.32 acp reloading question

I load the 60 Gr XTP to .920 +/- and it runs in all my .32/7.65 guns. I load the RN to .955 +/-, and it too runs in everything.

Everything being a FN M-1922, Beretta M-81, CZ M-83, and a Taurus PT-132 Pro.
 
Shivahasagun said:
Groove to groove. Not Lands.

Am I doing this right?
Click to expand...
The lands are the bore. The grooves are cut or forged after the bore. The rifling is the bore and groove together. The groove is typically cut 3-5 thousandths deep - 6-10 thousandths combined.

You’re fine using the groove diameter to find the projectile diameter. A very tight bore with a very loose groove suggests the barrel is made for jacketed bullets, IIRC. Or maybe it’s the other way around. I don’t remember dealing with that combination very often.
 
My obstacle seems to be my Euro brass.

Is Starline brass thinner?

Anyone know where PMC .32 is made & what the brass is like?

So far .311 is the smallest diameter coated lead bullets I've found and they are 80 gr. They may be too fat and / or too long.
 
GeoDudeFlorida said:
The lands are the bore. The grooves are cut or forged after the bore. The rifling is the bore and groove together. The groove is typically cut 3-5 thousandths deep - 6-10 thousandths combined.

You’re fine using the groove diameter to find the projectile diameter. A very tight bore with a very loose groove suggests the barrel is made for jacketed bullets, IIRC. Or maybe it’s the other way around. I don’t remember dealing with that combination very often.
Click to expand...

My Beretta 92X with its wide bore looks to have "high?" rifling. Unfortunately it shreds the plating off plated bullets. I see the strands in paper targets.

Plated bullet accuracy is inferior to jacketed & lead In my experience and I generally avoid them. Unless it's very cheap and I use them at no more than 15 yds. (Freedom Munitions 9x19 for example)
 
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tbbullets.com

32acp - 78gr - RN - Polymer Coated

High quality hard cast bullets for reloading
tbbullets.com tbbullets.com

tbbullets.com

32acp - 64gr - SWC - Polymer Coated

High quality hard cast bullets for reloading
tbbullets.com tbbullets.com

From their web page:
Designed for the Pardini pistols. Can be sized to .309', .312", or .313" if needed. Please call or email for special sizing.
Click to expand...

I have loaded the T&B 64 Gr SWC and have had no issues with them chambering. I logged that bullet at .314.

As posted, my .32 ACP brass is a horrid mix of range brass.
 
Shivahasagun said:
I just finished measuring.

The 81FS barrel bore was .3100. The 81BB the same.

The Allegheny Arms barrel is .3080.

The AA chamber is shorter, too. It barely plunks a Fiocchi fmj. This barrel barely fit in the gun at first. It's a precise, match-type barrel. That's probably another reason why it chronographs about 100 fps faster than Beretta barrels while only being a half-inch longer.

If I'm going to make ammo it would be for the AA barrel.

That means no long OAL cartridges and no bullets larger than .311, if that.
Click to expand...
just make a bunch of dummy rounds and see what OAL will plunk and cycle in the mag correctly. you can get a swager tool to make the bullet diameters smaller. I think I have a couple of them at different sizes, just got them to experiment.
 
Lee and NOE make push through sizers. Sizing a coated bullet down a little is very easy.

On the other hand a number of cast bullet sellers (such as in post 32 above) provide smaller than typical size on request.

And 0.313" in Euro brass is only a problem in guns with tight chambers. Your gun may or may not like this combination.
 
Walkalong said:
tbbullets.com

32acp - 78gr - RN - Polymer Coated

High quality hard cast bullets for reloading
tbbullets.com tbbullets.com

tbbullets.com

32acp - 64gr - SWC - Polymer Coated

High quality hard cast bullets for reloading
tbbullets.com tbbullets.com

From their web page:


I have loaded the T&B 64 Gr SWC and have had no issues with them chambering. I logged that bullet at .314.

As posted, my .32 ACP brass is a horrid mix of range brass.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

I'll give him a call or email. Maybe he would mail me just a few of those bullets sized .309 and .311 for $20 bucks or so before i buy 500 or 1k?
 
P Flados said:
Lee and NOE make push through sizers. Sizing a coated bullet down a little is very easy.

On the other hand a number of cast bullet sellers (such as in post 32 above) provide smaller than typical size on request.

And 0.313" in Euro brass is only a problem in guns with tight chambers. Your gun may or may not like this combination.
Click to expand...

I assumed sizing a coated bullet would ruin the coating? No?
 
Shivahasagun said:
I assumed sizing a coated bullet would ruin the coating? No?
Click to expand...
As long as everything is clean and scratch free, it doesn’t matter a bit. Lots of people here resize their home cast after powder coating. I’ve used the Lee sizing dies to resize jacketed bullets (for example: from .429 to .427 - .44Spl to .44-40) and while I don’t recommend it for a regular habit it works well when a proper bullet can’t be found. Resizing plated .365” Makarov bullets down to .361” for .38S&W works well but I tried it with jacketed Speer FMJ and that is a nogo even with Imperial.
 
Oh, I took some measurements!

First, S&B, Fiocchi, and the Geco / Ruag are all Boxer primed.

Fiocchi case brass at the mouth measured .0130. The bullet .3080.

A Geco case was .0135 thick and the bullet .3075. It was very tight! Perhaps it started as a .308?

I found a reloaded PMC cartridge. Brass was .0115 thick, plated bullet was probably a .311 crushed down to .3105 / .3110.

So, just confirmed the Euro thick brass.

My goal will be to load the coated RN 78 gr .309 bullets in my Euro brass from the .308 bore to just enough to consistently cycle my guns while suppressed.

Probably start with 1.8 gr HP38 but I'll need to see what the OAL ends up being first with the 78 gr bullet.
 
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I haven't had a chance to shoot yet but I did set up my new dies. No problems.

Set up for the tight Allegheny Arms barrel cartridges (used a Geco case) with the TB 78 gr bullets has max OAL of .984 in.

Case capacity seemed to only be a tiny bit reduced from factory FMJ.

I'm not settled on a charge yet, but will use HP38. 1.8 gr? 2.0 gr? Other? Try both?
 
Never had a problem running thousands of cast .312" 78 gr bullets in euro cases at .930" OAL.
You may want to consider performing a ladder test beginning with a starting charge and stopping when you achieve reliable function.
 
Max. cartridge OAL for .32 ACP is 0.984".
Max thickness of semi rim is 0.045".
CIP tolerance on lengths is -0.5mm or ~ 0.02", +0.00. So to avoid rounds having enough longitudinal clearance to " shuffle in the stack," free space in the magazine box should not exceed the thickness of the semi-rim, order to prevent rimlock.

Rimlock was never a problem in police or military service with FMJ ammunition because cartridge OAL did not permit a sloppy fit in the magazine.

This problem arose when light weight, JHP bullets were brought out for the Seecamp pistol, which had a shorter magazine box dimensioned for the Winchester 60-grain Silvertip round. When shorter cartridges are used in standard magazines dimensioned for hardball, you have established perfect conditions for rimlock.

If .32 ACP cartridges are at least 0.95" long, rimlock cannot occur in a correctly dimensioned magazine. Unfortunately, popular rounds like the Buffalo Bore are too short and if using them you risk the dreaded "Jam-O-Matic".

If you load your own, buy one of the Accurate Molds for .32 ACP having at least 0.26" nose length, and in which seating depth does not exceed the 0.25" produced by CIP "heavy" ball.
 

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GeoDudeFlorida said:
I have a mix of European and American .32 autos. The CZ 50 will chamber and fire almost anything. The Savage 1910 really needs WW-white box or plain Remington green box. The FEG P37 will only feed Fiocchi FMJ.
I have an older Colt 1903 (pre-war) that will work fairly well with almost anything but the magazine is picky. It really prefers the thinner rims of Federal and Remington green box.
.32’s are just picky eaters in my experience. The one exception being the CZ 50/70.
Maybe invest in an inside neck cutter and thin the brass on the European cases if they’re too thick.
Click to expand...
Same thing I've found....CZ50 and my 27 eat anything, as well as my vz61. My tomcat is picky, and must be kept light, no euro loads for it. Keltec will eat any rn or fmj loaded to max coal, and xtp's with a wire jammed into the magazine, lol. I've got 2 or 3 others as well. Hp's, and the xtp are useless in 32 acp, unless you got them free.

Key tricks with 32 acp for me: don't mix and match euro/us brass, unless it's a seacamp...load as close to max coal as you can, avoid .313 bullets in euro brass, and if you want to reduce the pain in your life...buy new Starline brass, not neccesary for sure, but definitely the easy button.
 
With cast bullets shown in my post above 2 grains of TiteGroup is a full-charge load which functions well, or alternately 3 grains of Unique or AutoComp, max not to be exceeded!
 
I'm going to try extra hard to shoot 100-200 rds of Geco .32 next week so I have cases to reload. Will use my 81fs with original barrel.

The goal of my 78 gr .309 in bullets from TB is to load lightly to get reliable, low-recoil, gun-friendly, quiet ammo for suppressor use. (Beretta 81's & VZ61)
 
Shivahasagun said:
I'm going to try extra hard to shoot 100-200 rds of Geco .32 next week so I have cases to reload. Will use my 81fs with original barrel.

The goal of my 78 gr .309 in bullets from TB is to load lightly to get reliable, low-recoil, gun-friendly, quiet ammo for suppressor use. (Beretta 81's & VZ61)
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I load the berry plated 71's for. My suppressor hosts are a beretta tomcat covert and my vz61. Gotta be gentle with the tomcat, but the vz61 will eat anything.
 
I finally have some fired Geco cases. Well, 65 of them. I fired 120 rds the other day and lost half of them. (Range needs a cleanup)

So, 78 gr .309 coated bullets loaded to .984" OAL.

Wanting just enough to cycle my guns without a suppressor, but will be using a suppressor.

Where to start? I'm thinking 1.9 gr of HP38.
 
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