32ACP bullet question

[teletech]

Something I find interesting is nobody has suggested slugging the bore.
Measuring bore would be a good way to find out if there is any accuracy potential in those Berry's bullets in that handgun. .32 ACP guns have a pretty wide range in that respect and getting it right will help velocity and accuracy. Of course, you have to use a bullet that also fits your brass and chamber, so sometimes there is a compromise there.
Of course, if you don't care about accuracy because you are doing run-and-gun or don't intend to face anything at over 10-yards, then pretty much if it chambers OK, then you are GTG with moderate loads.

 

[DWalt]

I would be willing to bet good money that the .312" Berry bullets will work just fine in your resized brass .
I didn't remember having any trouble with bullets when I loaded for a Walther PPK ... many years ago ... the first Handloading Manual I checked , Hornady #8 , listed .311" & .312" bullets .
Before you resize all those bullets ... make up a few dummies for testing . If they fit the magazine and manually feed and easily eject from the chamber ... I would load a few for range testing and see what pans out .
I have always found ...bigger to be better ... unless it's too big !

Depending on your pistol , the .312" dia. may be just the ticket !
Gary

Which is basically what I said at first. Make up several dummy rounds with out-of-the-box .312 bullets to test if they will chamber and feed in the pistol. If so, use them. If the cases have overly thick sidewalls and bulge to the extent the rounds chamber very tightly or not at all, a smaller bullet diameter should be used. I have a simple Lee .309 bullet sizing die, but the only uses I have put it to is to straighten out pulled GI .30 rifle bullets and also to resize lead .313 bullets for use in a .30 Carbine Ruger Blackhawk.

 

[2152hq]

If the loaded rd with the .312 dia Berrys bullet (lead) in it is bulged..
Run the loaded round(s) back through the FL sizer die.
That will iron out the bulge in the brass as well as size the bullet down while still in the case.
They'll come out looking beu'ful.

I do it all the time loading .410dia 41Mag lead bullets in .401 WSL which is supposed to use a .406/.407 dia bullet.
Just never got around to opening up a Lee .401 sizer die to .407 to pre-size the bullets.

I wouldn't size them while seated in the brass cases if using a Jacketed bullet. Don't really know why, just seems like it would give problems with spring back differences betw the copper jacket bullet and the brass case.
Maybe not. But I don't have any .410 jacketed bullets anyway.
But a plain lead or plated lead bullet will size easily a few .000 and stay there.

 

[DWalt]

I have no idea how it happened but not too long ago I loaded several hundred rounds of 45 ACP using 230 grain LRN bullets. No reason to think anything was amiss. When I got to the range, none I tried would chamber. Too fat. I tried running them through the .45 ACP FL die, couldn't get that to work. Got out my .45 Colt FL die, that did work well enough that they would chamber. Still have no reason why this happened

 

[Funflyer]

32ACP reloading with Euro brass is a lesson in frustration. When I first started reloading 32 auto I resized Berry's plated bullets down to .309" without any issues using thick Euro brass. Problem was when mixing in thin brass the bullets could easily be pushed into the case with very little pressure. The other issue was poor accuracy. I now only use thin brass and .312" bullets and any thick brass I come across gets tossed into the scrap bin. Do yourself a favor and buy some new Starline brass. It's back-ordered right now but if you order it you'll probably have it in two or three weeks.

32 Auto Brass - Small Pistol - Brass Cases

 

[stu1ritter]

Funflyer, et al;
Did my first 32ACP loading over the weekend and indeed, as you say, it was an eye opener. I sized the .312 to .309 with the Lee sizer and that worked well to match the .309 expander stem that comes with RCBS and Lyman dies these days. They loaded well, crimped well and chamber well. Test firing tomorrow. The few WW brass that ended in up my mostly Euro pile of brass did exactly what you said, no real case tension and mediocre crimp. I found some Starline available and bought it and I'll load both .309 and .312 and see which does best in my guns. This is the first time in 60+ years of loading that I used a single stage press to load. Having been a bullseye shooter, progressives were it. It was fun to slow down.

Stu

 

[Skeet 028]

I happen to have more than a 1000 Rem 32ACP bullets...Don't load the caliber. Does anyone see any reason I couldn't use them in 32 S&W long or 32 H&R?. A fellow gave 'em to me was loading light loads in 30-30 rounds for plinking. He even gave me his loads(2400?) but I don't remember them. They can probably be used in 32-20 too I think. I've never measured them but supposed to be 71 gr.

 

[alwslate]

My old Lyman Pistol and Revolver manual shows data for the .32 S&W Short with 71 gr FMJ .32 ACP bullets. No reason why they couldn't be used in the .32 S&W Long.