Fiocchi .32 S&W long 100 gr lead wadcutter ammo

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Mike Taylor
Posts: 212
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2004 4:03 pm
Location: Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Fiocchi .32 S&W long 100 gr lead wadcutter ammo

Post by Mike Taylor »

I recently got a few boxes of this at a good price. I've never used it before, only Lapua and my own reloads. I've been using 1.8 grains of Bullseye with 98-grain lead wadcutters and getting velocities at the chrono of around 750-780 fps (which is similar to the Lapua velocities). The Fiocchi (product code 71-0335) out of my SP20 registers about 625 fps at the chrono and is definitely a "soft" load compared to the factory 98-grain Lapua load.
The Fiocchi USA web-site lists stock #32LA as .32 S&W long with 100-grain LWC and a muzzle velocity of 730 fps. On the other hand, the Fiocchi Italy web-site lists product code 71-0335 as .32 S&W long with 100-grain LWC and a muzzle velocity of 205 m/s (673 fps) from a 125 mm barrel The latter is consistent with my finding. Is the US Fiocchi a different product? ... or maybe the muzzle velocity on the US site is from a longer barrel?
The ammo I bought is labelled "Lead Wadcutter 100 gr (TFS)". Anyone know what the letters TFS stand for in this instance?
I must say that shooting the Fiocchi in the SP20 is really nice. Using the Lapua, it felt like the gun was taking a beating, even with the damper adjusted.
deleted1
Posts: 300
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2004 8:48 am

Post by deleted1 »

I don't know what "TFS" means but Fiocchi .32 S&W is a soft load---and quite satisfactory to 25 metres---at 50 yards the bullets tend to "tip" a wee bit. The heads are a hollow base wadcutter, mebbe that's what TFS may relate to????? If you reload---toss the Fiocchi brass away after the third reload---it's weaker brass and the rounds tend to blow apart---ask me I know---If I shot anything other than a Pardini HP I would have lost the gun---as it was it cost me two good magazine at $48 @.
pault-remote

.32 ammo

Post by pault-remote »

1.8gr bullseye sounds a bit hot for 25m work.
With Lapua head, I used to use approx 1.4gr.

I thought Fiocchi was no longer made. We had some good stuff in purple boxes but the darker boxes was not as good and one in fifty had less powder and trashed a decent score for a couple of team mates about 2 years back.

I use Lapua 98 gr for precision and Mactech for rapid. Magtech is nearly as accurate and recoil is sensible, it is available to us at about 50% cost of Lapua.
Guest-remote

.32 S&W L Fiocchi

Post by Guest-remote »

To "Pault-remote".
About 4 years back I bought a case of 1000 Fiocchi .32 Long wc factory ammo a gun store, which was selling this ammo at a "bargain" price.

I testfired the ammo, notices nothing unusual, and decided to use it for a club match.
During the precicion stage I suddenly noticed that one cartridge made a dud noice, and just barely cycled the action. By inspection the target there were only 4 normal bullet holes. The fifth was a "keyhole" at the lower corner of the target!
During the next strings the same thing occured again, printing 1 or even 2 "keyholes" way off center.
Then I abandoned the match, cause I had not brought any substitute ammo.

I returned the faulty ammo to the gun shop, and got a refund.
To my surprice the ammo I returned was not put away for return to the factory (or importer). It was put back on the shelf for sale again!

(The cheapest wheat is what has passed through a horse.)
PaulT
Posts: 206
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2004 9:19 am
Location: UK

Post by PaulT »

PautT (No longer remote aka stuck in Athens airport due to a local strike!)

Yes, that is the stuff. We use the remainder up as centre fire rapid training ammunition. We could not return it as it was the only ammo we had at the time GBR shooters in Switzerland!

Shame as the earlier batches in the more purple coloured boxes was excellent.
Mike Taylor
Posts: 212
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2004 4:03 pm
Location: Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Sqib rounds of Fiocchi

Post by Mike Taylor »

Well, the Fiocchi I bought was certainly a bargain price. However, I've no comparison for judging the shade of purple colour of the box. I have fired 80 rounds, so far, without problem, but in view of the above-mentioned experiences, I will be extra attentive for any indication of a weak round. Since I intend to use the ammo for Centre Fire only, I think I will readily notice one. The good news is that even the reported weak rounds did exit the barrel.
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