Reloading for 32 French or 7.65 French Long

[Larry Gibson]

And truth be told, the Garand will function reliably with 7.62 NATO clipped ball just fine without the sleeve. The shoulder diameter of M80 or M118 is a crush fit in the Garand chamber and the case fire-forns to nearly a straight cylinder with a slight mouth radius. You get a 120 fps velocity drop, but reasonable accuracy.

Saw that done with M1s numerous times. Never saw nor heard of the problems schutzen-jager mentions. Had a couple Ranger delink 400 rounds of M60 7.62 NATO 4-1 rounds and fire it through a couple M1918A1s (BARs) w/o any problems. Only problem with that was the ASP wouldn't take the brass back. Had to FL size the cases for turn in.....

[mtnman31]

I think that's got it!
I used an older Lyman .30 Carbine sizing die and took .3" off the bottom of the die. Running the Starline 7.65 French brass into the shortened sizing die yields an outside case mouth diameter of .330". Remember, the Starline brass is pretty thin. It seems to be holding the .309" Hornady 90gr XTP bullets well. I used the 32 ACP die I already had to seat the bullets and I didn't apply any crimp. I have a few loaded up and need to test fire them to make sure that neck tension is sufficient and feeding doesn't push the bullet into the case.

The one downside to trimming the die is that there is no longer enough threaded section for a lock ring when the die is in the press. I'll probably mark the die with a line and watch to make sure it doesn't shift as I'm sizing the brass. I haven't done anything with the .30 Carbine seating die. I'll see how this batch shoots and figure out if I need to modify the .30 Carbine seater or can just keep using the .32 ACP seater.

Here's hoping that the jacketed bullets shoot better than the cast bullets shot. Better accuracy with the jacketed will make this little project a bit more rewarding.

[challenger_i]

How much thread is showing on the bottom end of the die, below the press frame? Enough to get a lock ring on?

[mtnman31]

How much thread is showing on the bottom end of the die, below the press frame? Enough to get a lock ring on?

Definitely nothing below to put a lock ring on. I should have waited to trim the threads back until I tried everything out.

[challenger_i]

Okie doke. Was worth a shot.

[Larry Gibson]

See if a split lock ring with the screw that tightens it will slip over the top of the die and then lock on with the screw tightened.

[Abert Rim]

They are such handsome little pistols.

[EMC45]

I'd love to get my hands an "A" model. They look and feel so neat.

Years back in Orange Grove MS there was a very small gun/pawnshop and the owner had 2 of them in the case. He said "I'll let you get both at 85 a piece" Knowing I couldn't source ammo and I didn't handload at the time I passed. This was 2000. I kick myself still over that. I did buy a 4in Model 16 Smith and Wesson (yes that "Model 16") that day for $250. It was in near mint condition. Traded it like a plum crazy fool for a ratty old Smith .22 K frame. Never even fired it!!! One of my biggest gun regrets in life!