32 ACP for 9mm jackets

[gjemba]

Can .32 ACP cases be sized up for 9mm jackets? It looks like .32 cases are .327 according to the dimensions in the Lee manual and .358 on the rim. I assume it is possible but it would probably require annealing to prevent the case from splitting. I could probably rework a depriming punch to resize these cases. If this works, I would just need a source for the empty brass.

Thoughts are appreciated.

Gary

[mtnman31]

Unless you had a free source for the brass with gobs of .32's just falling out of the tree... it seems like it would be more cost effective to trade or sell the brass and use the gains there to buy the proper jacket material. In other words, I think that the .32 brass would have more value as .32 brass than as jacket material. Additionally, if you have to make or buy the tools to rework the brass that adds in more work/cost.

[pillardrill]

Gary,

after see that people here were turning their fired cases into bullets, mainly .45, I tried to look into the matter to try and find something similar for the 9mm.

I have cast a core into a fired .32 case and run it into my die and formed a 9mm bullet. I test fired a few and found them to be satisfactory. :mrgreen:

However unless you have an unlimited source of .32 cases it's not worth the effort.

Below is a pic of the first .32 case I turned into a 9mm bullet.

[gjemba]

Thanks for the replies. I was asking this question because I bumped into a site last night while I was looking for once fired brass. I forget who it was, but the guy listed .32 acp brass for in the $50/M price range. I thought if these could be easily used, while not cheap, $.05 per jacket is still not horrible and they would all be fairly equal in length and weight without a lot of trimming. People are paying more than that for 1/2 jackets on ebay. I may order some just for the experiment.

I also thought I could buy once fired .357 mag brass andet 2 jackets out of each one. I fighre I could push them into my Lee sizing dies to get them down to the right size, cut them, install the core and swage to the finished size.

Thoughts on the .357 brass are appreciated also.

Thanks for going to the trouble to experiment with this. Pathfinders are always good to be around.

Gary

[kawalekm]

I also thought I could buy once fired .357 mag brass andet 2 jackets out of each one. I fighre I could push them into my Lee sizing dies to get them down to the right size, cut them, install the core and swage to the finished size.

Thoughts on the .357 brass are appreciated also.


Hi Gary
The problem with using .357 brass is that it is cylindrical in nature. That poses a problem for when you are making the base of the bullet. Take a look at this pic.
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/kawalekm/223caseto357jackets.jpg

Look at the base of the .357 bullet on the far right. Can you see how I turned the bullet on it's side so you can see the base? That's the problem I'm talking about. Using the top half of a .223 case for a .357 jacket, the shoulder area of the original case becomes the base of the swaged .357 bullet. As the new bullet gets swaged, the sloping shoulder brass is folded over to form the base. Unless your brass is sloping before swaging, the die punch will have nothing to push against except lead, forming an open based bullet. If it also has an open tip, the pressure of firing could pop the core right out of the jacket, leaving it stuck in the bore. BTSniper has shot some made that way, but I think his base opening is smaller so the gas doesn't have as much surface area to push against.
Michael

[gjemba]

Michael, I agree that if the final jacket was a straight walled cylinder, there would be a chance that the core might slide through, but with the jacket being partly formed over the ojive, the lead cannot go anywhere. This same concern was raised when pillardrill first showed his bullets made by pouring lead into a copper tube. The base is definately exposed but the jacket wraps around the front of the bullet preventing the core from moving or separating from the case. I'm going to spend the rest of the night in the basement experimenting. All thoughts are appreciated.

Gary

[gjemba]

I ordered 1000 .32 auto brass from LEOBRASS in Fl. for $40/M. For $.04 each I can't mess with making jackets for 9mm and .357. It seems to me these will be a cheap source of jackets if everything works well. From Pillardrill's pictures and insight it looks very promising.

Thanks guys.

Gary

[kawalekm]

but with the jacket being partly formed over the ojive, the lead cannot go anywhere. This same concern was raised when pillardrill first showed his bullets made by pouring lead into a copper tube. The base is definately exposed but the jacket wraps around the front of the bullet preventing the core from moving or separating from the case.

Uh, I wouldn't count on that. Remember, the ojive itself was formed on a hand press with only 5000-10,000 PSI of pressure, so why should that thin brass hold the lead after being subjected to 30,000 PSI of pressure upon firing. Maybe it would hold 99 times out of a hundred, but if on that hundreth shot you have a jacket lodged in the bore, you could ruin your barrel.

I'm now working on some ideas to modify the neck region without using expensive jacket making dies. I'll get to it.

[ReloaderFred]

"Can .32 ACP cases be sized up for 9mm jackets?"

This was done by the Viet Cong in the 1960's and fired in captured Browning Hi-Power pistols. It was crude, but somewhat functional. They poured molten lead into the .32 case, and then turned it around and loaded it into the 9x19 case so the base was forward.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Cannoneer]

Can .32 ACP cases be sized up for 9mm jackets? It looks like .32 cases are .327 according to the dimensions in the Lee manual and .358 on the rim. I assume it is possible but it would probably require annealing to prevent the case from splitting. I could probably rework a depriming punch to resize these cases. If this works, I would just need a source for the empty brass.

Thoughts are appreciated.

Gary

I used to work at an indoor range and we used to separate the brass for reloading. .32ACP was usually put aside as unprofiable to reload and I would get it and trun them into .38 / .357 bullets. With the base of the cartridge case entering the the .38 Spl or .357 case first, the core was sure to remain in the jacket and we had no worries about a jacket lodging in the bore.

Since the 9mm Para is faster than the .38 Spl I don't see any problems as long as the base of the .32 is loaded in the 9mm case first.

[gjemba]

Thanks for the info guys. I will get some made as soon as my jackets arrive and try to get some pics posted. The base will be the bottom of the bullet. I'm sure the case will need to be trimmed to get the proper weight bullet. So, a little experimenting and I should be able to get something usable made.