When I got my pal David's stuff, it included one each Smith & Wesson Model 30 and 31, guns chambered for the .32 S&W cartridge. In one of the GI ammo cans was a bunch of ammo for these guns. About 450 rounds, all gun show ammo. By that I mean, loaded by this old guy who used to go to all the WAC shows in Puyallup for years. He sold his own product, loaded ammo in white boxes marked with Magic Marker. Jim S. was his name; he's dead now. I must've walked past his table 50 times over the years, usually bade him hello, but never made a purchase. His product could not exactly be called "reloads,' because he used all new brass. Lots of what he sold had lead bullets, and after looking at many of these lately, I don't think he was casting his own. They look like mail order hard cast bullets. So I guess it would be appropriate to call these "hand loads."
You all may have seen product offerings like this. "White Box" packaging from various manufacturers or re-manufacturers in western states. One difference being, Jim S. didn't have good labeling. Many of the small label outfits have professionally printed labels. Which in my view makes a better presentation to potential buyers. I don't include Miwall Corp. in Grass Valley, CA in this category. They are a professional, licensed outfit with a real factory.
I had fired a couple of these rounds here at my place and they seemed normal. Yesterday, I took the Model 31 out to the range. This is a square butt three inch bbl. revolver. I fired 14 shots only. During the course of which, it was obvious that they contained different charges of powder from cartridges in the same box. Definitely time to stop shooting. As I was packing this stuff up, I noticed one cartridge lacked a primer.
Today, I started to take a closer look at this stuff. I started pulling bullets and weighing charges. I started with 450 boxed rounds, 350 by Jim S. Samples from the first two boxes contained what I believe to be Unique powder. Charges ranged from 3.5 to 3.9/4.0. Another box gave charges in the range from 3.2 to 3.5. Four other boxes ranged from 3.2 to 3.9. These are pretty big deviations. But worse, they are all overcharges. One finished cartridge was uncharged.
The .32 S&W is not a hot-rod cartridge. It first came out around 1896 or thereabout, so we can assume that very many older, weaker firearms were made to fire this cartridge at its original lower velocities. Yes, "modern" firearms made in the 1950's and later can take stouter charges. But someone sitting behind a table at a gun show doesn't necessarily know what vintage gun his product will be used in. Loading manuals that I've been looking at show charges of just about any powder mentioned in the 1's and 2's. People shooting modern semi-auto target guns no doubt shoot loads greater than this.
When I fired these cartridges, I noticed that a few traces of lead had remained in the bore by the firing cone. Which probably came about from those loads that were at or near 4.0 gr.
Among Dave's ammo supply, there were other cartridges beyond the .32 S&W longs made by Jim S., all with lead bullets. The .357's were overloaded. The .44 Specials were overloaded. Some of the .38 Specials were in spec. Of the 450 .32 S&W's, there were 100 cartridges from another private loader, but these contained 2.0 gr. of Red Dot, which is safe.
Above is the "break down 350 .32 S&W Long project" end product. There is a quarter pound of Unique in that cup. Fortunately, Jim S. didn't use a heavy crimp on these and most of them came apart fairly easily. I haven't decided what powder to use to reload them. Probably Bullseye or 231. These handloads dated to late 1990's.
My Hornady collet bullet puller came in handy for this job. Sometimes, you can't use it on lead bullets, they don't provide enough purchase for the hooks on the collet. In fact, Hornady says you shouldn't use their puller for lead bullets and any breakage therefrom is not covered by the warranty.
I saw lately that Amazon sells a Chinese knock off of the Hornady puller. Tool only, for collets (the really expensive part), they refer you to Hornady.
I've already started on resizing the cases. As new brass, I doubt Jim S. did a "check size" on these. Which is sometimes necessary for proper bullet fit/tension. I pulled the decapping pin on my sizing die and I'm running them through that. That chore is about half done. I can't do 350 in one go, I have to break it up.
You all may have seen product offerings like this. "White Box" packaging from various manufacturers or re-manufacturers in western states. One difference being, Jim S. didn't have good labeling. Many of the small label outfits have professionally printed labels. Which in my view makes a better presentation to potential buyers. I don't include Miwall Corp. in Grass Valley, CA in this category. They are a professional, licensed outfit with a real factory.
I had fired a couple of these rounds here at my place and they seemed normal. Yesterday, I took the Model 31 out to the range. This is a square butt three inch bbl. revolver. I fired 14 shots only. During the course of which, it was obvious that they contained different charges of powder from cartridges in the same box. Definitely time to stop shooting. As I was packing this stuff up, I noticed one cartridge lacked a primer.
Today, I started to take a closer look at this stuff. I started pulling bullets and weighing charges. I started with 450 boxed rounds, 350 by Jim S. Samples from the first two boxes contained what I believe to be Unique powder. Charges ranged from 3.5 to 3.9/4.0. Another box gave charges in the range from 3.2 to 3.5. Four other boxes ranged from 3.2 to 3.9. These are pretty big deviations. But worse, they are all overcharges. One finished cartridge was uncharged.
The .32 S&W is not a hot-rod cartridge. It first came out around 1896 or thereabout, so we can assume that very many older, weaker firearms were made to fire this cartridge at its original lower velocities. Yes, "modern" firearms made in the 1950's and later can take stouter charges. But someone sitting behind a table at a gun show doesn't necessarily know what vintage gun his product will be used in. Loading manuals that I've been looking at show charges of just about any powder mentioned in the 1's and 2's. People shooting modern semi-auto target guns no doubt shoot loads greater than this.
When I fired these cartridges, I noticed that a few traces of lead had remained in the bore by the firing cone. Which probably came about from those loads that were at or near 4.0 gr.
Among Dave's ammo supply, there were other cartridges beyond the .32 S&W longs made by Jim S., all with lead bullets. The .357's were overloaded. The .44 Specials were overloaded. Some of the .38 Specials were in spec. Of the 450 .32 S&W's, there were 100 cartridges from another private loader, but these contained 2.0 gr. of Red Dot, which is safe.
Above is the "break down 350 .32 S&W Long project" end product. There is a quarter pound of Unique in that cup. Fortunately, Jim S. didn't use a heavy crimp on these and most of them came apart fairly easily. I haven't decided what powder to use to reload them. Probably Bullseye or 231. These handloads dated to late 1990's.
My Hornady collet bullet puller came in handy for this job. Sometimes, you can't use it on lead bullets, they don't provide enough purchase for the hooks on the collet. In fact, Hornady says you shouldn't use their puller for lead bullets and any breakage therefrom is not covered by the warranty.
I saw lately that Amazon sells a Chinese knock off of the Hornady puller. Tool only, for collets (the really expensive part), they refer you to Hornady.
I've already started on resizing the cases. As new brass, I doubt Jim S. did a "check size" on these. Which is sometimes necessary for proper bullet fit/tension. I pulled the decapping pin on my sizing die and I'm running them through that. That chore is about half done. I can't do 350 in one go, I have to break it up.
