.32acp sizing

[brucew]

Hello, new here.

I have an old 1907 savage .32 acp I love to shoot (excellent condition) and the groove diameter measures .308. I'm thinking of ordering the Lee 93 gr .311 mold for plinking and just wanted to check with y'all to see if you think I'm OK with .311 or should size it down a notch or two. Using straight wheel weight lead.

Any suggestions on loads would be welcome. The Lee manual only shows loads for an 84 gr Lead boolit using Accurate #2 & 5.

Bruce

[rintinglen]

.310 ought to work well. 1.5-1.7 grains of Bullseye or Reddot will work as will 1.9- 2.2 grains of Unique, This is a small case so be careful a tenth can make a pretty significant change. I have used the 84 grain lyman bullet over 2 grains of Bullseye a bit.

[HARRYMPOPE]

order a custom lee .32 ACP factory crimp die and it helps.I shoot the SAECO #325 as cast at .313 with lee tumble lube Alox and run it though the FC die after normal seating .it has been an accurate combo from my 1903 Colt Pocket Hammerless.

HMP

[turbo1889]

I use the Lee mold # TL314-90-SWC for the 32-ACP cartridge and shoot them "as cast" which is about right at the 0.314" diameter stated in the mold designation with my alloy. At least that is what they are before I seat them TL type boolits do have a reputation for being sized down by the cartridge neck upon seating.

I do have a custom Lee 32-ACP CFCD just exactly as HARRYMPOPE suggested above and it just barely touches the outside of the case with this loaded boolit inside. I shoot those loads in all my 32-ACP guns with excellent results and I've got quite a few with diameters all over the spectrum to a tight 0.308" like the OP asked about to one that is 0.313".

I also shoot that same boolit (TL314-90-SWC) in my 7.62x25 cartridge guns which have bore dimensions on the tighter end of the spectrum. Long story short, in my mind if the round will chamber the boolit is not oversize. You really can't have a boolit that is too big unless we start talking hundredths of an inch oversize instead of thousandths of an inch (0.0#" vs. 0.00#").

For load data for the heavier boolits use the loads for "32-S&W Short" it has almost identical case capacity and boolit diameter, is loaded to slightly lower pressures, and is normally loaded with slightly heavier boolits then the 32-ACP. If you compare load data for the lighter weight boolit "32-S&W Short" loads with load data for the 32-ACP that use the exact same boolit weight and powder you will find that the max. charge listed for the S&W Short cartridge is almost identical to the "start" load for the 32-ACP. I have been using the max loads for the S&W Short cartridge as 32-ACP heavy boolit load data for years and have had zero problems.

[brucew]

Thanks for the great info guys! Turbo you got me thinkin I might go with that 90 gr SWC instead. What OAL do you use for the acp?

I have that Lee FC die for the wife's 9mm and yes I like that sucker!

Bruce

[turbo1889]

. . . Turbo . . . What OAL do you use for the acp?

I have that Lee FC die for the wife's 9mm and yes I like that sucker! . . .

The longest over all length that will fit in whichever gun needs the shortest over all length for the finished cartridge to fit the magazine and not bind up because the nose is rubbing on the inside of the mag. I have no idea what exactly that exact measurement is for my collection of guns since I just made up a dummy round I keep in the box with the die set and I use that to set up the dies every time I load that boolit in that cartridge. Its the principle of the thing though that is important not the exact measurement since your mix of guns in this cartridge is most likely different from mine.

As for the Lee CFCD for pistol cartridges in general; with some cartridge/boolit/gun combinations it is a real blessing and for others it is a curse. It just all depends. I am of course referring specifically to the crimp die with the carbide ring in the base (CFCD) as apposed to the regular Lee collet type factory crimp die (FCD).

In my opinion the best possible boolit for the 32-ACP would be to morph the Lee TL314-90-SWC to a TC instead of a SWC keeping the nose the exact same length just without the step at the base and then shorten the length of the boolit from the base by removing one tumble lube groove from the middle and keeping the base band the same thickness. The resulting boolit would be slightly lighter weight with improved available case capacity for the powder charge and even better feeding; basically a TL314-85-TC.

Also, I believe ranch dog has custom order Lee molds specifically designed for the 32-ACP although I haven’t tried his boolit in that cartridge myself.

[Rangefinder]

I'm using the lee 93gr in my 32ACP sized at .311 with a light tumble in LLA, and it works great over 1.6gr Red Dot. BUT--you will likely have to seat pretty deep in order to get it to chamber, and seating that deep in the tiny case has a tendency to bulge... Plan ahead for that. There are several ways to deal with that, but the popular one is probably a Factory Crimp die for the final pass.