Reloading .32 s&w short.

Lee hand press is ok, but not optimal. 32sw is a light pistol round that sizes easily, seats and crimps even easier. The hand press will work but it’s aggravating. You can do yourself a favor and buy a very basic lee bench mounted press for the same money and just clamp it to a table. As far as dies go, there’s nothing to it. Buy lee because they are cheap and functional. Just be careful not to pinch your fingers when your loading a bullet.

You will want a press.
The only cartrige I have loaded with black powder is 38spl but they worked great.

I believe the .32 s&w long die will work. I use .32 H&R mag dies, from Lee, to load .32 S&W long, and I believe those same dies will load .32 S&W also. I would do a GOOGLE inquiry and ask.

I didn’t have .32S&W-L dies when I was loading some .32short.
I used the Lee #4 shell holder (same as one that works for .223Rem, ect) and a set of Lee .32acp dies.
Furthermore, I was using the Lyman #311252 78gr RN mold to cast the bullets. Sized them to .311”.

The Lee .30 dipper that comes with the .32long dies is too big for the .32short. I used the Lee powder thru expander die and Lee powder measure with the Micro discs. I used #231 powder and Federal #100 primers. Cavity .21 IIRC.
BTW, Lee no longer makes the microdiscs measures.
I don’t know if the seater/crimper die of the .32 SW-L dies is short enough to work with the .32s.

In a friends S&W .32-L Hand Ejector, they were astonishing accurate. At 7yds I was seeing 1.5” 6-Shot groups. They chronographed at ~650fps. (Lyman Cast bullet manual #3 data).

If loading black powder (BP), you’ll need to make a powder measure from a .22lr case and copper wire as BP is very sensitive to possible static ignition. Do not use ANY plastic measures or containers. Only non-sparking metals (Aluminum and brass/copper)
Powder charge is easy, just enough room to allow seating of bullet over a compressed powder charge and crimp bullet. An over powder fiber wad is optional.
Use SPG bullet lube!!!

If you don’t cast, Others can recommend a source for bullets with suitable lube. Lube is critical as most commercial bullet lubes are incompatible with BP.
There is, IIRC, a thread on loading the .32SW-short over at castbollits.com.

Also, be sure to clean the gun properly. BP is hydroscopic, (draws moisture! And forms acids that cause aggressive corrosion.

If you are set on the lee hand press get the kit version it comes with a ram prime set. Otherwise you need to buy something to seat the primers.

Yes it will take lee dies, the current model uses lee's quick change bushings so you will need 2 more of those bushings. Once you get them set up its very easy to swap out resize, expander, and seat dies.

After looking you could save a few bucks just buying the lee ram prime separate. With black powder you don't need a plastic funnel or a case lube with the carbide die set.

Collector86 said:

What dies would i need for reloading ? Just one die for everything or would i need a few different types of dies?

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You need a manual, and READ it. You will also need a scale and something that does not have static possibilities like plastic can.

I definitely recommend the lee hand press, a hand primer (my favorite is the Frankford Arsenal), a loading block, and the lee dippers plus a digital scale as a great way to start. That setup is pretty much how I loaded for the first couple years, everything from 9mm to 7.7 Jap.
Using blackpowder changes things, but I don't have experience with that.
I have been loading 32 s&w short for a little while and I have gotten good results using a starting load of Trail Boss under an unsized 80gr cast bullet lubed with lee liquid alox. I load these for a very old Iver Johnson top break and have been very pleased with the results.

I highly recommend you buy a loading manual and read all of the front of the book. It will explain most of what you need to know about metallic handloading. The current Lyman manual is a very good one, the 50th Edition.