Buffalo Bore 32 H&R Mag +P 130gr Hard Cast – Superb Trail Load

Description

The Buffalo Bore 32 H&R Mag +P 130gr Hard Cast is the load that changes what people think a 32 caliber revolver is for. A 130 grain hard cast Keith bullet at 1125 fps carries about 365 ft-lbs, and because it is cast hard and shaped flat, Buffalo Bore expects roughly three feet of penetration in flesh and bone.

• Buffalo Bore 32 H&R Mag +P 130gr Hard Cast Overview
• 32 H&R Magnum +P Ammo Ballistics
• Why The 130 Grain Hard Cast Keith Bullet Goes So Deep
• Specifications
• Revolvers That Shoot This Deep Penetrating Small Revolver Load

Buffalo Bore 32 H&R Mag +P 130gr Hard Cast Overview

Buffalo Bore item 36B is part of their Heavy Outdoorsman line. The 130 grain hard cast Keith semi-wadcutter runs a nominal 1125 fps for about 365 ft-lbs. Twenty rounds per box.

Buffalo Bore chronographed it at 1164 fps from a 7.5 inch USFA Sparrow Hawk, 1139 fps from a 5.5 inch Ruger Blackhawk, and 1133 fps from a 3 inch Ruger SP101. The company does not use laboratory barrels, so those are the numbers your revolver should produce.

The 32 H&R Magnum arrived in 1984 as a joint Harrington and Richardson and Federal project, lengthening the 32 S&W Long case for higher pressure. Factory loadings have historically been mild. This one is not.

The Outdoorsman name describes the intended use precisely. This is not a target load and it is not really a self defense load either. It is what you put in a light revolver when you are walking somewhere that has animals in it, and you want something that will reach bone deep if it has to.

32 H&R Magnum +P Ammo Ballistics

At 1125 fps a 130 grain bullet produces about 365 ft-lbs, from grains times velocity squared divided by 450437. Standard factory 32 H&R loads typically deliver between 200 and 250 ft-lbs, so this 32 H&R Magnum +P ammo lands roughly fifty percent above the common offerings.

Energy is not really the story here. A 130 grain bullet of 0.312 inch diameter has unusually high sectional density, and sectional density is what governs penetration once a bullet stops expanding. This one does not expand at all, by design.

Recoil stays civil. In a Ruger SP101 or a Single Seven the load is noticeably firmer than standard 32 H&R fodder but nothing like a 357 Magnum, which is the whole appeal for shooters who want serious penetration without the muzzle blast.

The 32 H&R also fits shooters who cannot tolerate heavy recoil. Arthritic hands, small shooters and anyone who flinches under magnum blast can shoot this cartridge well, and a load like this means the reduced recoil does not have to mean reduced capability.

Why The 130 Grain Hard Cast Keith Bullet Goes So Deep

Elmer Keith designed his semi-wadcutter profile in the 1920s and 1930s around a wide flat nose, a sharp shoulder and deep lubrication grooves. The shape has not needed improving since. It cuts a clean full diameter hole and it does not tip or tumble on the way through.

Cast hard from a lead, tin and antimony alloy, the bullet resists deformation when it meets bone. Nothing peels back, nothing sheds, and the frontal area at exit is the frontal area at entry. That is why a deep penetrating small revolver load in a modest chambering can outpenetrate a far more powerful hollow point.

Three feet of penetration sounds implausible until you consider what is producing it: a narrow, heavy, non-expanding bullet with nothing to slow it but friction. It is the same principle behind heavy hard cast loads in 44 Special and 45 Colt, scaled down.

The tradeoff is honest. Against a thin skinned target a hollow point will do more visible damage. Against a hog, a black bear or anything with heavy shoulder bone in the way, this bullet reaches the vitals and the hollow point may not.

Hard cast bullets also shoot clean at these velocities. Properly sized and lubricated, the 130 grain hard cast Keith bullet leaves less fouling in the bore than many jacketed loads, and 32 H&R Magnum +P ammo runs cool enough that leading is rarely an issue at all.

Specifications

Revolvers That Shoot This Deep Penetrating Small Revolver Load

This is +P ammunition and it belongs only in strong modern revolvers. Buffalo Bore specifies Ruger single and double actions including the SP101, the GP100 in 32, the Single Seven and the Blackhawk, plus USFA and other heavy frame single actions built for the cartridge.

Do not fire it in a 32 S&W Long chambering, in older top break revolvers, or in lightweight alloy framed guns not rated for +P. The 32 H&R case will chamber in a 327 Federal Magnum revolver, and those handle this load easily, but the reverse is never true.

Barrel length changes less than you would expect. The three inch SP101 gave up only about thirty fps against the 5.5 inch Blackhawk, which makes a compact revolver a reasonable home for this trail and woods carry ammunition.

Trail And Woods Carry Ammunition Availability

This Buffalo Bore 32 H&R Mag +P 130gr Hard Cast is in stock and ships from our Collegeville, Pennsylvania shop. MAG5 Firearms is a family owned FFL dealer, and orders normally leave within one business day.

For the same hard cast approach in other small revolver chamberings, see the Buffalo Bore 38 S&W 125gr Hard Cast and the Buffalo Bore 38 Special 158gr SWC Hard Cast. Step up to a big bore trail gun with the Buffalo Bore 44 Special 255gr Hard Cast SWC. Tested velocities are published by Buffalo Bore Ammunition.