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Thread: The Lee 32ACP Project 1

  1. #21
    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
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    For less than that you can buy a gang mold from Accurate which was designed for the .32 ACP to begin with. I use the 31-087T in my .32 ACPs with 2 grains of Bullseye.

    Attachment 156876Attachment 156878
    Last edited by Outpost75; 12-31-2015 at 12:27 PM.
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  2. #22
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Outpost75 View Post
    For less than that you can buy a gang mold from Accurate which was designed for the .32 ACP to begin with.

    I use the 31-087T in my .32 ACPs with 2 grains of Bullseye.
    This is the route I would now take if just starting out with the 32 ACP as a cast bullet project. I labored about with Lyman #313249 for quite some time before stumbling onto #311252 ~10 years ago. Both shoot great in my Walther PP, the -249 just weighs a trifle more than does -252. Both have a full-caliber front drive band like SWCs feature, and cut cleanly and paper and decisively in smaller varmints. -249 has seen usage in 30 Mauser--7.62 x 25--and 30 Luger as well.

    With close to a dozen moulds on hand already to service the 30/32 caliber handguns, it is a little hard to justify the outlay for another mould suited to this diameter when the 32 ACP got DQ'ed for carry by my old shop once HR 218 came onstream. My sitch is a bit unique, I suppose.......not many folks are mid-caliber enthusiasts to the depth and degree I have been for close to 35 years. I got into casting as a last resort of sorts to create 32 caliber bullets to reload my 32 S&W Longs, and created a monster in the process (bullet casting enthusiasm). A nice monster most of the time.
    I don't paint bullets. I like Black Rifle Coffee. Sacred cows are always fair game. California is to the United States what Syria is to Russia and North Korea is to China/South Korea/Japan--a Hermit Kingdom detached from the real world and led by delusional maniacs, an economic and social basket case sustained by "foreign" aid so as to not lose military bases.

  3. #23
    Boolit Master
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    Very good information, I have been wondering how well that would work. I bought a Lee 100 gr mould at the flea market a while back that I will give the same treatment.

    I have a CZ-50 and have tried the Lyman 313249. I have to trim the case to minimum and size to .309 to keep the front band from jamming in the throat. The 100 gr.Lee gives a lot less feeding problems but is to heavy and takes up too much powder space.

    Thanks
    Dave

  4. #24
    Boolit Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by drac0nic View Post
    Pardon the thread dredge, did anyone ever make a few of these? I emailed Lee asking about getting something made up by having the cherry moved up a bit. Since they wanted $175 plus the mold cost, it was a bit pricey unless I want to have 30 or so made up. Looking to load some 32 autos up.
    At the risk of over-plugging my own group buy, we are within two players of getting the Ranch Dog .32 flat nose mold (and it's .380 counterpart) re-launched: http://noebulletmolds.com/smf/index.php?topic=1009.0

    Scroll down the pages a bit and you'll see where Al's posted the blueprints. They make a heck of a mold, and it'll come in a lot less than $175 for you.
    WWJMBD?

    In the Land of Oz, we cast with wheel weight and 2% Tin, Man.

  5. #25
    Boolit Buddy
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    I posted a question on Al's web site about the 32 mold. how many cav. is he making it in and any other information.
    I went through all 3 pages and could not very much about it.
    Thanks
    Dan

  6. #26
    Boolit Master

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    I got mine done! I left a little more of the rear driving band to bump the weight up and to make sure that I had plenty of meat to bite into the barrel...
    L-R Mag-tek 71gr., Hornady 71gr., new Lee 81gr, Missouri Bullets Cowboy #18.


    Loaded rounds:
    L-R Old factory W-W, Hornady 71gr., Lee 81gr., Miss. 78gr.
    Note, I loaded the Lee in my preferred brass, G.F.L.
    It has a great extractor groove.


    The Missouri would have been a great bullet, but in the CZ70 it will not hand eject. Great for accuracy, but when the kids are shooting it I want them to do an empty chamber check and when they can't pull the slide back, it concerns me. The front driving band is just to large on the Cowboy #18.
    Cowboy 18, no plunk!


    Lee 81, great fit!


    In closing... I really wish someone would make a bullet mould like this in at least 4 cavities. I have tried the Accurate 87B and it is also to large in front of the case mouth, it did shoot very well. Having shot several of these, I really like them.

    2.0 grains of Titegroup hits my ft-lbs target number of 150 at 912 fps in the CZ70 and 771 fps in the Kel-tec P32 with 107 ft-lbs of energy. The CZ would take them hotter, the primers are not showing any pressure signs. But, it is plenty for the P32 and I likely will not load them any hotter.
    Last edited by mattw; 08-19-2018 at 11:48 PM.

  7. #27
    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
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    Bravo Zulu gentlemen!

    Good project, well executed, outstanding results.

    Like the looks of your modified Lee 81-grain LRN.
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  8. #28
    Boolit Master
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    I left a post in 2015 on this thread about trying this, finally got it done. It ended up at 85 grs. and is the best boolit for my CZ-50 that I have tried.

    My mould is the old style , wonder if the new style would work out. It's really an economical way to get a usable 32acp mould. I like the pistol but couldn't see laying a lot of cash for one that I don't shoot a lot.

  9. #29
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    Mine is new style and it has issues closing, I think it is due to the lack of weight from the part removed. I would like to try an old style one next. It is interesting that you got 4 grains more weight, my alloy may come in a little light since it is 94/3/3 roughly.

    I agree that I think it is the best I have tried for the CZ with no throat. The key would be to throat the barrel and allow for the lead in to handle a front driving band. But, this also is pretty much a perfect length loaded round to prevent rim lock.

    I wish that someone could make a run of these... It is hard to make 32/20 and 32 long bullets work well in all semi-autos. Accurate site says they cannot make a true round nose bullet, but I think NOE can, but not sure how much. Looks like 175 to set up and then the cost of the mould on top. i talked to Lee about having them made and the person told me 250 setup and 50 moulds need to be sold.

    So... I think we are stuck making this work. The weakness mine has is that the top half of the mould is short enough that a shoulder bolt for the sprue plate does not seem to get good and tight. So,, some of the bullets from the front cavity end up with a tiny tail.

    Also, it is very hard to find stock of .311 71 FMJ. I lucked into around 400 Mag-tec .311's at a reasonable price and I have a partial box of Hornady .312's. My CZ really would like them to be .3095 - .310 and I am sizing the cast with a .310 Lyman die the puts them out around .3105. My Kel-tec P32 will eat anything. It has a fairly loose chamber and tends to expand the brass more that I like, so I do not shoot it as much. The CZ70 throws brass at least 10 feet, sometimes more... So, I have to have one of the kids watch brass for me when I shoot it.

  10. #30
    Boolit Master
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    My boolit is very close to.503" long ,we left it as long as we could and still cut off the lube groove. I think the ones I poured were straight WW.

    A little OT but I cut the gas check shank off a Lee 113 gr. flat nose soup can. It made a nice 100 gr. boolit for my Colt Police Positive Special in 32 Colt NP. It will not feed properly in the CZ but is too heavy anyway.

    Can you shorten the shoulder bolt for the sprue plate?

  11. #31
    Boolit Master

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    I think the sprue plate problem is that the shoulder does not bottom out with the tiny spring washer on it. I am going to try it with out the washer and if it bottoms out, I will thin the top side of the sprue plate enough to allow the use of the spring washer.

    It does work really well, I wish someone would make a true commercial RN 32acp bullet mould! After having not owned a 32acp for 40 years of shooting, I find that I actually really like it and really like the CZ. I could see owning more guns for that round. I also shoot 32 H&R mag, but the bullets are just not interchangeable.

  12. #32
    DOR RED BEAR's Avatar
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    I did the same thing with a lee 93 gr and ended up with a 65 grain bullet am going to try the 100 grain lee hoping for something in the 75 grain range. Being retired i no longer have access to machine shop so i did mine with a good rough file got it really close and finished it off with fine file just measure and mark high spots . I still have all my measuring tools so it was not hard to get it even and flat used my pocket knife to scratch vent groves. Whole thing took less than half hour.

  13. #33
    Boolit Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by RED BEAR View Post
    I did the same thing with a lee 93 gr and ended up with a 65 grain bullet am going to try the 100 grain lee hoping for something in the 75 grain range. Being retired i no longer have access to machine shop so i did mine with a good rough file got it really close and finished it off with fine file just measure and mark high spots . I still have all my measuring tools so it was not hard to get it even and flat used my pocket knife to scratch vent groves. Whole thing took less than half hour.
    You can get close to 71 grains, but you will not have much bottom driving band left. At 81 grains, I left the entire middle driving band on the original mould.

  14. #34
    DOR RED BEAR's Avatar
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    just finished cutting mine down and it is right at 82 grains with my alloy.went to range today and it feed great . thats why i wanted to do it i have a cz 32 that will feed factory ammo but jams with cast. might just have it solved.

  15. #35
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    My machinist buddy finally has the correct size vise on his good milling machine, so I have one of the lee 311-100 2Rs coming that he’ll machine off for me. I too plan to use this for my CZ50.

  16. #36
    Boolit Master

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    Well.. my mould failed. The threads gave out in the sprue plate pivot bolt hole. With the skinny little moulds, I cannot see a way to fix it at home. I am working with someone to get a 3 or 4 C made, will post if I get it worked out.

    Please post pics of you modded moulds, I would still be interested in having another one cut down but I do not have a mill.

  17. #37
    Boolit Master Dan Cash's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mattw View Post
    Well.. my mould failed. The threads gave out in the sprue plate pivot bolt hole. With the skinny little moulds, I cannot see a way to fix it at home. I am working with someone to get a 3 or 4 C made, will post if I get it worked out.

    Please post pics of you modded moulds, I would still be interested in having another one cut down but I do not have a mill.
    Simply email Tom at Accurate molds and your problem is solved. He offers up to 5 cavity moulds that will stay on your bench and work, producing the bullet you want.
    To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, the trouble with many shooting experts is not that they're ignorant; its just that they know so much that isn't so.

  18. #38
    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
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    Agree! Tom has the best selection of well-proven designs for the .32 ACP!

    Here are some of my favorites:
    Attachment 233331Attachment 233335Attachment 233328Attachment 233329Attachment 233330
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  19. #39
    Boolit Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Cash View Post
    Simply email Tom at Accurate molds and your problem is solved. He offers up to 5 cavity moulds that will stay on your bench and work, producing the bullet you want.
    Dan, I understand that... I went with the LRN because it feeds perfectly in everything I have tried it in. I would have to seat any of the Accurate bullets to the top of the front driving band for my CZ70, as it goes from camber to lands and grooves very abruptly. I am not brave enough to play with a chamber reamer in the gun. The 31-077B and the 31-084H look like good candidates for the pistol as the front driving band is very short. Someone was kind enough to send me a handful of one of the 87's, but I had to seat it very deep and it jacked up pressure.

    I am trying to maintain 150 ft/lbs of energy in the CZ and the 81 gr. Lee did a fine job and felt good doing it. Just found my data, it was the 87B that I tried and I had to seat it to short and had feeding issues in the CZ with it. 2.0 gr. of Bullseye did make my target velocity for 150 ft/lbs at 3 feet from the muzzle. I do wish the 84H was a flat base bullet.

    Anyone got a small bunch of the 77B or 85H made? I will pay postage to try a few. Unsized and unlubed would be perfect as 1 gun takes .310 and the other really likes .312 or so.

  20. #40
    Boolit Master


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    I guess this is why I stick with the old #311252. I use it in .32ACP & .32S&W. I only have a 2cav mold, but when I use it with 2-3 other 2cav molds I can turn out a lot of bullets in a short time. And using the same brand/size of multiple molds maintains rythem and mold temp.
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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