Is it likely that a .32 S&W long wadcutter can be reloaded on a progressive?

[Pitt Willett]

Robjob

I got it tightened down pretty well (too the point of drag) and have the turbo bearing installed too. Thinking I may have gotten a bad or wrong shell plate and contacted Dillon. I haven't had such problems with the many other calibers I load. The single stage primer arm is getting old already.

What pistol(s) did you shoot those machine rest groups with? I recently got a Pardini so hoping a 5" factory barrel was one of them.

It's encouraging that there's a good hand cast option out there. I've got a few Accurate molds and have been happy with them.

[robjob]

Pitt.

The groups I referenced were both shoot with factory walther GSPs.

I'd heard that the 32 was difficult, but I ran into a deal where I bought a full gsp and a 32 upper for $1200. Didnt plan to do anything with the gsp, but had it so borrowed a mold and loaded the load the guy with the mold gave me. Never tried another.

I will advise, .314 diameter bullets shot arround 8 inches in my gun with no difference in powder charge or crimp adjustment. Bore diameter must be respected.

[BobGee]

I made a set of bars with drilled holes for my RL550, I don't think they give better accuracy than the adjustable bar but I can go directly to the load I used before.

There was a guy down here in NSW in Oz who made a powder bar for the Dillon 550/650 which used aluminium replaceable inserts which you could drill and ream out to get the load you want for the powder you want to use. Swapping inserts is easy without having to completely remove the bar. I find it great for very small loads (~1.4gn). I never had much luck with the Dillon extra small powder bar. The shape of the measuring chamber in the bar is just not conducive to repeatability. Unfortunately, the guy who made the bars has retired and no more stock, not even the inserts. If I was lucky enough to have a lathe…

Bob

[trboat]

All.
Thank you for the information.
This project has been years in the making as other concerns keep capturing my free time.

So I purchased a Star Universal.
I have housings for the ‘0’ and ‘00’ powder slides.
I will setup for bushing and adjustable powder slides in the 0 bar.

I am reloading for the Sako Triace.
I have that the twist rate is “faster than other match pistols so excels at 50 meters” but I do not know what that rate is.
I will slug the barrel here presently to see what the bore is.

I have a recommendation to try the .314 HBWC from Bear Creek but will also consider the Lapua.

The current mystery for me are the details of setting up the dies in the press.
I have as mentioned the old Pacific Durachrome die set.
No independent expander or crimping die.
I will need a different powder drop fitting for the measure to fit the 32 case.

A work in progress..

Thanks all

[JamesH]

I made a set of bars with drilled holes for my RL550, I don't think they give better accuracy than the adjustable bar but I can go directly to the load I used before.

There was a guy down here in NSW in Oz who made a powder bar for the Dillon 550/650 which used aluminium replaceable inserts which you could drill and ream out to get the load you want for the powder you want to use. Swapping inserts is easy without having to completely remove the bar. I find it great for very small loads (~1.4gn). I never had much luck with the Dillon extra small powder bar. The shape of the measuring chamber in the bar is just not conducive to repeatability. Unfortunately, the guy who made the bars has retired and no more stock, not even the inserts. If I was lucky enough to have a lathe…


D6295AF3-DD93-4FF0-B992-39BE641A24AA.jpeg


Bob

I sort of half thought about doing that for a while but just drilled out some bars that I had machined.

I found no difference in accuracy between the adjustable charge bar and the drilled holes but then 7.62x26 and a 1:10 twist in a choked barrel is very forgiving.

I have seen some increase in SD over ~15 years, I think its powder deterioration.

[Leon]

I made a set of bars with drilled holes for my RL550, I don't think they give better accuracy than the adjustable bar but I can go directly to the load I used before.

There was a guy down here in NSW in Oz who made a powder bar for the Dillon 550/650 which used aluminium replaceable inserts which you could drill and ream out to get the load you want for the powder you want to use. Swapping inserts is easy without having to completely remove the bar. I find it great for very small loads (~1.4gn). I never had much luck with the Dillon extra small powder bar. The shape of the measuring chamber in the bar is just not conducive to repeatability. Unfortunately, the guy who made the bars has retired and no more stock, not even the inserts. If I was lucky enough to have a lathe…


D6295AF3-DD93-4FF0-B992-39BE641A24AA.jpeg


Bob

That's a really nice powder solution for Dillons. Are they really not available any more?

[BobGee]

Unfortunately not. I got in touch with the guy who made them to get some more inserts but he said he'd retired and wasn’t making them anymore.

Bob

[hurt22]

Robjob….what is the specific mold from Accurate? I did not see a 32-88grain when I looked. THANKS!

[robjob]

He catalogs by diameter so this is technically 31 not 32. Make sure you tell him what alloy your using and what diameter you want and he'll adjust the mold. I think I had mine to 316 to make sure I could size to 315. I coat with hitek, the guy that told me about it lubes. Both shoot well.

https://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_de ... et=31-088W

[trboat]

So I have gone with the adjustable slide route.
This is a micrometer slide I made up for the Star '00' powder slide housing.
I am getting perfectly consistent throws to the resolution readable on an M5.
It is as always a work in progress- I am testing to see if I want to make another for the '0' slide specifically for the 32.
So far I am quite pleased with the mechanism- the results are consistent and repeatable after changes.

[w4ti]

So I have gone with the adjustable slide route.
This is a micrometer slide I made up for the Star '00' powder slide housing.
I am getting perfectly consistent throws to the resolution readable on an M5.
It is as always a work in progress- I am testing to see if I want to make another for the '0' slide specifically for the 32.
So far I am quite pleased with the mechanism- the results are consistent and repeatable after changes.

4521F586-E189-491E-B4EB-25858CA4E68D.jpeg

Very nice work! Should you offer altering the slides as a service, please count me as interested. Having to figure out your powder's bulk density and then machine bushings based on that is sub-optimal.

[trboat]

Thanks!
That powder slide was turned from bar- that is entirely built from scratch.

I turned and milled that on manual machines but did consider drawing it up to see how much a shop would charge to make a short run of the body’s.
I am pleased though.
I made this to very close tolerances and it is throwing consistent charges.

[rkittine]

I load .32 S&W Long Wadcutters on a Star Progressive Press.

[robjob]

https://uniquetek.com/product/T1267

[trboat]

https://uniquetek.com/product/T1267

That is Dillon compatible.
I am working with the Star.

[rkittine]

I have a Star set up in .32 S&W Long WC. Works great. Also have a turret press set up with a set of dies and the star is just as good.

[BobGee]

I found no difference in accuracy between the adjustable charge bar and the drilled holes…

After reading a thread in the Bullseye-L forum on reloading using the Arredondo micrometer bar from UniqueTek* wherein a poster said he got no real difference using the Arredondo product (and from JamesH's comment above), I have decided to go back to the adjustable extra-small charge bar but with a simple mod: the addition of a MRDial adjusting knob. I had a problem with the set-up initially because the screw supplied with the MRDial knob was too short for the extra-small bar so the insert in the bar would detach from the screw when screwed right in meaning that it was not possible to get a zero - the knob would just spin. I now see that there is a version of the knob specially for the extra-small bar which, presumably has a longer screw - not sure if that was available when I bought mine a few years ago. I found that I had the longer screw from the original extra-small bar set-up so drilled and tapped the head to take the Mr Dial fixing screw and am now able to screw the insert in to a physical stop where I have set the knob's zero. So now I can progress to get repeatable settings. Odd thing about the dials is that they have only 2 marks between the numbered marks on the dial, i.e. 1/3rds - strange. I think that the dials for the small powder bars might be marked in 1/4ths.

60CBCD1B-364A-4695-BC4F-DA690269E3DB.jpeg (29.91 KiB) Viewed 48256 times

* https://www.bullseyeforum.net/t19186-ar ... =Arredondo

I have access to Bullseye, Vihtavouri N310, WST and ADI AP50N powders so an adjustable bar is a decided advantage.

Bob

[dwandersen]

I’ve been reloading the 32 S&W Long on my Dillon 550 with Dillon dies, VV N310 and Lapua cast bullets with no issues. The setup of the reloader takes some time but the results with my Pardini HP are good enough for CF competition. The loads shoot better than i do.

[High Left]

Hornady progressive, small measure insert. N-310, 2.05 gr. ... Bear Creek HBWC, in 32 HR. Weighed a bunch, looked just fine to me.

Bigger thing is a proper expander.

[JamesH]

The expander is critical, full length and correct diameter.