ihmsa forums

Hello. Well good 'ole "Arthur" has driven me to a .32 H&R Mag in a Ruger for Field Pistol. Which bullet weight and powder would be the best choices in a 6 1/2" Ruger Bisley Single Six? Thanks.

If your cylinder throats are like my S&W 16-4, then you may want to try the 100gr 32-20 cast lead bullets from Badman Bullets. A full 0314" diameter. Very uniform weights, too.

https://www.badmanbullets.com/OnlineSto ... FP-Qty-500

I'm running IMR4227 with slight compression.

Scores in the low to mid-20s, not as good as my well proven .44M swaged bullet loads, but rather more pleasant to shoot!
Think it's more due to the difference in the sights between the the 10 5/8" barrel 29-3 with the "set and forget" four postion front sight and the "hope you remember the clicks" on the rear sight of the 16-4.

Read your post in the Field Pistol sub-forum.
I've adopted slow burning powders for Field Pistol work after having powder position sensitivity dramas, i.e., large variations in velocity depending on where the powder charge lies at thee moment of ignition. (Fast at the rear, slow, sometimes ludicrously so with .45 Colt, at the front.) Slow powders also pretty much eliminate leading at the forcing come even with super soft bullets.
Whilst IMR4227 fills the case nicely with the .32 Mag, you can change seating depth and powder charge simultaneously to vary velocity and recoil. If you want a softer shooting load with the bullets linked above, try seating them below the front band (albeit tiny!) and reducing the charge so that it is basically still flush with the bullet base. I did this whilst working up a favorite FP load but found it a little underpowered for my tastes, as it took a fair amount more elevation to get on Rams. Probably somewhere around 7-9 grain load, I'd have to check notes.

BTW, I found IMR4198 too slow, although it's fantastic in the .44s!

A traditional favorite would be WW231/HP38. I just don't like the forcing cone leading that seems to show up, eventually if not sooner. In this small cartridge case position sensitivity should be less of a drama then with the big .44s and .45s.

Thank you jmoore. I know I'm a novice when working up loads. A fellow shooter here went to Mag SP primers because of similar issues. Have you tried that path? The one time I used H4227 it "caked" with a stnd primer in a .44 Special and never really ignited. I want (must?) stay with a .32 mag revolver. I too, "hate" the lead build up. I didn't realize it was from "fast" powders. Thanks.

I often scratch my head wondering from where DO these IHMSA folk get their loading data???

In my case, years of fighting to get good lead bullet .44, .45, and .357 revolver loads that won't foul out or gas cut bullets. (Still working to find a happy .357 load, BTW.)

Some other factors to consider with the .32:
Most sizing dies will over work your brass and will try to squeeze your nice 0.314" bullets down to something...rather less!
Try cowboy dies. The Lyman M die may help, but I usually end up making my own expanders to suit both diameter and bullet length. Length, because I don't run much case neck tension at all, relying on the crimp to restrain the bullet from jumping forward and the end of the expanded area to prevent rearward shifting of those bullets seated over less than full cases. (Usually not a factor any more.) Generally I can seat lead bullets at least half way with just thumb pressure. Goes against lots of internet wisdom, but it's worked great for me.

Your single action is going to recoil more than my heavy 16-4 but in a different manner, due to the grip. It may do to see if you are more comfortable letting it roll upwards in your hand with the factory type smooth grips over the rubber variants which tend to cover the backstrap.

And if you do go with the slow stick powders, they will leave LOTS of partially burnt granules behind! But MVs are super consistent, my .44 loads usually have ES in the single digits over the chronograph. I'd rather not worry about unburnt powder than deal with all the other dramas.
BTW, I've run revolvers thousands of rounds and multiple years with no need to clean the bore, unlike my first attempts where things would start to "gunk up" with lead in less than forty rounds. Finished off last season with a personal best 32 FPAS using a .44M S&W revolver with IMR4198 swaged bullet loads that hasn't had the barrel cleaned in at least three years....

For reference only: My IMR4227 charge weights with that bullet vary from a little under 9 grains to just over 11. Bullet seating depth adjusted accordingly. Mostly running just under 10 1/2 grains lately. Your charges will vary depending on the cases used and how much sizing is done. A little compression won't hurt anything.

Primers are currently Winchester. Std, not magnum. Started with Remingtons, but they must be a bad lot as primers get pierced on everything! And not just .32 Mag. .32S&W Long, .38 Spl, etc. Too bad, as they are my "go to" primer for .38 Spl accuracy loads.