Harry O
11-09-2015, 03:01 PM
152939
These are the three loads that I settled with for my .32 Colt Revolvers.
The one on the right is an actual .32 Long Colt case with a Lyman 299155 hollow-base bullet, 2.0gr of Bullseye, and SPG lube (pan lubed).
The middle one is a case formed from a .32 S&W Long case, shortened to 0.780" long, loaded with a copy of the 299153 heel-base bullet and 2.0gr of Bullseye. The bullet was dipped in Lee Liquid Alox after loading and hung upside-down to dry. I made up about 225 of these cases, but early on lost about 5% of them to splits every time I fired them. I am getting a lot fewer splits now. Still have about 190 of the cases, so it will be a while before I have to make some more.
The left one is an actual .32 Short Colt case. I decided to figure out how to use them after I found out how difficult it was to get real Long Colt cases and how (relatively) easy it was to find Short Colt cases. Neither of the bullets I had worked very well with it. Not enough room for the powder without compression. The bullet I settled on is a .32 S&W Long hollow-base wadcutter from Hornady that I had laying around. They have a thin coat of Lee Liquid Alox. I made up an aluminum die to swage the bottom 3/16" of the bullets to 0.299". It is loaded with 1.5gr of Bullseye.
The Short case with the reformed Hornady is actually the most accurate, but none of them give target accuracy. All of them are reasonably accurate, though. They will all stay in the black portion of a 25 yard pistol target at 7 yards, with most within the 8 ring offhand (for comparison, that is the average size of the groups of people at the range with their new 9mm high-cap handguns -- average means that half are worse). The Hornady will keep most in the 9 ring. They will NOT all stay in the 10 ring like my K-38 Combat Masterpieces will do. However, there is much less difference from one load to the other than there is with my 41 Long Colt loads. They range from reasonable accuracy to being unable to keep them on a target at 15 yards (from a rest) with the different bullets, cases, and powders for the 41LC.
These are the three loads that I settled with for my .32 Colt Revolvers.
The one on the right is an actual .32 Long Colt case with a Lyman 299155 hollow-base bullet, 2.0gr of Bullseye, and SPG lube (pan lubed).
The middle one is a case formed from a .32 S&W Long case, shortened to 0.780" long, loaded with a copy of the 299153 heel-base bullet and 2.0gr of Bullseye. The bullet was dipped in Lee Liquid Alox after loading and hung upside-down to dry. I made up about 225 of these cases, but early on lost about 5% of them to splits every time I fired them. I am getting a lot fewer splits now. Still have about 190 of the cases, so it will be a while before I have to make some more.
The left one is an actual .32 Short Colt case. I decided to figure out how to use them after I found out how difficult it was to get real Long Colt cases and how (relatively) easy it was to find Short Colt cases. Neither of the bullets I had worked very well with it. Not enough room for the powder without compression. The bullet I settled on is a .32 S&W Long hollow-base wadcutter from Hornady that I had laying around. They have a thin coat of Lee Liquid Alox. I made up an aluminum die to swage the bottom 3/16" of the bullets to 0.299". It is loaded with 1.5gr of Bullseye.
The Short case with the reformed Hornady is actually the most accurate, but none of them give target accuracy. All of them are reasonably accurate, though. They will all stay in the black portion of a 25 yard pistol target at 7 yards, with most within the 8 ring offhand (for comparison, that is the average size of the groups of people at the range with their new 9mm high-cap handguns -- average means that half are worse). The Hornady will keep most in the 9 ring. They will NOT all stay in the 10 ring like my K-38 Combat Masterpieces will do. However, there is much less difference from one load to the other than there is with my 41 Long Colt loads. They range from reasonable accuracy to being unable to keep them on a target at 15 yards (from a rest) with the different bullets, cases, and powders for the 41LC.