32 caliber gallery loads

[Hatchdog]

i’ve been reporting on a little project I’m working on in the reloading bench topic but thought I would start a separate discussion here.

A local guy got me interested in creating what is called a gallery load in 32 caliber. A gallery load as most know is a low power cartridge that used to be used at shooting gallery’s all over. Think carnival back in the day when life was simpler. I live in a rural community and shooting is legal in this part of the county. However our CC&R’s state no shooting is allowed within the community. This is due to not being a nuisance to the neighbors. So my plan with this load is to break the rules (oops) and do some low noise plinking. The HOA president is my next door neighbor and I recently helped her husband set up his rimfire range so I’m not concerned about the HOA unless somebody complains.

The guy who got me interested in this project had a bunch of .315 Hornady pure lead round balls for muzzleloading. I have a Ruger SP 101 in 327 Fed Mag which is what i plan to use for these gallery loads. He recommended using 32 acp brass but I found that the rim was too small for the Ruger’s firing pin to strike hard enough for detonation. So I’m using 32 S&W long brass which seems to be working fine. At least in my one test shot.

I loaded up six more using 2.0 grains of Unique for the next test. I understand to put a light crimp on the ball and I want to make sure that even with this mouse fart load that the balls stay in place. I’ll be shooting these this afternoon.

It’s been interesting doing this project right down to my powder funnel. The brass is so short that even in the tallest part of my loading trays I couldn’t get the funnel to seat on the case mouth and powder would spill. I bought an additional funnel and cut it down so I wouldn’t lose any powder. Worked great.

So to date here’s a pic of my “custom” funnel and the six test cartridges. More to follow.

IMG_6486.jpeg (1.93 MiB) Viewed 109 times

IMG_6487.jpeg (2.1 MiB) Viewed 109 times

[rickhem]

The .32 S&W Long was a not uncommon cartridge for the centerfire stage of the 2700 match. There were a few high end target pistols that came with both .22 and .32 barrels for that purpose. Still has a following, and you should have no problem getting some load data to work with. Even better that you're shooting it in a revolver, so no action to cycle. I'd think fast powder would be the choice with these, but I'm sure there's a wide range that works.
Looks like a fun project, and those loaded rounds look similar to the old "BB cap" ammo that came in the little round containers, similar to percussion caps. I'll bet they shoot pretty well too.

[Hatchdog]

Got my second round of testing done yesterday. Fired six of my gallery loads with a full cylinder and my crimp held tight. Second part of yesterday’s testing was to see generally where the impact was on target. That’s a bit of a mystery. The first five shots I held center target. Result is one large impact area low and slightly left and a second impact area low and a bit to the right. It’s hard for me to believe that four of the five shots hit exactly in the same spot but maybe. For the sixth shot I held at the top of the black bullseye and the impact is a bit low which is consistent with the five shots fired at the center of the target.

Looking at the back of the piece of plywood you can see where two or more balls impacted and tore up the wood pretty good. The hole with the single shot still has the ball captured in the plywood. Makes sense to me that the torn up plywood would have been from more than one impact. Next time I shoot these loads I’ll use a cardboard backer instead of the old aged weathered plywood scrap.

Shots were fired from 15 feet as this was mostly a function test.

IMG_6494.jpeg (7.04 MiB) Viewed 55 times

IMG_6492.jpeg (2.99 MiB) Viewed 55 times

IMG_6495.jpeg (4.73 MiB) Viewed 55 times

IMG_6493.jpeg (6.1 MiB) Viewed 55 times

IMG_6496.jpeg (3.4 MiB) Viewed 53 times

[DsGrouse]

That's pretty spiffy. I'm looking forward to more reports

[Mags]

Got my second round of testing done yesterday. ...

Where they as quiet as you wanted them to be?

[Hatchdog]

Got my second round of testing done yesterday. ...

Where they as quiet as you wanted them to be?

Yes, real pleased with the quietness. Before I did my shooting I called my neighbor and asked her to listen. I was shooting at the back of my property about 100 yards from the back of her house. She opened her back door and heard the first shot but said it was very quiet and didn’t sound like a gunshot. (She’s a shooter) She said the next five shots she couldn’t hear with the door closed but her cat heard them. Not surprised at that. When I started I had a doe and fawn about 100 yards away watching me. I didn’t pay much attention to them and when I was finished they were still there. But they are neighborhood deer who are used to people, dogs and noise.

[rickhem]

[CT_Shooter]