.32 Long Colt ,Need Help

[Adirondacker]

Unfortunately, gun shows around here are mostly black guns, machetes, cheap swords, beef jerky, camo underwear ...

Well, where are they NOT that way?  Only the very few limited to antique guns only.  Most of the ones I was driving 4-5 hrs to reach 20+ yrs ago, I've given up on entirely.  (Anyway, these days I buy all my jerky on-line.)

[Chev. William]

In the two local Gun shows remaining in my area, I find that generally there is some segregation by type of merchandise, the 'black guns' and the collectables tend to be in one building or two, with the older less collectible, more shoot-able types in another building or two.  Ammo is seemingly blocked together in several places, with the big commercial ammo sellers with the black guns and the small lot and obsoleted sellers in with the older firearms or with the 'miscellaneous products dealers'.
This year, the Glendale City Council banned Gun shows in the Municipal Convention Center, something probably due to a 'Knee-Jerk' reaction to the Anti-Gun screaming near the first of the year.  Los Angeles has had a ban on Gun shows on City and County property for several years now.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[dusty texian]

ndnchf Have you had a chance to try the #2400 load's yet? Think you will like this load. Using the Trail Boss in the .32 Short Colt I can get 2 gr. of TB in the SC  case. Makes a very mild accurate load with the 299153. Could you send me the measurement of the case neck and base of a fired( LC) case in your .32 chamber. My reamer's have finally arrived. I am ready to finish ream the sizieng die's . You should be able to test the .32 S&W brass in the sizer die's soon. Think it may work if we short stroke with good lube. If not we can use a Arbor press,,,,,,,,,,Dusty

[ndnchf]

The shows here have no segregation, its a jumble.  I wish it was.  I haven't been to a gun show elsewere in many years, but I'd like to think that places like Texas, Wyoming or Montana would have less black guns and camo uunderwear than this part of the country, but that may just be fanciful thinking 

Dusty - I have not fired the 2400 rounds yet, I just haven't been able to get to the range this week.  But I hope to make it late next week.  Not sure what I'll do with the Trail Boss yet, but I figure it would come in handy at some point.  .32 LC cases from my rolling block mic .3165" - .317" at the base and mouth.  I guess the chamber is a little out of round.  Its the same at base and mouth, but varies a tad depending on where in the circumference I measure.  I would think a die size of .315" would be fine.  The Starline .32 S&W brass was $20 for 50 cases, so it's cheap enough to play with.  It will be interesting to try your die with them.  I also placed an order with Midway and included a .309" and a .314" Lee push through sizer.  At under $20, they seem a bargain.  I just hope they are actually the size indicated.

[Adirondacker]

The shows here have no segregation, its a jumble.  I wish it was.  I haven't been to a gun show elsewere in many years, but I'd like to think that places like Texas, Wyoming or Montana would have less black guns and camo uunderwear than this part of the country, but that may just be fanciful thinking 

Fanciful thinking?  It absolutely is.  You've also got the advantage of being not far from the Baltimore show (if you don't mind waiting an hour in line to get in), unsurpassed except by the fat-cat Vegas show.

[ndnchf]

Having the Baltimore show is a big plus, so are the Civil War shows that also bring out a lot of BPCR related stuff.

Dusty - FYI, I have a box of Remington .32 LC ammo, probably from the 1960s.  I measured a couple of them as well.  I they run .316" - .3165" at the base to .3145" - .315" at the mouth.  So there is a slight taper.

[dusty texian]

ndnchf" the measurment's on the 1960's vintage ammo ,are real close to the measurement's I am getting on some early cartridges I have and a couple of box of old stock never fired cases.The fired cases from my 1892 Marlin measure .319"to .320" just above the rim ,and at the neck. This measurment was taken on cases that have been fired 5 to 6 times without resizing.        w44wcf could you give us the measurment's from a fired case in your .32 long colt? Would like to compare.I am wondering if (my) chamber is cut a little larger than standard?,,,,Dusty

[ndnchf]

Dusty - interesting that your chamber is a little larger than mine. I find that when reloading my fired, unsized cases, Jack's bullet is a hand slip fit into the case. The case walls of my LC brass is .009" thick at the mouth. .009" x 2 is .018.  Subtracting .018" from .316" results in .298", which is the size of the heel of Jack's bullets. Not tight, but not loose either.  But I've been using the loctite to lock the bullets in place. I would imagine the same bullets in your fired cases would be a bit looser and they would really need to be resized to get a good grip on the bullet.

[dusty texian]

ndnchf" what I should have said is ( without full lenth resizing the case). The bullet heel will just start into the as fired case. I am using the Ideal reloading tong tool,and am lucky that when or during the bullet seating process ,the tong tool gives the case a light crimp. So the case does have a good grip on the .299/.298 heel ,and does size the case down at the neck after bullet is seated. I have to say this makes for some easy reloading for the .32 LC ,using the I deal tong tool. That thing is better than sliced bread.I will ream your resizing die to .315" .If that is what you need for your chamber. I will ream the  sizing die for my rifle to .316.I have my chamber reamer ground to .318 for my Rolling Block bench gun. ,,,,,Dusty

[ndnchf]

That sounds great Dusty - I'm much obliged.

[dusty texian]

ndnchf" the case wall  thickness on the .32 S&W formed to .32 lc that I am using are .012" thick  per side at the neck. Compared to the .007"/.008"  of the .32 lc factory Winchester cases. Think I should be able to shoot these cases quite a few time's  I hope ,,,,,Dusty

[ndnchf]

Dusty - I just measured the .32 S&W long starline brasss I bought and it is .012" thick at the mouth also.  I also measured the fairly new production Winchester .32 short colt brass. It is .012" thick at the mouth also.  With these short cases, I need to use the .32 S&W short seater die to put the bullet in.  The heel is a tight fit.  So the same may be true for the long cases converted from S&W. I would expect these cases to last a long time with reasonable care. 

[Chev. William]

Dusty and nd,
I am sure you are aware to measure fired cases before resizing to make sure they actually need resizing.

It has been reported that others fime that as fired cases still fit and will hold a Heeled bullet sufficiently to run through a lever action and chamber.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[ndnchf]

Yes, I don't want to resize unnecessarily. I haven't been resizing yet because I don't have a way to do it.  But haven't really needed to thanks to the use of the loctite crimp discussed previously.  The dies Dusty is making will be initially used to reform the .32 S&W long brass to .32 long colt. With the new brass being thicker at the mouth, I may not need to resize, or maybe just the neck. Time and testing will tell.

[w44wcf]

Dusty,
Fired cases from my gun measure .320". Chamber is .321" diameter.

Here's the SAMMI specs for the .32 LC
Note the tolerances on cartridge and chamber specifications....




w44wcf

[ndnchf]

w44wcf - That's very interesting, thanks for posting it.  I've been assuming that the .32LC and the .32 long rimfire were the same chamber dimensions, but now I qestion that.  My #4 RRB converted from rimfire to centerfire seems to have a tighter chamber, maybe .317"- .318".  I don't suppose there is such a thing as a SAMMI spec for .32 long rimfire is there? 

Looking at the .32 S&W long brass mouth thickness (.012-.013"), I may have a problem after swaging it to .32 LC size.  The case mouth may be too small for the .298" bullet heel.  If I use a .315" die to swage the case, subtracting the case thickness on both sides, say .025" total, that will leave the case mouth at .290".  Pretty tough to squeeze a .298 heel into that.  I may have to ream the case mouths a little.  The original Remington .32 LC brass I'm using has a case mouth thickness of .008" which works fine. 

Dusty - maybe it would be better to ream my die to .316" to give a little more room.   

[dusty texian]

w44wcf, Thank's for posting this information. Fired caes from my chamber show that the  1892 Marlin chamber must be very close to spec.I like to size the cases down at the neck only enough to hold the bullet heel tight, when need. The last few group's of test load's for the .32 LC. have not been sized down at all, (note have been using the reformed .32 S&W LONG case, whith the .012 thick wall). When reloading a as fired case,I can hand start a 299153 bullet heel into the case mouth enough to hold the bullet while it is started into the Ideal tong tool. When all of the heel is seated the case recieves a light crimp,from the Ideal tong tool. I have found this simple tool to be just the best for me in assembling ammo for the .32 LC. The bullet's are seated very straight ,and have a firm grip on the bullet heel and case fit. Accuracy has been very good also.And case blow-by has been to a minimum,even with the light load's. One more reason I do not like to size down more than need .                  ndnchf" I have sized the thick wall converted case's down to a .295 ID. at case neck and loaded 299153 bullet's with a heel of about .299,Had to use an expander tool on the beginning of the case mouth ,but the bullet's seated ok and shot very good groups.I assume that the tight squeeze did not deform the bullet heel.At least it did not show on the target. .316  for the final sizer. Will send one @.321 also as a primary sizer . Think with good lube and a clean-up around the base after final sizieng ,these dies should make good case's. Should have these in the mail by the end of this wk. ,,,,,,Dusty

[ndnchf]

Dusty - I appreciate all you are doing to further this project.  As tight as my chamber is, I may end up swaging the .32 S&W cases, then fire forming them and loading as is. That may give me a nice tight neck to hold the bullet.  But I'll just have to see how it works out.  Do you think the .32 S&W should be annealed before swaging down?

[dusty texian]

ndnchf" I think we are going to end up with excess brass at case head area.  One side of the die has a slight bevel and the other is left straight shoulder and sharp edge. My thought is that we can use the bevel side as a starter and reverse the die to use the other side to finish the bottom section of the case.I think this will work with a good case forming lube. I have read that this process may push a roll of brass into the relief cut above the rim.This can be cleaned off afterward. But annealing may be necessary. We will soon find out. ,,,,,,,Dusty

[ndnchf]

Dusty - you have it well thought out, it should work as you state. Looking forward to your report.