Is reloading for the 32 S&W long as difacult as it sounds

[slimjim]

I have acquired a 32 S&W long conversion for my Pardini and intend to reload for it. I have talked around and read what I seen here and other places on the web. Seems to me that it calls for such a small load what I gather from all the talk it's a lot of work just to get something close to accurate. Thinking of purchasing a Square deal from Dillon. I would appreciate any input on this, is the square deal good enough to give good reliable loads. I want accurate loads if they cant be achieved by reloading consistently I wont waste the money for reloading equipment and just put my money into factory ammo and a hole lot less shooting.
Thank you.

[Rover]

I think the Square Deal is an excellent choice (Dillon is not far from me), but for the small amount of ammo the sport requires you would find any reloading press with the proper dies fussy enough and cheaper. It would enable to control every step of the process perfectly.

[slimjim]

Thanks Rover that's encouraging to hear. I really would prefer to load my own but with all the talk about trouble holding consistent loads I was a little concerned and if the square deal will hold consistency that's good. My personal make up is to buy the best that's suppose to work and if it is difficult to achieve good results with that I'm off looking again.
One other question, Have you ever or know anyone that has reloaded a bullet made by Rim Rock Bullets it's a double ended bullet in .32 100 gr. Don't know what the advantage would be but interesting.
Thanks Jim.

[Rover]

The question is not the SDs quality, but the fact that is difficult to make the small adjustments and tweaks you may wish. It also uses only its own dies. Because it is pricier does not make it better, only faster.

The double end wadcutter is shorter than the HBWCs and is more easily stabilized by marginal twist rates. Other benefits....?

[PFribley]

I learned to reload with the 32 S&W long. Its the only reloading I do. Use a rockchucker. One of those Lee micrometer adjust powder drop. A dillon beam balance. The biggest problem I had was expanding the shell large enough to use the .313 wads. Good luck on your journey in reloading.

[fc60]

Greetings,

I load all my ammo on a Star. It is especially well suited to throwing consistent small charges of powder.

Star is still in business.

Contact Bruce Williams at Star Machine Works.

www.starmachineworks.com

Ask for the 1/4" thick ("O") powder housing.

Bruce can also set the machine up for your specific loading needs. i.e. Carbide sizing die, seating punches, taper crimp, etc.

Cheers,

Dave

[ghillieman]

The 32S&W is a small cartridge and variances that have a minimal effect on the 45 ACP really show their ugly head with the 32 Wadcutter.

If your Pardini has the factory barrel (.313 id) you will need 314 diameter bullets and a .314 diameter expander. The factory barrel has a slow twist which gives the bullet low stability at 50 yards. Keyholing and reduced accuracy is the result. To help combat this use a lighter weight (shorter) bullet with a button nose. The shorter bullet reduces the length of the axis that the gyroscopic effect has to stabilize, increasing stability. The lighter bullet weight allows for higher velocity which increases the rotational speed, increasing stability. The button nose helps the air flow more smoothly around the cutting edge of the wadcutter, reducing turbulence and increasing stability.

It's important to get consistent powder drops. I modified my Dillon small powder bar to throw smaller charges. It throws titegroup dead on every time.

I thought I could buy some cheap mixed brass and it be ok, like with the 45 ACP, but that is not so. Definitely sort by headstamp or buy all new brass.

I could go on, but consistency is key.

[paulmcallister]

Hi,

My previous reloading experience was with bench rest shooting and I applied the same attention to detail for loading .32 S&W. Here is what has worked for me.

I use a Lee oversize sizing die instead of an expander plug. Sorry I don't know the part number for this. I did experiment with case expanders that I machined myself but found no advantage over the Lee oversize sizing die.

I use the Lee Auto Drum powder measure. It took me a long time to decide that it dropped small charges consistently but it does. It is not expensive but I don't know if it will work with other presses.

I am currently using 1.35 gr of N310, but I plan to change to WST as the charge is larger, around 1.6 gr. The reasoning is that any variation will be a smaller percentage of the load.

I am getting good results with Magnus 98 gr wad cutters on the 25 yard line so stayed with these. There may be better projectiles available.

I do not have any experience with shooting the 50 yard line.

It sounds obvious but the only other thing I can offer is as you are working up loads is to change one thing at a time.

(Edit) The post below prompted me to add that I also use a taper crimp and I would like acknowledge Dave's (fc60) help. I would use H&N projectiles if I could but they seem to have left the planet along with the Unicorns

[cnnhead]

I've been mastering my 32S&W reloading process with Dave's (fc60) invaluable help for a while and now my rounds beat Lapua factory ammo every time.

As fellow shooters have already stated, your Pardini probably requires .314 bullets and the trick lies in a proper brass sizing. I also use an oversize Lee sizing die, inner diameter .332" (default .329"). For me it works perfectly with fire-formatted Lapua brass (the only one I use). Instead of expanding a case it is enough to flare it slightly and the walls tension should still be sufficient to keep a bullet in its place.

Then I drop 1.38gr of VV N310 using Redding 10x measure (a deadly accurate dispenser). This is a very important part since the charges are very small and even a slight deviation may ruin a whole load.

Eventually I seat H&N 100gr .314 bullets (flush with the case mouth), then apply a light taper crimp and voila.
I run the process on a Forster Co-Ax press.