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Thread: 32 caliber jacketed soft points

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
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    32 caliber jacketed soft points

    I know nothing about swaging, other than you force lead into a shape you desire, and it is way out of my price range.
    That said, have any of you made such a monster? There are no commercialy available jacketed soft point bullets available, so I would be interested in hearing how the swagers do.

  2. #2
    Boolit Buddy


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    Hey PSweigle,

    I have not made any .32 myself, but it is definitely possible. The first step would be to find/make a point form swage die in your desired shape. My guess would be probably be either a 1/2e to 1e nose profile. BT Sniper is a vendor on here who may be able to make you what you need otherwise Corbin should be able to help (lots of info on his site). Once you have the dies the process is the same as any caliber, push the core in to the jacket (core seat step) and then move it to the next step that forms the shape (point forming), at that point you would have a finished bullet, depending on your needs you can also add steps along the process to improve function such uniform the cores, add a cannalure, or notch the jackets (xtp style bullet). It all depends what your goals are.

    Another thing to think about is jackets...you could probably use short .30 caliber jackets and bump them up or to save money look into using fired cartridge brass. Off the top of my head .25 acp, 5.7x28 (trimmed down), or .32 acp (drawn down) may be workable options, but would add steps to the process (steps=more equipment, which is not cheap). At the end of the day it is a labor of love, if you look at it as part of the process or being able to meet your own needs you will be fine, but if you are looking to save money... good luck.

    I hope that helps,
    Eric

  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master GhostHawk's Avatar
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    I see this as a balancing act.

    A Do you already have swage press, experience with other calibers? If so that is a big plus to coninue down the swaging path.

    B Do you have any experience casting lead for boolits? If yes that points back down the other path.

    For .32's generic, my opioion is you can't beat the Lee .314 90 gr truncated cone tumble lubed mold/bullet with a stick. And for 25$ you can be making ammo.

    Swaging, well add a pair of zero's to that 25 just to get started, plus a whole nuther edumacation on how to run it.

    Swaging is attractive, and the guys who do it are incredibly knowledgeable.

    But it is not necessarily the easy way, or the cheap way to make a boolit.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    I have no knowledge in the steps to swage a bullet. I do know, however, that it isn't anything I will be able to afford. I was just wondering if anyone had successfully made a 32 caliber jacketed soft point bullet. There arent any commercially available, so I assumed one of our members may have made one.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master

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    What is called a .32 caliber bullet is .310 diameter.
    What is called a 30 caliber bullet is .308 diameter.
    Those 2 thousandths usually mean a down grade in accuracy, but the down grade might not mean much in most 32 caliber pistols.


    Most of the swagers here have serious bucks tied up in presses and dies, but there are a few guys around who take a plate of steel drill and shape different size tapered holes and successfully make bullets with punch and hammer, it's slow.

    Nope I never made any .310 bullets, but have made some .309, .308, .307 and smaller.
    To lazy to chase arrows.
    Clodhopper

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy
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    What are we talking about here: rifle or pistol bullets? Hornady makes a .321 flat point jacketed and Sierra makes a .323/8mm (32 caliber) soft point. Sierra also makes a .32 pistol bullet @.312/7mm. Probably others make same but that is just what I found on shelf...

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    I was referring to the pistol bullets.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master


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    I made a set of dies for my Herters swaging press in .312 that could make 32 cal jacketed soft point bullets using 30 cal half jacket cups.
    I would think that there would be some made for the 327 and 32 H&R Magnum cartridges, if they are offered in a factory loading.

    A google search turned up Sierra 32cal 90gr JHPs!
    Natchez has a few more.
    Last edited by deltaenterprizes; 07-19-2019 at 08:26 PM.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    How did your bullets shoot ? I assume there are many steps to get to a finished bullet. When doing the core seating, do you use a bonding agent of some sort?

  10. #10
    Boolit Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by psweigle View Post
    How did your bullets shoot ? I assume there are many steps to get to a finished bullet. When doing the core seating, do you use a bonding agent of some sort?
    I have not shot much of them, it takes a lot of time to make them, but the ones I did shoot worked fine.

  11. #11
    Boolit Buddy M.A.D's Avatar
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    Are we talking for a rifle or handgun? And what weight???? If its pistol Hornady and Sierra make them
    Last edited by M.A.D; 07-21-2019 at 07:08 PM.

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy
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    Greetings,

    Slug your barrel/cylinder throats.

    32's range in diameter from 0.309" to 0.315" from the various manufacturers.

    Cheers,

    Dave

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    I make an 85gr jacketed swc using a 50 bmg primer as the jacket and a lyman 65gr cast boolit as the core on my old Swag-O-Matic and a home made die. They cost just over 1 cent each as I paid a penny each for the spent 50 bmg primers. I made a few different size dies as I have guns with different size bores. With the Swag-O-Matic it's easy and fast with the hardest part being getting the anvil out of the primer. Drop an empty primer in the die. Drop a 65gr cast boolit in the die. Lower the handle and raise it and you have a bullet. I use a .308 swc top punch which works well for up to .315 bullets. I do anneal the primer cups by putting a bunch in a cast iron lead smelting pot and putting it in the wood stove for a half hour or so. I have less than $100 in the press and dies.

    Buying real swaging dies is way out of my budget but I found a Swag-O-Matic with a bunch of dies and top punches for $75 IIRC and it's easy to make the dies on a small hobby lathe. Making the top punches is a bit more difficult but not all that bad.
    Last edited by rbuck351; 07-23-2019 at 01:37 AM.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
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    Snotty answer GONRA sez - warm up yer cheque book and contact Corbin. CSP-2 press + (custom) dies. Years of phun IF $$$ are not a problem...

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by rbuck351 View Post
    I make an 85gr jacketed swc using a 50 bmg primer as the jacket and a lyman 65gr cast boolit as the core on my old Swag-O-Matic and a home made die. They cost just over 1 cent each as I paid a penny each for the spent 50 bmg primers. I made a few different size dies as I have guns with different size bores. With the Swag-O-Matic it's easy and fast with the hardest part being getting the anvil out of the primer. Drop an empty primer in the die. Drop a 65gr cast boolit in the die. Lower the handle and raise it and you have a bullet. I use a .308 swc top punch which works well for up to .315 bullets. I do anneal the primer cups by putting a bunch in a cast iron lead smelting pot and putting it in the wood stove for a half hour or so. I have less than $100 in the press and dies.

    Buying real swaging dies is way out of my budget but I found a Swag-O-Matic with a bunch of dies and top punches for $75 IIRC and it's easy to make the dies on a small hobby lathe. Making the top punches is a bit more difficult but not all that bad.
    Now thats cool. How do they shoot?

  16. #16
    Boolit Master


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    The nose profile for the dies I made for my Herters 9 ton press is a RN SWC, I user a 1/4” ball end mill to make the cavity and mad a slight taper so it would realest easily.
    I may have to make a regular flat SWC nose punch one day soon.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master
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    psweigle

    I don't have a target revolver to try for real accuracy. I made them for my tok and my cz52 and they shoot as well as any factory ammo I have tried.
    I do have a Taurus 32 S&W long but the cyl throats measure .321. This gun shot patterns at ten yds so I made dies to make a healed bullet with a heel of .312 and the front at .321. It still isn't a tack driver but I can hit a pop can at ten yds most of the time vs what was a 15" pattern.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
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    A 50 bmg primer for a jacket. Now thats just plain cool!

  19. #19
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    BTX Star Crimp Die
    Back in stock with new low price!
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  20. #20
    Boolit Buddy tiger762's Avatar
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    I'm mostly a Walnut Hill enthusiast with a bunch of RCE swage sets but over the years I've picked up a few CH4D sets as well. Here I have some 312's in various weights (80,85,88) using RCE 0.47" jackets. I have used my RCE 312 core seat die then move to the Lee classic cast to point form them in the CH4D 312 point form. These will be adequate for shooting in a CZ52

    https://i.imgur.com/yp2yIEH.jpg

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check