Problem with RD boolits in Kel-Tec .32

[FergusonTO35]

Hey guys. I don't remember if I posted about this already or not. I searched and couldn't find it so please forgive me if this is a dupe post. A friend was gracious enough to let me try some Ranch Dog boolits in my Kel-Tec P32. Great looking boolits but unusable in this gun as they are. these slugs mic at .313, my pistol has a groove diameter of .312. They will not chamber fully because the boolit hangs up on the beginning of the rifling. They will only chamber if you seat them to an unsafe .875 OAL.

I'm wondering if I got a custom sizer from Lee and squeezed 'em down to .312 would that solve the problem. Or, mebbe get the .311 sizer and just size the portion of the boolit that is past the case mouth, which is hanging up? Anybody here shoot these slugs in a Kel-Tec? Any other suggestions out there? Failing this, are there any other good boolits for my pistol? I wonder if I could get a mold for the Rim Rock boolit used in the Buffalo Bore ammo?

[Catshooter]

The .312 sizer may solve your problem, but the only way to know is to try it. You could roll a boolit between two pieces of steel to get it down to .312 and then seat and try it. Might save you the cost of the sizer.

Welcome to the madness of casting and this forum by the way.


Cat

[35remington]

The problem is they're hanging up on a rifling origin.....in other words, the rifling is nearly full height just in front of the case mouth. Your really have no throat. You likely don't have any much of a leade either (taper from the rifling origin).

It's unlikely sizing will help. The bullet is hanging up on the rifling lands, which would be about 0.004" tall on typical guns. That means if your barrel slugs .312" its bore diameter, or land to land distance, is 0.304." This is still smaller than the sized diameter of the bullet.

What is needed is a subcaliber section of about 0.302" just in front of where you will seat the bullet so the OAL will be proper, but that must be a function of the design of the mould, not something you can practically size to.

Or you'll need to ease the rifling origin a bit and give it a leade (taper from rifling origin to full height of the lands) or, more properly, a little bit of a throat that measures .312" or the same as groove depth. 0.313" would be ideal. You'd need a reamer for that, and a bit of an oddball reamer as this is not the same as one appropriate for a .308" diameter rifle.

Your gun probably was intended for jacketed bullets where little full diameter is present in front of the case mouth as found on factory loads, usually those with a rounded ogive, which even the 32 HP's have.

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks. I wonder if the barrel of my pistol is supposed to be this way? It seems odd that a defensive pistol with a generous chamber would have no leade. I'll contact Kel-Tec amd see if they have anything to say about it.

[35remington]

It's supposed to be this way.....at least, for most jacketed ammo. Pistol barrels with no throat and a short, sharp taper from rifling origin to full land height are common. My Ruger P97 is constructed this way.

This works fine with jacketed ammo, which has little full diameter bearing surface in front of the case mouth. Not so good with lead bullets that have any full diameter in front of the case mouth. My P97 needs a deeper seated bullet, but then some will work as is even if of lead.

Some cast bullets, like Lee's 230-2R in 45 ACP have a small band of diminishing diameter in front of the case mouth when seated at the proper depth, which works in even no throat, sharp leade taper barrels. The RCBS Cowboy 230 FN has a subcaliber section in front of the crimp groove, which means it works fine at a good feeding overall length in a no throat autoloader, even though it is supposedly intended for revolvers. I am not the only one that has found it works great in an automatic.

If you're planning on shooting a flatpointed lead bullet like the RD, which is probably the best choice for this pistol (better than a less deeply penetrating hollow point) then you may throat it, or at least taper the leade. Hopefully it will then feed at your chosen OAL.

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks alot friend. I did some more work with it last night. I found that my Kel-Tec pistol has a very abrupt leade in front of the chamber. I found that the RD bullets, as is, will only chamber when seated so short that the cartridge nose dives into the feed ramp. Obviously thats a no-go. My Remington FMJ mic at .311, I can seat them out until they are hanging on to the case mouth for dear life and will chamber no problem. I'm thinking that I have two solutions if I want to use the RD bullet. I could have my gunsmith open up the leade to where the bullet will chamber more easily. I could also use my .311 sizer and resize the portion of the bullet ahead of the driving bands which extends past the case mouth. I think I'll buy some bullets and experiment.

The RD boolits mic at .313. I wonder how well they would work if I resized them to .312? Or, would the Rim Rock boolit used in Buffalo Bore ammo would work well in my pistol? They are sold on the Rim Rock website for about the same price as the RD boolit.

[35remington]

I just covered this, and tried to explain why sizing to a smaller diameter would not work. 0.311" won't work either. I'll try again.

Sizing to .311" will not work to clear the lands. The bulllet must be sized to somewhere in the vicinity of .303" for it to clear the lands of the rifling, which are likely around .304."

So sizing the forward potion of the bullet to .311" ain't gonna help. The .304" diameter of the rifling lands will dictate a smaller sized diameter of the forward part of the bullet than you contemplate to allow it to extend past the rifling origin.

So toss the .311" sizing idea out the window. It isn't viable.

.303" is your number. Good luck finding a sizing die. Good luck sizing only partway.

[FergusonTO35]

Sorry, I didn't have enough coffee in my veins when I typed that.

Michael contacted me and said that he actually has two different .32 Auto molds, one has a tapered ogive and the other a secant ogive. He said the secant ogive normally works really well in these little guns and is sending me some to try.