
In strong, modern revolvers chambered for the .32 S&W Long, such as the S&W Model 30 or 31, or revolvers factory-chambered for .32 H&R Magnum ammunition, you may use the Little Dandy measure Rotor #3 for 3 grains of Bullseye in .32 S&W Long brass with the 90 grain RCBS bullet or the Hornady 85-grain XTP for about 900 fps from a 4-inch barrel. This is a "full-charge” load for use only in modern steel frame guns.
You can match factory velocities 1000+ fps with 90-grain lead bullet or 85-grain .312" Hornady XTP in the .32 H&R Magnum using the RCBS Little Dandy Rotor #5 to meter 3.5 grs. of Bullseye in Starline .32 H&R Magnum brass with the Federal 200 primer.
The same 3.5 grain charge of Bullseye is a standard-pressure, full charge 900+ fps load with 90-105-grain lead bullets which is safe in any post-1905 .32-20 revolver proofed for smokeless powder.
Some manuals suggest higher velocities in .32 H&R Mag. and .32-20 loads than this, but supersonic velocities defeat the purpose of a non-destructive small game load which permits you to “eat right up to the bullet hole.” The RCBS Cowboy bullet and 32-098SWC have flat noses which provide good crush and deep penetration. They do not need to be driven supersonic to be effective.
Do not shoot thousands of .32 ACP cast bullet loads with bullets heavier than 80 grains in the tiny Keltec and Beretta “mouse guns” having light alloy frames, because they are "frame crackers."
If you have GrandDad's Colt M1903 Pocket Hammerless, Beretta M1935, CZ27, or Walther PP bringback from WW2 the 84-90-grain lead loads run like a pony trotting.
In steel frame guns you have no worries with up to 2.2 grains of Bullseye with the Accurate 31-090B or the 90-grain RCBS Cowboy bullet at .311" diameter and a minimum cartridge OAL of 0.95"
Consider 3 grains of AutoComp in the .32 ACP with the 90-grain Hornady .309" XTP at 0.95" OAL as +P for occasional and emergency use, not as steady diet in your new Beretta 81. No issues if you "heavy-up" the recoil spring with one intended for the .380 ACP version of your Colt, or Walther steel-framed pistol.