Question about Ruger Single Six in .32 H&R Mag

T

TruthTellers

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Been meaning to ask this for a while, but I've been wondering for those who own or have owned a .32 Mag Single Six, what diameter were the cylinder throats? .312, .313, .314?

I know some are going to mention the Single Seven, but I'm convinced that Ruger uses .314 as the standard diameter for all .327 cylinder throats, meaning the .312 lead bullets I use will lead up the bore fast, that and I'm thinking I'd like the 9.5" barrel that the Single Six can be found in.
 
I shoot cast .312 bullets in my 32 H&R single six's as well as in my Single Seven. Also in several 32 WCF revolvers. No leading issues. Haven't actually measured the various throats though.
 
I just measured mine at .3135".

I usually get good accuracy shooting jacketed XTPs in other guns, but this revolver only does so-so with them. OTOH, it does great with lead .313" bullets.

ETA: this is on a 1985-vintage Single Six.
 
GarrettJ said:
I just measured mine at .3135".

I usually get good accuracy shooting jacketed XTPs in other guns, but this revolver only does so-so with them. OTOH, it does great with lead .313" bullets.

ETA: this is on a 1985-vintage Single Six.
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That's not as bad as the .327's are, but not great either. Not surprised that .313's shoot well with that, that's what I'd use too.

Good news is that I shot my SP101 yesterday using a .32 Mag load that had a 71 grain Berry's bullet and it shot very well, so I may have found myself an accurate and cheap plinking round to shoot in .327's. May get a Single Seven after all.
 
I have two Single Six .32 H&R's. The Baby Vaquero with 4-5/8" bbl, has throats which are just under 0.312"...They won't pass a measured 0.312" lead bullet but do show some clearance with 0.311". I cast my own bullets and regularly size & use 0.312" lead alloy bullets with it.

The other Single Six is a 5-1/2" model with adjustable sights. It's throats measure 0.312+" by just a hair. Hornady 100 gr XTP bullets measuring 0.312" on the nose, easily slip through the cylinder throats, but a cast bullet sized 0.313" will not pass. For this gun, again I use 0.312" lead alloy bullets.

Either gun is capable of sub-2" groups at 25 yds if I'm having a good day behind the trigger and from a rest. Too, my cast bullets are lubed with 50/50 and also swirl lubed with Lee Liquid Alox (LLA). Neither gun shows signs of leading with the sizing described above.

BTW, I also shoot a S&W M16-4 in .32 H&R and it's throats run 0.313+". It too runs just fine with 0.312" sized lead alloy bullets as well as either of the Hornady XTP bullets at 85 & 100 grains. Both are just as accurate in my Rugers as well.

HTH's Rod
 
That's interesting.

I was just shooting my Single Six out in the ice and sleet today (under an awning) working up some loads. Shooting from a rest at 25 yards, I was only able to get groups in the 5" to 6" range with a 100 gr. XTP. This was with Blue Dot and AA#5.

Just after that, I shot an 8-shot 1-5/8" group at the same distance. This was using a 115 gr. LRN-FP and HS-6. It also gave about 100 fps. more velocity than any of the loads from the lighter XTP.

Next time I'll try the XTPs with HS-6 and see if that powder works better with the jacketed bullet. Or if my gun just prefers the lead .313" bullets.
 
Garrett, By far the bulk of my jacketed loads have used the Hornady 85 grain JHP XTP. And I've found excellent loads using it with Unique around 4.0-4.5 grains; and Win 231 @ 4.0 grains. With the Hornady XTP 100 grainer, I like less than 4.0 grains which gives me similar accuracy but at reduced velocity. For my money, with jacketed bullets, that 85 gr. XTP is a winner. I found a deal on them a yr ago and promptly bought 1200!! Generally, I save the 100 gr XTP's for a 1920 vintage .32-20 Winchester M92 that really perks with them and save the 85's for the revolvers.

My next powder try out will be with WSF just to see how it does...it's a bit slower than Unique so should be in the ball-park, and God knows, it measures better.

The Hornady swagged 90 gr. SWC does almost as good with half a grain less of Unique...groups running down close to 2" at 25 yds. I haven't pushed them due to leading concerns as they mic 0.314".

But for real economy and accuracy, I've found the RCBS mold # 32-100 gr LSWC to be superb. I size to 0.312", lube with LLA at first then with 50-50 thru my Lyman 450. I'm using Starline cases (the early Federal factory cases were junk with 25% splitting on first firing) & have had equal luck with Federal or WSP caps. Accurate bullet molds also makes a first rate mold that's very similar to the RCBS mold...I have 'em both and they're interchangeable when loading. My alloy is air cooled wheel weights with a pinch of tin to help fill out. 700 degrees keeps my Lyman 20# furnace filling out the molds, BTW.

Bull-X used to make a LSWC with a hard lube that was almost as accurate with the same loads, and I'd check with Missouri Bullet Co. for their offering as well. With any commercial bullet, using that damnable hard lube, you may have to resort to LLA & Lee's swirl lubing technique to keep leading down unless you really push them hard. All my loads are mid-level with that 4.0 gr Unique giving me just over 1000 fps from my 4-5/8 Mini-Vaquero and a bit more from the 5-1/2" SS. Same for the Win 231 load.

As always, these are MY loads, work up if you're interested after consulting a GOOD manual and considering all the pressure implications.

HTH's Rod
 
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