7,65 French Long, 7,65 Swiss Luger, .32 ACP Dreyse 1907

I’ve been a competitive Bullseye shooter and revolver nut for decades. I was all about .38 Special, .45 ACP and AutoRim, .44 Special, etc.

Somehow, in my old age, I’ve gotten into small bore automatics. 1929 Swiss Luger, which is very accurate with regular 93 grain FMJ factory loads. Then I just had to have a French 1935A in 7,65 French Long. A few weeks later I lucked into a Dreyse 1907 .32 ACP dirt cheap. I have yet to shoot the Frenchie or the German.

I cast my own bullets and reload everything. Here’s my question:

What are the recommended most accurate loads for these pistols? And what are the maximum effort, full power loads?

I’m thinking I’ll standardize on the Accurate 31-087T mold. But open to suggestions. Any tips, suggestions, or recipes welcome

Hi, HotPb, and welcome to the forum! Only 2 posts since 2008? Where've you been? I probably can't contribute too much to your knowledge in casting for the less common pistols, but we sure share a common interest in handguns. I have 7.65 mm Lugers, two of them, and they are great fun to shoot. Mine are German made, both DWM between the wars commercial reworks. I have no experience with the Dreyse.

As for the 7.65 mm French 1935A, I can say that I've read at least two articles about them written by Mike Venturino. If I remember correctly, he said that it was his very first semi-auto pistol, and he did lots of casting for it and developed several loads. So, perhaps you could search for and find that information. I'm pretty sure I've seen them mentioned here on this forum several times, so do a search of the archives here as well.

The only recommended " potentially most accurate " loads I know of are the ones listed in the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbooks 3rd & 4th editions and in the Lyman 50th edition Reloading Handbook .
Those manuals would probably be the best place to start .
Gary

I know there are video's on the Forgotten Weapons channel on all of these pistols, no load info, but quite a bit of the history.

Starline carries brass for the 7.65 French Long now.

Robert

For the 30 Luger, try 4.0 grains of Bullseye with your 87 grain boolit. I don't go there in the 32 Auto, though Outpost 75 swears by heavy boolits in the 32 auto, I have found them to shoot too far from POA, but he can help you. He recommends a case full of 2400 until the boolit will just seat, IIRC but PM him for more info. My own 32 Auto load is the 314-75 Ranch Dog over 2.2 grains of WW-231. The only time I loaded 7.65 French was 35 years ago and I do not recall what the load was, though the boolit was the Lyman 311-245 ~92 grains.
I will say being able to buy brass is a blessing. My old buddy Rick and I made brass from 30 Carbine and it was quite involved, what with reducing the case diameter, trimming the brass to length, neck reaming, and turning rims.

Accurate 31-094H approximates the weight and seating depth of factory 93-grain FMJs in the .30 Luger and .30 Mauser. I also use it in the 7.62x25, .32 ACP, .32-20 and .32 S&W Long. When you order you can specify diameters needed in your alloy to fit your 1935A and 7.65 Luger pistol.

Attachment 269129

I load 3 grains of AutoComp in .32 ACP as a +P for the Beretta 81.

That should be a good full-charge load for your M1935A in 7.65x20mm.

As for the so-called "Accuracy" loads in the Lyman handbooks, they only indicate those combinations providing the best ballistic uniformity in terms of their pressure and velocity. None of those loads were ever shot on paper against the other loads by Lyman, so I would take those recommendations with a dose of salt until you have actually grouped them on paper in your gun.

I’ve had several commercial 30 Lugers and they shot well, a 4” fixed sights. I always hoped for one of the 6” with adj sights. Had go around with French 35 and had 34 brass . I shot it about 100shots and got rid of it. I wish I had shot, had to be the most comfortable auto pistol I’ve every handled. I think shades of SIG 210. The Dryse functioned ok but accuracy was nothing to write home about.
French 35 in this pic of trading stock. I think somebody on forum bought it.Attachment 269132

7.65 French long
98 gr LRN, my only Lee mold
Starline brass
4.8 great Blue Dot
Shoots and functions well.