32 ACP and 380 ACP Reloading?

[DonMountain]

It seems like I have been purchasing or collecting reloading equipment for the last 40 years, and almost have all the reloading dies for every firearm that I have. Numbering about 40 sets, I am now wondering if I should purchase the last two sets that I don't have. The 32 ACP and 380 ACP dies. Do any of you reload and shoot for these two calibers and is it effective to do so? For the rare times I shoot either of these two guns I could just go to WalMart and buy ammo pretty cheap. And its probably not effective to cast lead projectiles for the 32 ACP particularly? But the 380 will share lead projectiles with the 9mm guns, of which I have several of those. But no molds yet for the 9mm.

[Outpost75]

I load and cast for both. Use the cast loads mostly for practice ammo and recreational/ field use.

Accurate has a great number of designs for the .32 ACP, several of them being mine.

Attachment 214093Attachment 214094Attachment 214095

I've posted lots of info on the .32 ACP here, but if you care to PM me with your email address I can send you a .pdf copy of The Fouling Shot which has a good summary of my .32 ACP tests and data.

The .380 ACP is also easy to cast and load for, and I do for the Beretta M1934, Ruger LCP and SIG P230, mostly the Accurate 35-120H with 2.5 grains of Bullseye. The heavier bullet with big meplat is more effective on small game and varmints in this caliber.

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[ichthyo]

I load 32-20, 32 S&W, and 380 acp. Since I enjoy casting and shooting I like having those dies/molds. Also, no matter what happens to the commercial markets I can still shoot those guns. I even cast and load 25ACP.

[Reddirt62]

Yep, I reload 380, love it. Just got a mold to begin casting for it as well. Go for it!!

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[Cheeto303]

I also load and cast for 32-20, 32 S&W, 32 S&W L, 32 ACP, 32 H&R Mag and 380 ACP. The cast 32's are used to make lite gallery loads for my 30 cal. rifles. They make good squirrel and rabbit loads.They are also used in my 303's, 7.7's and 7.62 X 54's. It's a lot of fun.

[JBinMN]

I just have the one .380. I think it is way cheaper to reload than to buy new. At least at the prices here I have found.

MY only gripe is that I sometimes have a hard time holding on to them because of my fingers seem to be quite large in comparison, so I drop them more than even 9MM & the .380s are not that much smaller. I don't think I would reload anything smaller myself, unless it was the only caliber I had. That .32 is about the same size as the .380 so I reckon it would also be in the category of pretty small for my fingers as well.

Of course, YMMV.


I think if I was at the point you were & had that many calibers I would likely just get the 2 die sets so you can have "bragging rights" if nothing else... LOL


G'Luck! Regardless of what ya decide to do!

[Motor]

I use the Lee 102gr RN .356 for .380 and of course 9mm. I have say though it was very difficult to get it to shoot from 9mms without lead fouling. That however was completely resolved when I switched to powder coating. I'm even using them sized .356 with PC and they shoot as clean as J-words and accuracy even from compact pistols is nothing short of impressive.

Motor

[trapper9260]

I load for 32ACP and the rest of the 32's and it is less to spend then to buy them and yes the 32ACP do take cast. i have no problems with them .I use a KelTec P32. Also Outpost has help me in the past with some of it also.And had read is write up in Foul Shot and it help me.

[Lloyd Smale]

I never did before but bought a 1000 rounds of once fired 380 and casted some lee 105s and loaded it all up. It runs fine out of my 3 380s and it will probably never need to be loaded again for all I shoot those guns.

[GhostHawk]

I don't have either but if I did I would reload for them.

I do have a pair of .32sw long revolvers by H&R which I love reloading for. Love shooting also.

2 grains of Red Dot and a nice shiny cast .314 90 gr truncated cone bullet. Nice mild recoil no muzzle blast to speak of and nice predictable results.

Did not take me long to get my normal 300 cases filled. Each revolver lives in a nice zippered bag with a 100 round box of ammo and a speed loader. When you need something, you need it ready for action.

[OptimusPanda]

The only trouble I've run in to reloading .380 is needing to expand the case in two steps. First with an NOE, then with a Hornady. This is mostly because the pistols in question needed .358" bullets.

[Loudy13]

I cast and load the .380 for my father who as of late has been going through ammo at an alarming rate. With the amount of lead and powder that is needed it is really cost effective to load these for him. Since all his birthday and x-mas gifts from me are boxes of ammo that doesn't hurt either.

[DerekP Houston]

i reload for my 3 380 pistols, I had to get an undersized sizing die for use with FMJ/HP factory bullets, but standard lee dies work fine with my NOE 100gr RN design. Nice soft shooting round for me and easy to conceal with almost any outfit.

[ulav8r]

When I toured Sierra, visited the clearance store and bought 5 lbs of 95 grain 380 bullets. I gathered up all the empty 380 brass I had and started prepping and loading. Using a Lee dipper, ten throws gave a total weight of 27.7 grains so average throw was 2.77 grains. These cycled my Llama perfectly with a little less noise than Starfire hollow point ammo.

[Walter Laich]

I reload:
32 S&W
32 Long
32 H&R Mag

they are a lot of fun to shoot--and cast for

[country gent]

32acp and 380 acp are small cases a limited capacity easy to reload and can be very accurate. Due to the small cases a small variation on the powder charge can make a big difference in performance and pressure. A .1 grn variation on the above 2.7 grn charge is a lot more than a .1 grn in a 20 grn charge, then with the small case capacity while not dangerous it is a bigger variation.
What I'm trying to say is that with the smaller cases more care is needed when loading as to quality Control. I just don't want to see anyone hurt or injured.

[rondog]

I reload both, but not a lot. Don't shoot them much. Don't cast for either though.

[JimB..]

Funny, I have everything to load 380, but no gun in that caliber. If we were neighbors...

[jcren]

My wife and I have 3 380's and I treat em like reloadable 22's. At 7-8 cents a bang you can't beat em. Plus she gets lots of practice with her carry gun!

[Harry O]

I reload for the .32ACP. The biggest problem is handling the tiny cases without dropping them. I have a mould for it, but have never used it. I bought about 5,000 Lyman 77gr RN bullets from a master caster about 30-35 years ago. Still have about 1,000 of them left. The next biggest problem is finding the cases after shooting them.

I learned that European guns frequently have tight chambers (like the pre-WWII Walther PPK). They also needed a stronger load than US guns of the same caliber (about 10% more). Primarily used Red Dot, but used Bullseye when getting RD was difficult. Found out that a mild roll crimp improved the accuracy. Since it is a semi-rimmed case, this was not a problem. Shot a LOT of them from my PPK. Nice gun and nice caliber. Still use some of the handloads in my KelTec 32 (not too many, though, since they are slightly hotrodded).