.32 long colt

[heavyT]

Anyone out there reload for 32 lc?I'm new to this caliber, but I understand it is compatible with 32 short colt, and 320 European? Is this correct? Are there options for easier acquisition of brass etc...?

Thanks! Tom

[NoZombies]

Well, brass isn't exactly easy to acquire, but it can occasionally be had, either in the form of collector ammo, or brass modified to the .32 LC dimensions.

Every Euro gun I've owned marked .320 was in fact chambered for .32 short Colt. If the chambers are cut for .32 LC, 32 SC can be safely chambered and fired in the gun, assuming the gun would be safe to shoot with the longs. This would be analogous to shooting .22 short in a .22 LR chamber. The opposite cannot always be said, as the .32 LC cartridge generally won't fit into .32 short or .320 Euro chambers.

The key things to know about the caliber:

The bullets for .32 long Colt came in 2 basic varieties, either undersized and hollow based, or heel based with the remainder the same diameter as the brass. The heel based bullets are generally outside lubed, the same as .22 LR ammo, and the thusly loaded round has a striking resemblance to the aforementioned rimfire cartridge. The heel based bullets have generally been thought to shoot better, as they at least started out at or around the major diameter of the grooves in most barrels. The hollow based bullets generally started out .010 or more smaller than the groove diameter, and must "bump up" to fit the bore. The hollow based bullets were generally loaded in longer brass than the heeled bullets, so that the .313 (aprox) diameter would extend the same distance into the chambers. The hollow based bullets were introduced later into the cartridges life, to provide an "inside lubed" option.

The chambers for .32 long Colt are generally abut identical to the chambers for .32 long rimfire. A very few guns had dual or interchangeable firing pins. The Marlin 1892 and Ballard rifles come to mind.

As far as I know, no major manufacturers make any runs of .32 long colt ammo or brass. Winchester makes a run of .32 short colt every once in a while, so .32 SC brass is generally more attainable. Inexpensive isn't generally an adjective I would use to describe it though.

Accurate molds makes at least one heeled bullet intended for the .32 LC. Ideal made several in either heeled or hollow base flavors. Hoch made at least one hollow base design. NEI makes a heeled base design as well, and I'm sure there are others.

A brief note on the .32 Colt New Police cartridge:

The .32 long Colt, and the .32 New Police (also abbreviated NP or called "police cartridge") are not the same or interchangeable. The .32 new police is dimensionally identical to the .32 S&W long, and both are loaded to the same pressure, and can be used interchangeably. The .32 New Police was generally loaded from the factory with flat pointed bullets, as apposed to the round nose bullets normally associated with the .32 S&W long. As far as I can tell, that, and the headstamp, were the only things that set the two cartridges apart in factory loaded form.

The story goes that Colt couldn't stand to put the S&W name on their revolvers, so renamed the .32 S&W long to .32 NP to prevent doing so. There is good historical provenance suggesting that Colt moved over to the new olice cartridge, over the long colt, at the behest of Teddy Roosevelt, who felt that his police officers were better able to hit their targets with a .32 than they could with a .38, but didn't like the outside lubed bullets of the .32 long Colt.

[Guesser]

Well said-Nozombies. I own Colt revolvers chambered for both Colt cartridges. 32 Colt and 32 N.P. Indeed, they are not interchangeable. 32 Short Colt is still cataloged and marketed by Winchester. As near as I have found Remington did the last run of 32 LC about 1990. I have several boxes of it. I watch gun shows and yard sales, always find some for sale. 32 LC is out there, you just have to search it out. CH4D makes dies for 32 Long Colt and they will work for SC too. I have seen the Hornady 90 gr, HBWC loaded with great success in 32 LC cases. Takes a little finagling, but it worked.

[BCB]

I reload that cartridge for a Model 1892 Marlin...

The guru on that cartridge might be w30wcf

He posts on here and he might pick up on this thread...

I will follow it a bit to see what happens...

It can be a bit tricky to reload for as dies can be a problem...

Good-luck...BCB

[Bent Ramrod]

I found a .311" round ball with a slight smear of lube shot OK out of my Ballard with 4.4 gr Unique. The Ideal 299152 and 299153 shot OK with 8.5 gr of Pyrodex P, the latter also shot OK with 10.5 gr of FFG black powder.

My Low Wall does OK with either the 299152 or 299153 and 2 gr of Trail Boss. The only load that seems to do well in it with the 299155 hollow base is 4.5 gr of Triple 7 FFFG.

I use Small Pistol primers mostly in these little cases. My Ballard has a kind of frosty bore, but that of the Low Wall is perfect. Shooting OK means 2 to 2-1/2" groups at 50 yards off the bench. This is not a target caliber, although occasionally you can luck into one which will shoot better than this.

You can find .32 Long Colt brass or ammo at gun shows occasionally. There was a thread somewhere on this forum that had the name of a guy who swages the stuff from .32 S&W brass. Or, if you have a .25-20 SS rifle, you can cut the cases down that have neck splits and make the old .32 Long Rifle shell out of them, to fit the hollow base boolit.

[I'll Make Mine]

There was a thread somewhere on this forum that had the name of a guy who swages the stuff from .32 S&W brass.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?12921-32-Long-Colt-Brass