TruthTellers
New member
After reading in the .22 Mag vs .32 thread here and a thread about Charter Arms in another forum, on top of the general comments about .32 S&W Long and .32 Magnum I've seen over the years in passing, I think it's worth discussing and putting to bed the notion that the ammo is unobtainium.
Firstly, factory .32 S&W Long ammo is on par with the cost of .38 Special, at the very least 2 cents more a round depending on where you buy online.
.32 Mag is different, it's not as common or popular as .32 S&WL. is and most of it is sold as self defense ammo, so it's generally always $1 per round. If you're looking to shoot .32 Mag much, reloading is the best course of action.
So, I took the time to come up with a list of the materials needed to reload and figured I would list the cheapest or simplest materials possible needed to get started.
And all these same materials could be used for other uncommon handgun calibers too, but IMO the .32 revolver is the most overlooked of all handgun calibers and perhaps one of the cheapest to reload, thus makes a lot of sense to reload.
So here's the list:
The total price for all those materials, not including powder, brass, primers, and bullets is... about $235. If you leave out the ultrasonic cleaner to clean the brass and just buy new brass every time, then the start up cost is $175.
Congrats, you can now load any .32 ammo you want and get the benefit of lower recoil compared to .38, but more effective shooting vs .22 rimfire.
Other than a lack of revolvers from S&W and Taurus, what's stopping you from embracing the .32?
Firstly, factory .32 S&W Long ammo is on par with the cost of .38 Special, at the very least 2 cents more a round depending on where you buy online.
.32 Mag is different, it's not as common or popular as .32 S&WL. is and most of it is sold as self defense ammo, so it's generally always $1 per round. If you're looking to shoot .32 Mag much, reloading is the best course of action.
So, I took the time to come up with a list of the materials needed to reload and figured I would list the cheapest or simplest materials possible needed to get started.
And all these same materials could be used for other uncommon handgun calibers too, but IMO the .32 revolver is the most overlooked of all handgun calibers and perhaps one of the cheapest to reload, thus makes a lot of sense to reload.
So here's the list:
- Lee die set ($35, $51 if include factory crimp die)
- Lyman M die ($20)
- Lee hand press ($40) or Lee C frame press ($41)
- Lee Ram Prime ($12)
- Lee manual powder throw ($26)
- Digital powder scale ($20-25)
- Harbor Freight ultrasonic cleaner ($60 with 25% off coupon)
The total price for all those materials, not including powder, brass, primers, and bullets is... about $235. If you leave out the ultrasonic cleaner to clean the brass and just buy new brass every time, then the start up cost is $175.
Congrats, you can now load any .32 ammo you want and get the benefit of lower recoil compared to .38, but more effective shooting vs .22 rimfire.
Other than a lack of revolvers from S&W and Taurus, what's stopping you from embracing the .32?