Getting back in the 32 caliber game

Glaciers

Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Has the same problem with the Little Dandy myself. It was discovered with the small rotors first because of the weight difference’s. When discovered I stopped and cleaned the entire set. I normally had been using larger capacity rotors until I started loading cast quite a few years ago. Nice to change rotors and find a clean cavity.
 

Walks

Well-Known Member
I had a similar problem with the Little Dandy when they first came out. Had My first and only blooper ever. Never used a light charge of Unique with the Little Dandy since. Don't know if it was Me or the Powder Measure.
Love that .32 cal Myself, both ACP & both S&W's & H&R too.
 

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
Has the same problem with the Little Dandy myself. It was discovered with the small rotors first because of the weight difference’s. When discovered I stopped and cleaned the entire set. I normally had been using larger capacity rotors until I started loading cast quite a few years ago. Nice to change rotors and find a clean cavity.
I caught the problem immediately because I always check powder measures with a scale before loading casings. So, no harm was done.

That being said, I still felt pretty stupid because after I found the measure was dropping an underweight charge, it still took me a few minutes to figure out WHY it was dropping an underweight charge.
 

Glaciers

Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
I check charges as well with my scale till I’m confident of the consistency, then check every 3 or 4 charges.
I have found that all the rotors drop under what the chart says.
 

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
I can't say that I check every 3 or 4 charges. I do check when setting up and I don't continue until I'm satisfied that the measure is operating correctly. But after I confirm that everything is working as it should, I rock & roll.

I might check every 50 rounds or so, just to re-confirm.
If I get a bad reading after 50 or 100 casings but I haven't seated bullets, there's not a lot of harm. Dump the powder back in the hopper, find the problem, correct the problem, and start over.
Once bullets are seated, the risk gets a little higher. Then if you discover a problem you must break down a bunch of cartridges and start over.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
The blast-furnace weather that beset us since Labor Day Weekend abated for a week or so, and that was kinda pleasant for awhile. It got me to thinking about desert runs to do a bit of shooting, and that the 32s have been neglected for a while. The heat was back yesterday though, and 92* here can equal 105*-108* near Desert Center, so things can wait.

I was fossicking around in the cabinets I store the consumables within, and saw some 32/20 WCF loads that were loaded in1998. R-P brass, too--which I thought I shot up and replaced with the far better Starline stuff. 6.0 x SR-4756 behind #311316. 24 years ago I still thought gas checks in revolver ammo running 875-900 FPS wasn't complete heresy. Heresies are more affordable when GCs ran $16/1K instead of the current tariff levels.

Buckshot dragged me out on a local toy store crawl yesterday. The good news? My name on the 6" Colt Python waiting list is at the top now. Fingers remained crossed, apparently the transition of Colt into the CZ-USA universe has been slowed to the speed of glacier advance since Colt is deeply involved in .gov contracts. There was a near-new Springfield Armory M1A @ $1700 that was tempting, but my maturity held. The shop is still selling Glock 17 @ $550 (saw it get papered), and SIG-Sauer P-226 and 229 (9mm) were under MSRP @ $1009. Had that 229 been in 40 S&W, dealer Sean's palm would have been crossed with silver. Most curious of all was an interesting EBR that the shop's armorer was attaching a scope and mount to. It was in 7.62 x 51, and was described as "The (illegitimate) child of an AR-10 and FAL." I saw the family resemblance. It was a Steiner scope of some kind. The rifle should have been verboten due to CA's AW idiocies, I guess the recent court challenges (God Bless Judge Benitez!) have muddied the waters enough to prompt such purchases.
 

PED1945

Member
I know what you mean about brass loss. Of the 50 rounds of 32 Auto that I fired yesterday, only 41 empties were found. Admittedly my Unique Rr51 tends to throw brass all over the place.

I used to occasionally find 32 Auto brass at some of the ranges, but in recent years it has become scarce.

I have loaded 32 S&W long in my 32 Auto dies. These were loaded for a friend who had inherited his mother's S&W J frame with 2" barrel, so naturally we used it for long range targets. Had good luck with the Lyman 311252 (78 grains).
 
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Walks

Well-Known Member
Those tiny little #311252 are blasted hard to load, especially when Lube/sized. It's a bit easier with powder coat. With what I've given away in the past year or two, I'm down to 4 boxes of .32Short&Wimpy. But then the only revolver so chambered now is Grandma's Lemon Squeezer. And 3 of those boxes are loaded.
Still they fit in the the Long and H&R revolvers. And I've LOTS of Brass for those two. Although I wish I'd bought more Hornady .32 Cal WC's when they were still being made. Most accurate bullet I've ever found in a .32 Cal revolver.
 

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
Recovering 32 ACP brass is a PITA and not very efficient. This is clearly one of those places where a revolver shines.

And loading those tiny 32 ACP casings is about the limit for my dexterity.
The 32 S&W Long casings are considerably easier to work with.

I am very pleased with the performance of the two Accurate molds I acquired. The 31-095W wadcutter is very accurate and I like the full dimeter flat nose. The 31-075H shoots well and feeds reliably without complainant. Those are both winners.

In terms of lead and powder, both the 32 ACP and 32 S&W Long are very economical. And the 32 S&W Long casings are easy to recover.
 

CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member
I ran across a LYMan wad Cutter last summer. Its 80g ish my alloy. (Not super hard) I also
Like that RCBS 98.

CW
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
I only own two wadcutter moulds, and they are among my earliest acquisitions--c. 1981. Both are Lyman, #313492 and #358432. Both are wonderfully accurate and unlike a lot of wadcutters they DON'T tumble in flight once past 55-60 yards. HBWCs are limited in velocity/pressure, or they will separate skirts in mid-bore. Solid WCs won't.
 

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
Back before I was casting bullets, I shot a truckload of HBWC bullets from 38 Special casings but the 32 caliber wadcutters were all solids, even in those days. I don't recall the source of my 32 WC's (there was likely more than one) but they were in the 95-100 grain weight range. The 38 & 32 WC's all shot well.
I left the 32 game many years ago and only recently returned to the 32's.

The 32's are a LOT of fun. I wish I had got back into that game earlier but such is life.

I really don't see a need to cast Hollow Base wad cutters, the solid WC does just fine and is far easier to make, IMO. Plus, as Al points out, you can push the solid WC's much faster without concerns.
 

Intel6

Active Member
I have had great results with the Speer HBWC's loaded in S&WL cases in my S&W Mod 16. In my Ransom Rest they just dump them in on top of each other. I have also shot the little Lee TL WC with decent results but the Speer shot better. I also picked up the NOE mould 315-89-WC that was a copy of an older design (LYMAN 313492 CLASS III WADCUTTER) called a semi wadcutter wadcutter that sticks out of the case.. It has shot decent in S&WL brass and in some preliminary loads in Mag brass it has also shot well. I guess this is a popular design for use in gallery loads in larger cased .30 cal rifles.

315 89 PB.jpg
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
I have to stop looking at this thread.

I've not had a 32 in many years and enjoyed the ones I had when I did, but gave them up for the sake of concentrating time/cash on fewer cartridges and guns. Every time my best friend mentions or shows me another new 32 something 'r other he just got, I keep telling myself that my 35s are my 32s, but it still just isn't the same.
 

CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member
I have had great results with the Speer HBWC's loaded in S&WL cases in my S&W Mod 16. In my Ransom Rest they just dump them in on top of each other. I have also shot the little Lee TL WC with decent results but the Speer shot better. I also picked up the NOE mould 315-89-WC that was a copy of an older design (LYMAN 313492 CLASS III WADCUTTER) called a semi wadcutter wadcutter that sticks out of the case.. It has shot decent in S&WL brass and in some preliminary loads in Mag brass it has also shot well. I guess this is a popular design for use in gallery loads in larger cased .30 cal rifles.

View attachment 29678
Thats the one I have the Lyman 313492. (Still Do not recognize that number) But the pic shows same bullet as mine.

CW
 

CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member
I bought a bunch of 380's a couple years back. I only wanted a 100 or so. But the seller said all or none and reduced cost a bit. I said OK figuring maybe someone else would need down the road. Dont remember cost but it was allot of brass. Probably near 1/2 5gal pail range pickups.
Only worry was if they was mostly 9mm he assured me I would not find many but acknoledged there would be some for sure. Plus 25 & 32 brass as his sorter could not differentiate that well.

When it arrived I sorted by hand and did find some off balls like 9x18 and 38 S&W but not that many. There was some 25's but again not too many. But there was a ton of 32 acp!!! Some 32 S&W & of coarse thousand plus 380's.
What I like ta look for is those 32 Short and Long cases. I find H&R regularly. Longs more then occasionally but shorts are uncommon. They are fun in my 327 revolvers for plinking. Yea, I can shoot acp's same but these are not light!!! Outta the 5.5" they are 1000 fps!!! My birds head dosent shoot acps well but the bisley does.

CW