Loading 32acp

[Nine major]

Dose anyone load 32acp on a Dillion 550.

[Trooperjake]

Yes....

[oldcaster]

Yes most of us do. It would be easier if you had one of the plastic powder slides made by Unitek because it is smaller and very repeatable at the small amounts. You will need an expander and I understand that Dillon makes one for a 32 long wadcutter that is .314. It would be fairly easy to cut it off so it would work with the shorter 32 ACP. You would want the flat part of the expander to be around .250 plus whatever taper you need in the front. I have heard that Dave Wilson (FC60)will make one also but don't know if he does any longer. From there everything is the same. I use an oversize Lee sizer so I don't work my brass so much but don't know if most people do or not. The first few times you expand the cases they will be tight and you might want to use lubricant at least the first time so it is not so difficult. Of course you need to clean the cases and expander after doing this and obviously don't use powder the first time either. My experience is that Magtech and Remington cases expand the easiest. Others might want to chime in if they have had success with other brands. Since it is a semi- automatic, use a taper crimp also.

[Dipnet]

Everything Oldcaster says is correct. I use standard Dillon 32 ACP expander (I have the one for the 32 S&W L, but lack skills to adapt it). I've been able to scrounge nearly a thousand Remington brass, which I have found to work well as does Hornady (but the only way to get those is by shooting the 60gr XTP factory loads). Thicker brass such as PMC or Fiochhi does not work as well. Get the Unique Tek powder bar for the Dillon 550 (http://www.uniquetek.com/site/696296/product/T1231). Good luck, dipnet

[dmw6455]

I had a problem loading the Remington brass using the Redding sizing die (on my Dillon 550). The Hornady 60 gr XTP bullet could be pushed into the case even after taper crimping. Could not figure out what was wrong until I noticed that once fired Hornady factory brass worked fine. Remington brass has thinner walls. I ordered a Hornady sizing die and the Remington brass worked. Waiting for Starline to make their first run of .32 acp brass of which they said the wall thickness will be .11 instead of the .10 of the Remington.

[oldcaster]

Dipnet, Does the 32 ACP expander from Dillon also measure .314 or is it smaller. If people are loading with some sort of jacketed bullet, that would be too big. If it is less, it would be too small for lead bullet loading unless the bullets are very hard which would keep them from being swaged down but a soft bullet is a lot more forgiving and has less tendency to leave leading.

The 32 long expander I am talking about is for wadcutter and is a special order. I imagine people have been asking for a .314 expander for the 32 long for quite a while because some die sets don't expand the case at all and if Dillon makes a .314 for the ACP that is great.

Using the same setup for jacketed bullets and lead bullets would present a load of problems.

[Dipnet]

Oldcaster,
Yep, I have the longer powder funnel for loading 32 S&W L wad cutters, but I don't have access to a lathe to modify it for the ACP. I'm not sure what diameter the wad cutter funnel is, but I'll check.

Otherwise, I have an eclectic complement of reloading dies: Hornady sizing, Dillon powder drop/expander, Lee bullet seating, and a Redding crimp die. I didn't plan this; I came across individual 32 ACP dies at guns shows and bought the Redding crimp die.

I haven't noticed a problem with resizing brass resulting from case thickness but have observed variation in thick-walled brass (>0.011-in.). Some of the European stuff is takes more effort to bell and may have some spring-back after belling. (I don't know if that actually happens, but it is more difficult to seat bullets in thick-walled brass).

I load target ammo differently: 1) resize & de-prime brass; 2) wet tumble brass using steel brads, which makes the brass look like new; and 3) hand prime cases to ensure primer seat uniformity (you can't 'feel' the primer seat on a Dillon press). I also do this because the normal loading process causes small amounts of debris to collect in the primer seating cup, which deforms primer faces.

Loading begins with primed brass. I check the each of the first 10 loads to make sure powder drops are consistent and then complete remaining loading steps as usually done. I never leave powder in the reservoir as it is not air tight and powder will absorb moisture (especially in humid climates like Florida).

I'm not this picky with 45s, but the small case volume of the 32 ACP means that small variations in primer seating or powder charge weight are more likely to have significant effects. Trying to control these variables is a compulsive exercise. dipnet

[Dipnet]

Oldcaster,
I checked: the wad cutter case expander for the 32 S&W L is 0.3105" diameter and the standard 32 ACP expander is only 0.3080." Dipnet

[oldcaster]

I think since it is such a small case and bullet that all of the measurements matter that much more including how big is an individuals barrel and what the brass is like internally. I never worry about brass in anything I shoot except the 32 ACP and the 32 Long. I haven't experimented much with 9mm and lead but expect that it will be just as problematic.

[oldcaster]

It would be interesting if someone else who has a Dillon 32 wadcutter only expander would measure theirs. I have heard they are .314 and Dipnet said his was .310 and a half which would be too small to use for the 32 acp.

[cnnhead]

I've got a Dillon powder funnel that actually incorporates an expander for 32S&W (#13171). I don't use it since it is .3110" only. I don't think there are any other Dillon .32 expanders available.
Though I don't load 32ACP, I also needed a .314 expander for my 32S&W loads a while ago. David Wilson helped me with a perfect custom expander (cheers Dave :-)). Sometimes I also use an RCBS expander die from their 32S&W Cowboy Action set. There are two plugs included, shorter and longer which are .312 and .313 respectively.

[oldcaster]

Yes 13171 is the part I was talking about and I thought it was .314. If Dave Wilson (FC60) still makes these, it is the only place that I know where you can get them unless you know someone who has a lathe and is talented with it. The 13171 is probably better than what most dies are but not good enough for proper accuracy.

[fc60]

Greetings Dillon users,

I no longer machine custom parts for the Dillon machines. Dillon is still in business and custom requests should be directed to them. Dillon prides themselves on Customer service and I am sure they are more than happy to assist.

Personally, I no longer use an expander plug. I have collected a set of Carbide sizing dies that I use based on head stamp.

For the R-P brass, I use a sizing die with an internal diameter of 0.331" and it produces sized brass at 0.333".

In my Star loader, I use an expander that does not touch the inside of the brass. It only flares the case mouth.

Soft bullets sized 0.314" and LinoType bullets sized 0.315" seat very well.

I have found the need to taper crimp the soft swaged bullets to keep them from moving in the case. The harder cast bullets seem to stay put with case neck tension only and I choose to use no crimp, just remove the belling.

Here is a link to some sample targets using the above process....

http://www.targettalk.org/viewtopic.php ... 70#p237483

Cheers,

Dave

[oldcaster]

Dave, How many times does the typical case need to be fired to be as large as what you are sizing and where would sizing dies like this be available. -- Bill --

[fc60]

Greetings Bill,

The chamber of the 32 ACP is "generous" and the cases are easily sized to most any diameter.

In the past, I have ordered custom sizing dies from Lee Precision. They are the only major die manufacturer that will accept this sort of work at a reasonable price.

I size, decap, and wash all my brass in stainless pins prior to loading. ZipLoc bags are great to sort out the brass by head stamp and sized diameter.

After sizing the brass, I sort them for overall length. Due to the way the Pardini head spaces, it is important that the brass be all the same length +/- 0.002" maximum, the closer the better. I seat the bullet so that it just touches the leade when the case mouth is firmly in contact with the barrel chamber lip. Thus far, the results have been good. Little to no leading and the crud that builds up in the chamber is easily removed.

NOTE: I am using a barrel tester with a fixed breech. I cannot speak to those of you that actually own and shoot the pistol with the recoiling bolt.

Cheers,

Dave

[oldcaster]

Dave, I don't think not being mounted in a gun would have much to do with anything except for accuracy and then I don't think it would be much. I haven't paid much attention to brass length and as you know I did a bunch of that with the 32 long and became stymied when some cases grew and some got shorter. This may not happen in the ACP but don't know yet. I will check out of curiosity. I used a RR for a while when testing but didn't have al lot of confidence in the way that was done because it is a square rubber piece mounted in a typical holder and while that design is about all that can be done, I think it is lacking. I shoot with an 8 power scope and consequently it takes time to concentrate and make sure there are minimal mistakes. Your system is pretty much foolproof and while it won't say how accurate the pistol is, it certainly tells how accurate the loads are.

One thing I noticed is that the more I use my brass, the larger it becomes and the first few times I have quite a bit of difficulty inserting and removing the .314 expander I use. Without actually counting I would guess that after about the 3rd time being reloaded my expander does very little. I use a .002 larger sizing die from Lee but I haven't measured it. Are you using something even larger. -- Bill --

[fc60]

Greetings Bill,

I compared results with a Haemmerli SP-20 barrel mounted in the barrel tester then assembled back into the pistol with an 8 power scope fired off sandbags. I shot three ten shot groups with each method. When I was finished, I placed the targets side by side on the table and you could not distinguish which method, barrel tester or sandbags, produced which group.

With a blow back pistol, like the 32 S&W Long, the barrel tester becomes an "ammo tester".

I never worried much about the 32 S&W Long case length as it headspaces on the rim and the chamber has a tapered leade which guides the bullet. No sharp shoulder like the 32 ACP by Pardini or a 45 ACP.

Brass is hard to come by and I only have less than 100 pieces of R-P 32 ACP for testing. I like the R-P as it has uniform case wall thickness and somewhat thin, which works well for the "fat" 0.314" and 0.315" bullets I load for the PardiniUSA barrel that gauges at 0.314". That said, I suspect my brass has been fired many times.

As commented earlier, I no longer use an expander plug so I cannot comment on the friction created expanding sized cases.

My Lee Carbide dies measure from 0.329" - 0.335". As a Tool Maker, I have access to both pin gauges and internal micrometers to measure my dies. A good set of minus pin gauges work fine for this application.

Cheers,

Dave

[oldcaster]

My regular Lee die measures .329 and the .002 larger measures .031 as it should. I wondered how close it would be to .002 but never measured it. .335 is pretty big. Did you specifically order the .335 or is it just one of the larger dies that Lee sells that happened to be that big. -- Bill --

[fc60]

Greetings Bill,

The Lee Factory Carbide Crimp Die I have measures 0.335".

The SAAMI maximum 32 S&W Long Wadcutter cartridge diameter is 0.337"

The 0.335" die will allow the 0.002" spring back of the brass case.

Actually, that is a good point to remember. If your loaded ammo measures 0.336", you can order a sizing die of 0.333". This will size an average brass case to 0.335" allowing 0.001" neck tension.

The less you work the brass, sizing too much and then expanding, the sooner it work hardens and cracks.

The above technique works well for TARGET ammunition.

Cheers,

Dave