Return to
the Back Creek Diary Page
32 Pop Guns
© 2014-Ed Harris
32 Pop Guns...
The ".32 Popguns" make great small game foraging
guns which are more effective on game animals larger than bunnies and more effective
than a .22 long rifle rimfire round. The .32 ACP and .32 S&W Long should
not be your first choice as defense guns, but loaded with flat nosed cast lead
bullets they will be more effective than LRN and FMJ bullets in those calibers
which served in police and military roles for many years. You need only ONE set of dies, one bullet
mold, and two shell holders to reload ammunition for the:
.32 ACP
.32 Smith & Wesson
.32 Smith & Wesson Long
.32 H&R Magnum
You "could probably" load .327 Federal also, but I have no personal
experience with that cartridge.
Get RCBS .32 ACP dies having a carbide sizer, expander die and seater.
Get shell holders for the .32 ACP (or .30 carbine will work if you already have
one) and .32 S&W Long (.223 Remington will also work if you already have
one). Buy a Lee Factory Crimp Die for .32 ACP, which I consider
essential. You don’t need one for the
.32 S&W Long.
Get the RCBS 32-90CM mold which casts a 90-grain, flattened round nose
"Cowboy" slug.
This is all you need besides your press.
Cast your .32 bullets from range backstop scrap or wheel weights. Harder alloy
is unnecessary. Load your bullets as-cast and unsized. Lube your bullets by
tumbling in Lee Liquid Alox. You don't need to buy a lubricator-sizer.
The .32 S&W Long and .32 H&R Magnum revolvers are most accurate with
"fat" bullets of .313-.314, which are needed to fill the chamber
throats. While normal diameter to size
cast bullets for the .32 ACP is .311", using the Lee Factory Crimp die in
.32 ACP enables you to load bullets as-cast and unsized, after lubricating with
Lee Liquid Alox, because the Lee Factory Crimp Die will size the bullets by
compression inside the case and profile all loaded rounds to ensures that all
rounds will chamber and extract freely. This removes any bulges caused by a
mismatch of bullet diameter and base profile to case wall thickness.
Use Alliant Bullseye powder and anybody's small pistol primers. Use the RCBS Little Dandy Measure Rotor # 00
to load 1.7 grains of Bullseye in the .32 ACP for about 750 fps from a pistol
with 10cm barrel, approximating .32 S&W Long factory load revolver
ballistics. This is the minimum load
which cycles most pistols. If your
Little Dandy Rotor #0 does not throw more than 2.0 grains of Bullseye you can
use that for a heavier load, check it by dumping TEN charges onto a scale and
moving the decimal point.
1.7 grains is your minimum low noise starting charge in the
.32 S&W Long. Factory level .32
S&W Long velocities of 750 fps from a 4-inch revolver are approximated with
Little Dandy Rotor #0 for 2.0-2.2 grains of Bullseye and the 90 grain Cowboy
bullet.
The maximum charge in .32 S&W Long is metered by RCBS
Little Dandy rotor #1 which is 2.5 grains of Bullseye for about 850 in .32
S&W Long brass for general use. This
charge with a 71-grain FMJ at 0.98” cartridge in the .32 ACP case approximates
the hot Euro loads at 970 fps from a full length (10 cm) barrel, such as the
Walther PP and should not be exceeded.
In any revolver chambered for .32 H&R Magnum ammunition, you may use the
Little Dandy measure Rotor #3 for 3 grains of Bullseye in .32 S&W Long
brass with the 90 grain RCBS bullet for about 900 fps from a 4-inch
revolver. Consider this a "+P"
load for occasional use only in strong, modern .32 S&W Long revolvers such
as the S&W Models 30 and 31.
Factory level velocities around 1000 fps in the .32 H&R Magnum are
approximated using the RCBS Little Dandy Rotor #4 to meter 3.2 grs. of Bullseye
in Starline .32 H&R Magnum brass with the Federal 200 primer. Power and energy approximate the old .32-20
Winchester black powder load fired in a revolver. Some manuals suggest higher
velocities in .32 H&R Mag. loads than this, but they defeat the purpose of
a non-destructive small game in which you can “eat right up to the bullet
hole.” .
My cast bullet hand loads in .32 ACP use either the 88-grain NEI #82, the
90-grain RCBS 32-90CM flat
nose or a shortened 82-grain hollow point conversion of the Lyman #311008 as
modified by Erik Ohlen at Hollow
Points Molds (http://www.hollowpointmold.com/).
I cast handgun bullets from either wheel weights or indoor range backstop scrap
of similar 11-12 BHN hardness. For
subsonic loads harder alloy is not needed.
Wheel weights slowly air cooled after casting are about BHN of 12, which
is a good match for .32 ACP or .32 S&W Long or H&R Magnum
ammunition.
I tumble-lubricate bullets in Lee Liquid Alox, and load them as-cast and unsized
with a charge of 1.7 (LD Rotor #00) grains of Bullseye. Do not seat bullets
shorter than 0.95 inch overall cartridge length, because doing so causes bullet
bases to protrude into the powder space, increasing load density and raising
chamber pressure above maximum limits. Do not exceed 0.975 inch overall
cartridge length to prevent flat nosed cast bullets from dragging against the
front of the magazine box.
I recommend the Lee Factory Crimp Die for .32 ACP. Mine was custom made by them
and costs about $30. This may be a
standard item now. It removes any bulges caused by mis-match of the bullet
diameter with the internal case wall taper, ensuring easy chambering. It sizes
bullets, if needed by compression inside the case. People are confused by the advice given in
old Lyman manuals which recommends sizing cast bullets to the groove diameter
of the barrel. This results in undersized bullets being gas-cut, causing
leading and poor accuracy. Load your bullets as-cast and unsized and let the
Lee FCD make the rounds fit your gun.
Wide variation in bore sizes coupled with different diameters of factory
jacketed bullets between US and European ammo from .309 to .312 explains most
accuracy problems people experience with the .32 ACP. Cast bullets of .311-.312
diameter perform best in most guns, but using the Lee factory Crimp Die enables
as-cast bullets as large as .315 to be used.
Do not shoot thousands of cast bullet loads with bullets
heavier than 90 grains in the tiny Keltec and Beretta “mouse guns” having light
alloy frames, because their increased recoil impulse is harder on the gun. The
Beretta 3032 INOX pistol has a heavier slide than the original Tomcat which
reduces its slide velocity to mitigate against the frame cracking problem which
existed with early blued steel Tomcats using European ammo. My replacement INOX
has proven far more rugged than the original blued steel Tomcat it replaced and
has digested over 2000 of cast loads and 73-grain RWS hardball with no issues.
Beretta Inox 32 ACP with Cast Bullets…
In my testing Remington, Winchester, Federal and Magtech 71-gr. FMJ ammo
averaged only about 850 f.p.s. when fired from a Walther PP
with 3.9 inch barrel. European CIP 73-gr. FMJ ammo such as RWS, Geco,
Fiocchi or Sellier & Bellot does over 900 in the 2.4 inch Beretta Tomcat
and over 950 in the CZ or Walther.
Typical US 60-gr. JHPs typically run about 900 f.p.s.
but because of their lighter bullets, don’t provide enough recoil impulse to
reliably cycle the older European pistols.
32 ACP Target Gallery:
Beretta with SAEO
325 + 1.8gr Bullseye
My cast bullet ACP loads discussed here approximate the velocity of .32 S&W
Long ammo fired from a 4-inch revolver, about 750 f.p.s. Recoil impulse
approximates European 73-grain hardball. These cast bullet loads are accurate,
fun for recreational shooting or small game and they run the wartime guns like
a pony trotting.