New revolvers at SHOT/Lipsey's release

[Up1911Fan]

I have access to 4 UC revolvers. I have extensively (sorry about no numbers) shot two .32s and one .38. The forth is a .32 also. Firing pin indentation on the first three over 4-5 brands of ammo each have been universally fine. Don't know about that on the forth. No misfires on any of the revolvers observed.

Ammo brands have been Fiocchi, S&B, Lost River, Buffalo Bore, Hornady, Speer, and some no-name .38 reloads I had laying around.

If I were a betting man, I would suspect the ammo of the people reporting problems. Just my observation so far but I wouldn't worry too much about this.

A phrasing issue here apparently.

Of course the individual who has the problem should worry about it.

I would, however, spend my money on one and not worry that this is somehow endemic to all UCs. No doubt lighter mainsprings will always have narrower tolerances. Check for ignition and roll on.

If you were a betting man, you'd be wrong. My 432UC ( currently back at S&W) had about a 40% failure rate to ignite primers in factory loaded ammo that has been 100% in 2 other 32H&R J-Frame's. Including a 50% failure rate with the Lost River load that was literally designed between the 2 companies for this gun. It's not an ammo problem, it's a S&W problem.

[4given]

Finally got my 632UC out to the range. Lives up to the hype IMHO. This thing handles and points very well for a J frame. Light recoil impulse. Tigger pull comparable to my other J frames with APEX trigger kits installed. I might polish the internals at some point but it really isn't that critical. Love the high horn grip. Fits my hand well. Could use a little texture. The sights are perfect. Very happy with this revolver so far.

Fired 50 rounds of Lost River 100 grain poly coat full wadcutters with NO MISFIRES

Fired 66 rounds of handloads using MBC 98 gr poly-coated DEWC's over 2.8 grains HP-38/W231, Starline brass and CCI primers. I used CCI primers because they are reputedly the hardest and most difficult to ignite. I experienced NO MISFIRES
I have had several misfires in other J frames with APEX trigger kits installed using CCI primers so this is notable.

Here are pictures of the first groups I fired off-hand at 12 yards. It took a few shots to figure out the hold. Drive the dot worked but completely obscured the target. Targets are on 8 X11 inch paper for perspective:



HANDLOADS



Lost River Ammo

For reference, I weighed the revolver empty, loaded, and loaded in a Sticky Holster. ( Note: The rear sight snags up occasionally on the trim piece sewn around the opening of the Sticky Holster. Not good. Mika Holsters have been ordered!)




EMPTY - 16.7 oz




LOADED with Lost River Ammo 18.8 oz




LOADED in Holster - 20.0 oz

[snubasaurus]

FWIW, I bought 2 boxes of Lost River H&R Mag WC for my new LCR .327 (kinda pricey @ $1/rd.). I shot one for practice with no problems. Very accurate stuff, recoil similar to .38 SPL.

[TCinVA]

I'm still trying to sort out my best sight picture with my 642 UC, bottom out the dot and drive the dot or, align the sights and run a low 6:00 hold, add old guy eyesight and progressive lens's...both work, neither is instinctive.

I actually seem to shoot worse when I try to use the sights with precision than when I just maintain target focus and shoot the big front sight almost like it was the dot in an optic. I shot 50 rounds of .32 S&W long and about 35 or so .38 SPL this way today at 5, 7, 10, and 15 yards with both revolvers. Anatomically correct head shots (t-zone) weren't a problem out to 10 yards.

They shoot best for me when I just grip the gun hard, see the big yellow/green (I'm color blind so I can't tell which it is) blob sitting where I want to hit the target and press the trigger straight through. It's uncomfortable as hell but it turns in results I can't argue with.

[TCinVA]

Following up: I tried to different boxes of Sellier Bellot (LRN and wadcutters) with a failure rate of about 50%. It likes PPU and Federal though. I'm asking S&W to take a look at it.

I've had my 632 out twice since my initial range outing.

I experienced a single FTF in 100 rounds of MagTech in those two sessions. And the gun seems to shoot to point of aim now...probably because I'm using the procedure described above. These guns seem to want to be run at speed. If you just grip them and rip them point of impact is where you're driving the sight. Just be sure to let the sight get back down in the notch because it's easy to stay high if your grip isn't perfect.

These guns just seem to punish trying to be too precise with the sight and trying to stage the trigger. But if you grip it hard and just run the trigger the bullet holes seem to end up right where you want them.

[BN]

My wife and I shot a little over 200 rounds total through our 2 432UCs today.

About 50 H&R Mags and 150 32 S&W Long. A mixture of factory and my handloads with well seated Federal primers. My Wife's has been back to S&W and she was shooting it with no modifications. Mine has been smoothed up and an Apex kit installed. Both had a few light strikes with the factory stuff. More so with my wife's 432UC. 100% function with my handloads. Examining the factory rounds this evening, we found some with primers that weren't well seated. All the factory ammo went off with second or third hits.

I've been shooting revolver in competition for some time, and I've discovered that for 100% reliability, the primers MUST be seated below flush. Examine your ammo before shooting and separate the ammo with flush or proud primers and see what happens.

I still think there is a problem with some of the guns. S&W replaced the cylinder and repaired the yoke on my Wife's revolver.

There is also a problem with some of the factory ammo.

Thanks to @JEC and everybody at Lipseys for these revolvers. S&W, you need to step up your game.

I shot a few drills with my 432 today. The Test, I think which is 10 shots in 10 seconds at 10 yards. My time was 11.41 with a 5.88 reload. My accuracy needs work too.

[D-der]

642UC

I spent a little time with my 642UC yesterday, Early morning I put in an Apex kit that I've had but never used, dry fired 100 +/- time's with good results, the trigger went from 10.5 lbs to about 9 lbs. I've never really cared for large round or 3 dot sights and always blacked out rear sights, I'd tried an XS std dot on one of my LCR's and took it off after the first range session but, after thinking about it, it seemed all I was seeing was a huge fuzzy green ball (pretty overpowering) and loosing all relation to muzzle height. I put a dot of traffic cone orange on the top left and right sides of the rear notch thinking it might help with some front to rear relation. At the end of the day I was anxious to see how it would work, I started just wanting to check function with the Apex kit, I ran 25rd's of 158gr Magtec, 15 rd's of 158gr S&B, a bunch of 132gr PMC and a few Federal 148gr WC at a 10" plate 15-20+ yd's. Function was 100%, the orange reference dots seem to help as well, I started out holding lower than necessary with 158's but started to get dialed in. I wrapped it up with 2 cylinders of the PMC's, and 1 of Federal Match at 8-9yd's, then a very rushed 5 5 5 just to see how the trigger return would run, about 60 rd's total with no issues. @TCinVA, I'd agree, just shoot the gun, it seems if you put too much effort into precision you get diminishing returns.
So far, so good, The UC's a neat little gun and I look forward to getting a little more dialed in with it.

[BN]

Something else to consider when you shoot a combination of 32 S&W Longs plus 32 H&R Mag.

The Longs will leave a carbon/lead ring in the chamber and not allow the H&R Mags to fully seat. Then the first strike of the firing pin will drive the round deeper in the chamber rather than firing the round. This was common knowledge in the past when everybody shot 38/357 revolvers.

Over the years I had gone to shooting exclusively jacketed, plated or coated bullets in my revolvers, thus avoiding the need to clean all the gunk out. A lot of the factory 32 Long ammo is lead. I just spend quite a bit of time with cleaning materials including oversized brushes to get my 432UC clean.

[Singh]

Thanks to @JEC and everybody at Lipseys for these revolvers. S&W, you need to step up your game.

I don't think that'll happen because the foundation ain't there. I thinks at best, it's a 65-70% chance you'll get one made to spec, which isn't that bad for firearms companies making revolvers these days. Not great, not terrible, says Dyatlov.


The light-strike issue has me concerned with the 32s. I can't help but think there's something in the design/materials/geometry that might need tweaking despite the issues covered with certain ammo. But I'll humbly defer to the cognoscenti here for their opinion. I would love to hear that the light-strike issue is just ammo-related and the gun, as designed, is just fine.

[oss117]

S&W will be sending me a shipping label to take a look at my 432UC. I suspect they're aware of the issue and know what to do to correct it.

In the mean time, can we talk about the 32 S&W Long cartridge? It's been the happy surprise of my whole experience. I've found it to be more readily available than 32 H&R Magnum and priced somewhat close to the more common 38 Special. It's mild recoil is makes shooting the lightweight 432 a pleasant experience. I know it's not a ballistic powerhouse, but it sure makes a trip to the range fun. It wasn't on my radar before, but it is now. I'd like to see a small ultralight kit gun with a 3"+ barrel and good sights chambered for it.