Re: OT: Handloading question


"Don Foreman" <dforeman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:dgd0l3dmuj1n0c1j19qmdfthetbcl9q7vj@xxxxxxxxxx
On Fri, 30 Nov 2007 02:10:07 -0500, "Ed Huntress"
<huntres23@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


"Don Foreman" <dforeman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:21dvk3hhsihoif21uebvj221jogg75qbur@xxxxxxxxxx
On Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:27:45 -0500, "Ed Huntress"
<huntres23@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

<snip>

But I do appreciate your offer. My favorite range has closed down and I
have
to go back to one I didn't like much in the past; if it's improved, I
may
start shooting regularly again and I'll have a project for which I could
use
your help: developing a high-velocity, high-accuracy load for the Ruger
Single Six. That .32 H&R Magnum cartridge has some nice properties. It
shoots flat and the gun is known for very high accuracy.

I'd be glad to help if I can. I'll also pass this along to Fitch if
he's not reading the group. He's an afficiando of Ruger single six's
and he also has Quickload. He had it first, I followed his lead.

I'd appreciate that, Don. I originally bought the SSM 15 years ago for
hunting javelina in Arizona. Now it's just for target fun, and a good gun
to
introduce people to handguns. Unfortunately, NJ is not a good place for
long-range handgun shooting, so its best virtues are kind of a waste here.

This is my second Single Six. I had an early Single Six Convertible,
pre-hammer-blocker, which I traded away almost 40 years ago. 'Wish I still
had it today. The new ones are just as nice except that the hammer blocker
gives the action a kind of gritty feel.

I wouldn't know, but Fitch has several single-sixes and I didn't
notice any gritty feel to them. He might have tuned them up a bit.

Or he may have removed the hammer blockers. Real fans of the Single Six
don't like the hammer blockers.


I've followed this thread with interest. I have read that using
fillers is not a good idea, particularly with longer cases, but it
does appear here that folks are doing it routinely without mishap. 5
bux worth of kapok is certainly less than $18 for a jar of a different
powder. I'd buy the powder rather than risk having problems.

Using small doses of a fast-burning granular powder like Red Dot (probably
the most popular for the job) and kapok filler is a time-honored way to make
safe, consistent light range loads. I'm sure there are much better solutions
today but, as I say, I have the stuff and I used it all the time when I was
shooting a lot -- particularly when I was introducing new shooters, which
seems to be most of what I've done at the range, over the past 10 or 15
years. I was a certified rifle instructor and I still feel obligated to
teach safety and proper handling to people who express an interest in
shooting. That includes my former boss: a 61-year-old woman with a PhD in
psychology who is a bioethithist and a vegan. d8-)

I'd like to get back into it and get more sophisticated in handloading but
finding time is really hard. When I have that much time today I usually go
fishing instead, even in cold weather. I no longer belong to an R&P club and
the commercial ranges in NJ are either crowded or too far away to make it
much fun.


You probably know that "downloading" is a bad idea with some powders,
a specific case being Winchester W296. Light loads with these
powders can result in a rare but dangerous detonation called Secondary
Explosion Effect. I think this is also more true of longer cases, but
.32 H&R at 1.075" might qualify as a "longer case". I routinely make
light popper .357 mag loads with W231.

Yes, I studied it quite a bit when I was active. The slower-burning powders
are bad news for light loads. I think the .32 H&R Mag is indeed a "longer"
case, so I'm careful and follow expert recommendations.


A light .32 H&R load found on a website,
http://www.nrapublications.org/sh.%20illustrated/32HR.asp
is 2.2 gn of Hodgdon Clays behind a Hornady 90 gn SWC. That's about a
46% fill of the case. 880 fps, peak pressure looks to be about
14,500 (about 61% of SAAMI max), and it was among the most accurate of
loads listed. Recoil energy in a 35 oz gun is 1.0 ft lb at bullet
exit, 1.2 ft lb at end of gas aftereffect. Geez, you'd hardly know
it went off! Muzzle energy is about 164 ft-lb. 880 fps is subsonic,
so the muzzle blast with this light load might be quite mild.

That sounds similar to my Red Dot load. If I understand correctly, Hodgdon
Clays is a similar powder but cleaner-burning and it's used as a replacement
for the traditional Red Dot skeet loads. The dynamics are probably similar
for the two powders in a pistol cartridge. I think the volume may be a
little higher with the Hodgden powder; the density apparently is lower.


For comparison, Federal factory ammo in that caliber w/ 95 gn bullet
is 1020 fps, 220 ft lb.

Yeah, and that's nowhere near what you can get out of it with really good
loads. For a straight-case pistol cartridge, the sucker really can zip.

I carried it with me on my two javelina hunts, hoping to get a shot within
pistol range, but my only kill was over 100 yards, which is stretching it
for me with a revolver. The gun can hold a tight-enough group but I can't.
d8-)

--
Ed Huntress


.

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