I've been trying my hand at reloading this unique little cartridge. I've had decent results reloading and shooting cast RN bullets. The cast bullets are sized .313". I really want to see what the gun is capable of with jacketed bullets. The problem is that I can't get decent neck tension to hold jacketed bullets in the cases. I'm using 32 ACP dies which are built to load .312" bullets. When using jacketed bullets of the proper .308" diameter, there is not sufficient neck tension to seat or hold the bullets in case. I'm using Starline brass, which I am thinking has case walls that are on the thinner side of what is needed. When I use modified .32 S&W Long cases, I can get decent neck tension. Obviously, the modified .32 S&W L cases have slightly thicker case walls than the Starline 32 French brass. I've only got few cases made from .32 S&W Long and they are a lot of work to get made. Plus, I've got a box of the correct Starline 7.65 Long brass to use. I'm thinking of getting a .30 Carbine die set to modify by cutting down in length. The .30 carbine has a slightly smaller case mouth than .32 ACP and should theoretically size the Starline brass down just a hair more than the .32 ACP dies are sizing it. I figure I can cut down a 30 Carbine die to a length that will accommodate the shorter 32 French case. Has anyone tried this or have thoughts on it?
Cartridge dimensions for .32 French show a mouth diameter of .335" while .32 ACP has a mouth diameter of .337". I can't find any other cartridges with the same diameter mouth as the .32 French. Even .30 Carbine is listed as .336". You'd think a thousandth or two wouldn't make a whole world of difference in a pistol cartridge. But, in this case, that thousandth or two difference is resulting in the jacketed bullets dropping into the cases with no neck tension. My other thoughts are come up with a quick way to hold a neck sizing bushing and try that as a sizer. Lastly, 30-30 has a neck diameter of .330". I could try hacking up a 30-30 die to see if that would work as a better sizer. Any other ideas or better way to get this cartridge properly loaded?
Before anyone suggests it, no, I'm not special ordering an expensive/custom die set to reload this cartridge. It's a $200 dollar pistol and I'm not spending 150-200 on custom dies from CH4D or RCBS to shoot it.