French 1935A

reccpd101

reccpd101

Member
Silver Supporter
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
779
Reaction score
1,102
Location
North Carolina
I have one of these recently featured on the back page of American Rifleman. I bought it CHEAP at a gun show probably 20 years ago. I had about a 100 rds for it but am down to 12. Any one know of anyone that can re-barrel and re-spring it to fire 32 ACP. It is a quality piece, very accurate, and feels great in your hand. I have not been able to find dies or reloading data for the few brass I have. I found 100 rd sealed WWII ammo packs for $399.95 that did not appear in good shape!!
 
Last edited:
I believe the new Federal .30 Super Carry cartridge is dimensionally identical to the original 7.65 Long French cartridge, and it may work fine as-is in your 1935A. I would have to look at the pressures and ballistics. Alternatively get some .30 SC cases and load them to a suitable level. I would not recommend re-barreling it.
 
Last edited:
Star line makes brass but may be out of stock. Limited runs of dies have been made by Lee. There was a group buy on gunboards a couple of years ago. You might go there and ask around. I believe there is a member there that sells the dies. I have read 30 super carry brass will work but dies may not be available. I think the super carry ammo is too hot/high pressure for these guns.
 
As I said, the ballistic performance of both would have to be considered. If bullet weights and MVs are close, then the .30 SC would probably be safe to use in the 1935A. I do not know if .32 ACP (or possibly .32 S&W Long) reloading dies can be used for the .32 SC but it is certainly possible.

I have no doubt that those questions have already been covered and an internet search would probably produce results as to whether the .30 SC cartridge works or could be made to work in the 1935.

Looks as though it will work. See .30 Super Carry & the .32 French Long | Gunboards Forums
There are several other similar postings. And it has been reported that Starline is making French cases. Far better options than messing with the original barrel. 7.65 French Long - Small Pistol - Brass Cases
 
Last edited:
Last edited:
reccpd101 said:
I would not dream of messing withe the original barrel but there are barrel makers out there who can do a custom one off job.
Click to expand...

One problem with making a .32 ACP barrel for the 1935 is that it might result in feeding problems as the .32 ACP is a shorter cartridge. It looks like the only possibly significant dimensional difference between the 7.65 Long case and the .30 SC case is that rhe latter is about 1 mm longer. And even that might not be a problem in a specific 1935. If so, it is simple enough to shave the .30 SC case length slightly. Any .32 ACP or .32 S&W Long bullet should work fine.
 
Last edited:
When I started reloading for 7.5Swedish Ordinance, I couldn't find dies and I just had to mess-about with dies I *could* find (already had). Partial-length sizing with a 32SWL/32ACP die and seating with a 30-carbine die made a round with a couple weird tapers in the case but functioned fine and didn't seem to shortlife the case substantially, so I suspect you should be able to work something similar out for the French long.
 
Somewhat like sizing .38 S&W cases by using a .38 Super die. Not exactly the same as a .38 S&W die, but close enough. I have sized .38 S&W cases that way for over 50 years. For a long time, I reloaded .45 Colt with .45 ACP dies and that also worked OK. Except I could only partially resize the .45 Colt case. Later I found a .45 Colt die set at a gun show for $10. You can usually make do with what you have available.

It looks to me that either .32 ACP or .32 S&W dies should work fine if one uses .30 SC cases. I would probably use .32 S&W dies, 0.003" smaller diameter. I have both die sets but no .30 SC or 7.65 Long cases to try them with.

Donnelly's manual gives the 7.65 Long case dimensions as 0.776" long, 0.335" diameter, no case taper. Max COAL is 1.198". The recommendation is to make cases from .32 S&W Long by shortening the case, turning the rim flush with the body, and cutting an extractor groove. Of course, that step is not needed If one starts with Starline brass. Load recommendation is 2.3 grains of Bullseye with any cast lead bullet. Bullet diameter given is 0.309", same as .32 ACP. MV given is 1000 ft/sec. I would probably use .32 ACP bullets and load recipes, at least to start with.
 
Last edited:
Dies are always available, in the sense that with enough money anything is possible. CH or Redding will make you anything you want.
 
glenwolde said:
Dies are always available, in the sense that with enough money anything is possible. CH or Redding will make you anything you want.
Click to expand...
Custom dies should not be needed for the 7.65 Long. .32 S&W/S&W Long dies should be satisfactory, and .32 ACP dies would probably be OK. I have used .32 ACP dies to load .32 S&W Long, and they worked. Once you get away from more common caliber die sizes, prices skyrocket.
 
Last edited:
Was offered one of the French autos about 45 years ago. The gunsmith advised me not to buy it as ammo was scarce and pricey. If the 30 SC will work then down load it a bit to get the chamber pressure down to safe levels. Pistols are a quality gun, parts may be hard to find if needed. I use .38 Super dies to reload for my .38 ACP (actually the parent case for the .38 Super.
 
AJ said:
I use .38 Super dies to reload for my .38 ACP (actually the parent case for the .38 Super.
Click to expand...
Those two cases are identical. The only difference between the .38 Super and the .38 ACP cartridges is that the former has a somewhat heavier load.
 
DWalt said:
Those two cases are identical. The only difference between the .38 Super and the .38 ACP cartridges is that the former has a somewhat heavier load.
Click to expand...

I know and that is the beauty of it. And if the 30SC will double for the 7.65 Long French, then that is just the same.
 
According to Web sources, 7.65 Longue propels a 77 gr bullet at ~1150 fps. 30 SuperCarry pushes a 100 gr bullet at 1250 fps. That indicates a major difference in pressure to me. 30 SuperCarry also has 1 mm (~40 thou) longer case.
 
LVSteve said:
According to Web sources, 7.65 Longue propels a 77 gr bullet at ~1150 fps. 30 SuperCarry pushes a 100 gr bullet at 1250 fps. That indicates a major difference in pressure to me. 30 SuperCarry also has 1 mm (~40 thou) longer case.
Click to expand...

Will the case work if trimmed? Powder can always be reduced to lessen pressures. I have a program called Quickload that will give me a loading that would be considered safe.
 
LVSteve said:
Check out the details on both cartridges below.

7.65x20mm Long - Wikipedia

.30 Super Carry - Wikipedia

The bullet sizes are not the same for a start. 30 SuperCarry is a chunk fatter.
Click to expand...
One would need to see if a .30 SC cartridge would chamber properly. It may or may not. If it did, I would use it. As I previously mentioned, the slight extra length of the.30 SC case could be a problem. But the case could easily be trimmed. The best alternative would be to get Starline 7.65 Long cases if and when they become available. A second option would be to use .30 SC cases and trim them slightly shorter. Also as I said earlier, a 0.309" diameter bullet seems to be correct for the 7.65 Long and any bullet, jacketed or cast (I would use cast), suitable for the .32 ACP should be used. A slightly larger bullet up to, say, 0.312" would be OK so long as it did not bulge the case and prevent easy chambering. I would simply use the same loading recipes as the .32 ACP. The 1935A is a sturdy locked breech pistol and I would not be concerned about loading it a little hotter than the .32 ACP if desired, even up to .30 SC ballistics. But there is no compelling reason to do that. The main requirement is that the load is powerful enough to feed and function the action reliably which will probably require a little load experimentation.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

weatherby
Oh la la or passe I still took the French SxS home
Replies
5
Views
475
weatherby
weatherby
JJEH
French Model 1822 Light Cavalry Saber - please help me decipher it
Replies
3
Views
306
Rudi
R
C
French Luger
Replies
7
Views
625
Absalom
Absalom
T
Anyone buy one of the French Police trade in SP101's online?
Replies
14
Views
3K
Toyman
Toyman
T
French Lady dagger
Replies
7
Views
551
Thuer
T

Latest posts

Back
Top