Reloading my M70 32 ACP

[Mogas]

I am wanting to reload my 32 ACP with Hornady 85 gr. XTP bullets. I have bullseye powder. I cannot find any load data for 32 ACP shooting the Hornady 85gr XTP bullets. Bullseye powder is recommended for 32 ACP reloading 71 gr. bullets.. Any one have any experience with reloading 85 gr hornady XTP for 32 ACP?

 

[Walkalong]

Those are of course designed for .32 revolver calibers like .32 Long & .32 Mag, and I suppose they could be used in .32-20 & .327 Federal, but there is no reason they couldn’t work in .32 ACP.

That said, I haven’t tried it, despite having some.

If I wanted to try it, I would use 71 Gr data as a guide and be careful about seating depth compared to the 71 Gr RN.

I would have to look at it, but the starting load for a 71 Gr RM might be doable.

Bullseye is very fast, and it’s a tiny case, so I would be very cautious working up, as in .1 Gr st a time, stopping short of max.

 

[Mogas]

Thanks Walkalong; Been at the reloading table about an hour or more and trying to get the 85 gr to work in the 32 ACP. I must say, I followed your advise and went with 1.7 gr of Bullseye and that made the little 32 acp operate well after figuring out that I needed to bell out the brass deeper and seat the bullet the same dept as the buffalo brand 32 ACP I had on hand. So you nailed it on both accounts. Now I want to add jut a TAD more powder just to see if I can get the speed up a bit.. Thanks again.

 

[EricBu]

I'll answer better later, on my phone now. Xtps will often rimlock in zastavas, and other eastern block guns, they are too short and jump around the mag unless you do the wire mod. 32acp imho is the trickiest round to load, and I've been loading it 30 years and have a dozen guns in the caliber. You have different brass specs and bullet diameters/throats to deal with. I would start with 71 gr Berry's plated, or an fmj. Match your brass by headstamp, don't try and batch load mixed headstamp, because a mix of euro and us brass will leave your crimp and bullet seating a hot mess. Load to the max coal for the bullet you choose, no shorter. Your biggest enemy is short rounds that will rimlock in that zastava. Also, most hollow points won't expand at 32acp velocities, especially not an 85 grain. A Zastava will run like a singer sewing machine on Berry's 71 plated.

 

[Mogas]

Thanks EricBU;
I will start looking for the 71 gr Berry's bullets tonight. I got the Hornady 85 gr. XTP working OK but my last magazine of five bullets failed to fully load 2X out of the five bullets.. If i am going to use this for my carry weapon, It got to do better that that..

 

[Walkalong]

I have used the Berrys 71 Gr, as well as the Hornady 71 Gt RN, and both will feed 100%.

I get much better accuracy with the 60 Gr XZP.

T&B have a couple of bullets I want to try

https://tbbullets.com/bullets/polymer-coated-handgun/32-caliber/

 

[Mogas]

Got my order in on the Berry bullets. I did not like the Lee dies I was using so I got a set of Redding. The lee seating die was pretty much sloppy when trying to seat the bullet. What I mean by "sloppy" is when you insert the bullet and brass into the die, the bullet would seat it's self a little off center into the brass. You could see a slight bulge on one side of the brass. The Redding dies worked just fine...

 

[Walkalong]

I had all kinds of trouble with my Lee .32 ACP dies, a set of RCBS dies fixed all the issues

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I had all kinds of trouble with my Lee .32 ACP dies, a set of RCBS dies fixed all the issues

The Lee .32S&W dies work better for .32ACP than the .32ACP dies. Then again, they also work better for .32ACP than they do for .32S&W. IIRC, aren't they almost the same set but with a different seating die? It's been so long since I loaded .32ACP I cant' remember. I do use the Lee .32ACP dies for .32S&W and they work real well. Nice taper crimp in the seating die, too.

 

[EricBu]

Yep, I switched to the RCBS die as well, but use the Lee 32 S&W FCD and seat/crimp in different steps. 32 ACP is nearly a case study for the FCD, because of the wide variance in brass between european and US brass. Of course, the easy button is to buy a thousand pieces of brand new starline brass, which is quite nice and makes loading for the caliber a breeze. My only problem with it now is that 32 acp has a nack for finding it's way inside other pieces of brass. Nothing like chugging along loading 9mm and getting that "crunch" as the decapping pin drives through the 9mm case with the 32 case inside it, then it all wads up in the sizing die.

 

[GooseGestapo]

Go easy Mogas.
Above 2.0gr of Bullseye with an 85-90gr bullet, it’s not pressure that causes issues, it’s frame and slide battering.
It sneaks up on you...
I battered my Beretta TomCat to death. Cracked frame and slide. Frame Aluminum, slide Steel.

Accuracy and reliable chambering/function should be your goal. If you want a fireball that expands a 85-115gr bullet, get a .30SuperCarry.
It’s my new “darling” .32... uses .32acp dies to reload...

 

[Walkalong]

32 ACP is nearly a case study for the FCD, because of the wide variance in brass between european and US brass

That is one thing my RCBS sizer/expander combo fixed. I too am using a horrid mix of .32 headstamps.

 

[Walkalong]

Go easy Mogas.
Above 2.0gr of Bullseye with an 85-90gr bullet, it’s not pressure that causes issues, it’s frame and slide battering.
It sneaks up on you...
I battered my Beretta TomCat to death. Cracked frame and slide. Frame Aluminum, slide Steel.

Accuracy and reliable chambering/function should be your goal. If you want a fireball that expands a 85-115gr bullet, get a .30SuperCarry.
It’s my new “darling” .32... uses .32acp dies to reload...

Very good point, no need to load to max, nice gentle plinkers will be easier on our old guns and just as fun. Like Goose posted, you can always get a .30 Super if recoil and muzzle blast is your game.

 

[EricBu]

Go easy Mogas.
Above 2.0gr of Bullseye with an 85-90gr bullet, it’s not pressure that causes issues, it’s frame and slide battering.
It sneaks up on you...
I battered my Beretta TomCat to death. Cracked frame and slide. Frame Aluminum, slide Steel.

Accuracy and reliable chambering/function should be your goal. If you want a fireball that expands a 85-115gr bullet, get a .30SuperCarry.
It’s my new “darling” .32... uses .32acp dies to reload...

Ha! Now, I consider the 32 ACP one of the trickiest rounds to reload......and out of all my guns in the caliber.....the Tomcat is the trickiest! Beretta has all kinds of muzzle energy warnings for the original tomcat, and it was supposed to be all hunky dory with the SS versions, but nope, my brand new Covert has the same warnings, IIRC 130 foot pounds of muzzle energy or some such nonsense. Which as near as I can figure, means the tomcat can't shoot ANY european 32 acp, which is silly. From memory converting ME to velocity worked out at something like 700 fps for a 71 grain bullet. But naturally, no matter what powder, that load won't cycle a new tomcat, and not 100% even once it's broken in. Very very fine line between function and too much for the Tomcat.

 

[Hooda Thunkit]

Above 2.0gr of Bullseye with an 85-90gr bullet, it’s not pressure that causes issues, it’s frame and slide battering.
It sneaks up on you...
I battered my Beretta TomCat to death. Cracked frame and

Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating loading hot but...

@Mogas isn't loading for some svelte Western European alloy-framed Sunday go-to-meetin' .32ACP Beretta

The Zastava M70 is a honking piece of Eastern Bloc steel.

I have one. I'm relatively certain it can be used as a trotline weight, or a framing hammer, as a side job.

I feel certain it can handle any published load.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating loading hot but...

@Mogas isn't loading for some svelte Western European alloy-framed Sunday go-to-meetin' .32ACP Beretta

The Zastava M70 is a honking piece of Eastern Bloc steel.

I have one. I'm relatively certain it can be used as a trotline weight, or a framing hammer, as a side job.

I feel certain it can handle any published load.

Based on the Tokarev TT33, if I recall.
I’m pretty sure those pistols have seen many years of hard use so show some restraint. Just a little.

 

[mstreddy]

I love my 32s. I really enjoyed my Colt 1903 and then I discovered other 32 ACPs. Then reading Walkalong's posts, I went after a 32 S&W Long, or two. I'm still looking for the Taurus, though I found a Colt and a S&W. And then, I got one of the Ruger Single Seven in 327 Fed Mag. Shooting 32 Longs out of that is a hoot!
I've been using the Hornady dies for the 32 ACP and I haven't had issues with mixed bag of range brass. I've loaded the Berry's 71 grn plated RN and the Hornady 71 grn FMJ RN.

 

[jmorris]

32 ACP and 85gn XTP.


https://www.hodgdonreloading.com/reloading-data-center

 

[Archie]

I collect older .32 ACP pistols. Mostly I simply buy PPU ammo for any use. However nearly all .32 ACP or 7.65mm is advertised at 900 fps and nothing actually goes that fast. I have over twenty such pistols (various makes and models) and I've chronographed them all. (I'm just that sort.) Details available, but that isn't germane right now.

However the thought did occur to me (always dangerous) of 'stepping' up the load a bit. I did stick with 71 grain FMJ bullets (some Hornady and a large box of Berry's plated) but used Power Pistol powder in the thought it was slower and provided less of a pressure 'jolt'. I did chronograph work, didn't get carried away and didn't blow anything up. At the same time, I expect these loads would probably wear things out faster than standard loads, but i'm not going to do any destruction testing. (I do have the loading information, but am not going to publish it here. But I will share if one convinces me they are aware of the problems.)
My ceasing this line of experimentation was based on my observations that heavy for caliber loadings in .38 Special or .45 ACP were much more effective and less bothersome.
However, cautious use of a somewhat slower pistol powder might be rewarding.

 

[EricBu]

Some arbitrary and unrequested 32 ACP porn. The weakest gun is the Tomcat Covert, but it's a hoot to shoot. The strongest is the Vz 61...which will eat anything you throw at it, and will happily chew up really hot loads. Stupid accurate at 25 yards, and also fun to shoot with a can. The CZ 27 is a German occupation CZ with nazi markings. I only shoot that one with very very gentle loads, as the Czechs were known to introduce flaws into guns during the German occupation.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Some arbitrary and unrequested 32 ACP porn. The weakest gun is the Tomcat Covert, but it's a hoot to shoot. The strongest is the Vz 61...which will eat anything you throw at it, and will happily chew up really hot loads. Stupid accurate at 25 yards, and also fun to shoot with a can. The CZ 27 is a German occupation CZ with nazi markings. I only shoot that one with very very gentle loads, as the Czechs were known to introduce flaws into guns during the German occupation.


View attachment 1084022

The gem of that crop IMO is the Ortgies. I gave mine away to an elderly lady who worked at the feed store. She had to come in earlier than usual one morning and was "attacked" by rats. I gave her the .32 Ortgies and a few days later when I went by for some dog food she tried to give it back. Said she got the rat and showed me the blood spot on the wood floor. I told her to keep it for next time. She died of cancer eight or nine years later and the gun went to her daughter, who moved not long after. I lost track after that but if I recall, the daughter was married with children and had no problem with guns.

 

[EricBu]

The gem of that crop IMO is the Ortgies. I gave mine away to an elderly lady who worked at the feed store. She had to come in earlier than usual one morning and was "attacked" by rats. I gave her the .32 Ortgies and a few days later when I went by for some dog food she tried to give it back. Said she got the rat and showed me the blood spot on the wood floor. I told her to keep it for next time. She died of cancer eight or nine years later and the gun went to her daughter, who moved not long after. I lost track after that but if I recall, the daughter was married with children and had no problem with guns.

That Ortgies has a sad history. My grandfather brought a gun back from germany during WWII. I inherited an old 201 file with all of his WWII stuff in it, and it also had a bring back certificate for a handgun he had recovered from a german officer. This gun was in a box for 50 years, and the entire family assumed it was the bring back, but nobody knew he had a certificate with all the accompanying documentation and description for the bring back in the 201 file. Since I was the only other person in my family to go Army other than my Grandfather...naturally I poured through that 201 file and read every single thing in it and found that certificate. I inherited this gun later on, and as with everybody else in the family, assumed it would be the bring back, and of course it didn't match the bring back certificate, wrong serial number, model, year, and no possible way it could be a WWII officer's gun. Nobody in my family knows where this gun came from, or where the bring back ended up. I was super excited to have the gun that matched the bring back...then super crushed to realize that would never happen;-(

 

[Shivahasagun]

Go easy Mogas.
Above 2.0gr of Bullseye with an 85-90gr bullet, it’s not pressure that causes issues, it’s frame and slide battering.
It sneaks up on you...
I battered my Beretta TomCat to death. Cracked frame and slide. Frame Aluminum, slide Steel.

Accuracy and reliable chambering/function should be your goal. If you want a fireball that expands a 85-115gr bullet, get a .30SuperCarry.
It’s my new “darling” .32... uses .32acp dies to reload...

Don't feel bad!

I bought a new wide-slide Tomcat 4 years ago. Factory ammo only. It also cracked the frame and at about 800 rds the slide split.

Tomcats are junk. Bobcats are good, even better in .25 acp. Same for Jetfires and many, many other Beretta pistols. The Tomcat is Beretta's Corvair. (Look it up, young guys)

 

[Shivahasagun]

Accurate, reliable, excellent trigger, easy feild strip. That's the VZ61!

I've chronographed S&b 73 gr averaging over 1100 fps from mine.

I sent you a link to an optics mount for it. They shoot even better with a brace or even just an AR-style buffer tube for a cheek weld.

 

[mstreddy]

Some arbitrary and unrequested 32 ACP porn.

Eric, can you match/list all the models, I recognized several, but a couple elude me.
Not that I will go looking for any other 32 ACP pistols... right?

No pics, but my 32 ACPs include a Beretta 81, Colt 1903, FEG AP, MAB Brevete, Walther PP, FN Browning 1922, and a Spanish Echasa Eibar MAB.

And, yes, it's all THRs fault for flaunting 32s to us unprotected patrons.