.32 Long Colt ,Need Help

[ndnchf]

Finding a tong tool for that .58 would be a supprise,but you just never know. One may show up. Just the other day I saw a tong tool for .44 Evans ,now how rare is that one? ,,,,,,Dusty

I doubt I'll find a tong tool in .58 Roberts, its just too wide for a standard tong too.  But surprisingly, CH4D lists the .58 Roberts as an available caliber for their dies.  But they are pricey.  I saw that .44 Evans tong tool also.  A rare bird indeed.  Many years ago I had a small collection of Evans rifles; one transitional carbine, one new model carbine and a new model rifle.  I had custom dies made by Huntington and Richard Hoch made a custom mold from an original bullet.  I shot the NM carbine quite a bit and it was surprisingly accurate considering the undersized bullet it used.  Lots of fun. 

[Chev. William]

Finding a tong tool for that .58 would be a supprise,but you just never know. One may show up. Just the other day I saw a tong tool for .44 Evans ,now how rare is that one? Chev, have you ever ran across .32 LC dies for the 310. I have a 310 tong with .45 LC die's. This Winter after all the hunting I may get on the lathe and make me a set in .32 LC for my 310. That would be handy ,,,,,,Dusty

Dusty,
I do not know as I have not checked with him.
Here is his Email address: " The310Shop@verizon.net ".

and his name, address and telephone number:
"
Rick Morrill
4237 Boxwood Drive
Denton, Texas 76208
940-271-1222"

And his product list statement:
"IDEAL, LYMAN IDEAL & LYMAN 310 RELOADING HAND TOOLS"

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[dusty texian]

Thank's Chev. Have to give him a Holler. He is only a couple hr. down the rd.,,,,,,Dusty

[Chev. William]

Dusty,
I do not know as I have not checked with him.
Here is his Email address: " The310Shop@verizon.net ".

and his name, address and telephone number:
"
Rick Morrill
4237 Boxwood Drive
Denton, Texas 76208
940-271-1222"

And his product list statement:
"IDEAL, LYMAN IDEAL & LYMAN 310 RELOADING HAND TOOLS"

Best Regards,
Chev. William

Dusty,
Your question got me going and I called Mr. Morrill:
He says yes, he can make 310 tool dies for the .32 Long Colt, and would like a fired case and the bullet dimensions to match the dies to your rifle.  He said a set of the five dies, including the shell guide, would cost $100.00 plus $6.00 shipping.
I hope this information helps,
Best regards,
Chev. William

[dusty texian]

Hey Chev. That sound's like a fair enough deal. Thank's for the info.,,,,,,Dusty

[ndnchf]

I received the .32 LC/SC collet crimp die from Old West Bullet Molds today.  What a slick little tool.  It took me just a few minutes to adjust the shell holder to my .775" case length.  I had some rounds already loaded using the Loctite chemical crimp.  I ran one up, adjusted the crimp slightly and Wa-la – nicely crimped bullets!  This thing works great.

Here is a round on the adjustable shell holder ready to run up.



Here it is fully in the die and crimped:



Here is an uncrimped round on the left and a crimped round on the right.  The background makes it hard to see the crimped
case mouth, but it is snuggly crimped.



I highly recommend this for any one serious about loading and shooting .32 Colt.

[dusty texian]

ndnchf, that is one slick little tool. I can see the crimp on the right cartridge at the case neck. Very Kool,,,,,Dusty

[Chev. William]

Very nice crimp (the 'right side is just visible because of the 'shadow' of the case makes the contour easier to see.
It also looks like you have had some shooting fun with the cases.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[ndnchf]

I think it is well worth the price.  It is fully adjustable and simple to use.  Those are Remington factory .32 LC cases and are what I've been shooting since I started this adventure.  I'm still waiting on the reamer from Forster to use on the converted .32 S&W cases. 

I was so impressed with Bernie's crimping tool that I sent him an email last night asking if he could make one in .50 caliber.  I shoot a .50-70 trapdoor and a .56-50 Spencer infantry rifle.  These are both originals with rather loose chambers.  I make the .56-50 cases from shortened .50-70.  Because of the loose chambers, the brass gets worked a lot during resizing. So I asked if he could make a crimper with an adjustable shell holder that would work for both of these cartridges.   I'll let ya'll know what he says.

[Chev. William]

Today I looked on Gun Broker and there is an  Auction # 371703597 for some .32 Long Colt loaded rounds.  Current price listed as $65.00 for 38 of the rounds.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[ndnchf]

Today I looked on Gun Broker and there is an  Auction # 371703597 for some .32 Long Colt loaded rounds.  Current price listed as $65.00 for 38 of the rounds.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

A month or so ago I would have considered it.  But I'm now on the verge of being self sufficient and will try to stay that way.  But thanks for sharing.

[Chev. William]

Saturday, October 26th, I helped the owner of Hollywood Engineering pack up about a four by four foot section of the charred shelving held Die Inventory that are to be cleaned in my Vibratory Tumbler over the next few days.  There are about 30 feet of such shelving units standing about 8 feet high loaded with inventory, tooling, fixtures and jigs, reamers, drills, etc. that need to be removed and cleaned before determining what can be saved for the future.

Saturday evening I received a 'After Hours Work Call' to fill an emergency request for an Electrician to run a Portable Generator Plant on a movie production that already started shooting on location.  So I got about 8,9 hours of work Saturday night and sunday morning, a Very Good Thing for me.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

Sunday, October 27th, the first batch of dies to be cleaned has run through my tumbler and I used a Bore brush in a Portable drill to clean the internal threads, then a Bore brush on a cleaning rod to clear the remainders from the 'sizing' bores.  these look like they will be acceptable for sale after wire brushing the exterior to remove the last of the grime from the knurled areas.
I had to buy new Tumbler media as my present media is Charcoal Black and is just moving the dirt around on the parts (it started out dark tan Crushed Walnut shells).  So far I have used 12 pounds of media in the cleaning processes. It is cleaning the smoke and most of the rust off everything I have loaded into the tumbler.  The 'Blue' finish the fire heat left on the oiled clamp nuts is a pretty nice touch.  Some of the Dies and shell holders were Chrome plated before the fire and are coming out shiny Chrome again after cleaning.  I have already taken back about five Trays of cleaned cleaned items, now have about ten more to do this week.

The Work night "only' went until about 0525PDT this morning due to the Fog halting filming, so I will have around 8.9 hours of paid work time in the pay check next week.  It was A Good Evening for me.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Sunday Die cleaning turned in to Monday then Tuesday and I still only have two trays 'mostly' cleaned.  It has taken 14 lbs of Crushed Walnut shell media so far to clean all the items I have done to date.  It is truly amazing how the Brown Walnut shells turn Grey-black so quickly, and the dies cannot be run in 'large' batches as they 'overload' my Frankford Vibratory Tumbler as it is intended for Brass Cartridges not Steel drilled bars, Big difference in weight each.

While waiting for the dies to get clean, I am trying local reforming of Starline .32 S&W Long Brass.  So far I lost 5 out of the first 50 attempts and they are only about 85 percent formed.

Oh Well, it is a learning situation.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Chev.   When I am trying something new, I do it one case at a time.  That is ALL steps!   When I have a satisfactory result I try a small batch to make a trial lot for the first range test.  Only when I know I can get good results repeatedly do I go into "mass" production.

[w44wcf]

Guys, great information and pics.  Thank you for sharing.

Thought I would add this information on the .32 caliber cartridges from the 1896 UMC catalog. There sure were a number of .32 cartridges back then!

Note the 32 Long Rifle cartridge. Interestingly, its bullet weight is a little different than the
.32 Long Colt's.




w44wcf

[w44wcf]

Some interesting information from a magazine article.

Firearm used was a '92 Marlin.




w44wcf

[w44wcf]

Finally had a chance to test the Accurate 31-090S @ 50 yards a couple of days ago.  The weather was pretty good although a touch windy.  Considering the less than good condition of my rifle's bore, I was very pleased with the results.  ;
Happy, Happy, Happy ....

If any of you .32 LC enthusiasts would like to try some, send me a pm and I'll send you a couple dozen (unlubed) the next time I make a batch.  

Now to try some different powder recipies..........

I'm going to have to shim the tang sight a tad to center the group up.



l to r  299153 / Accurate 31-090S / Accurate 31-090A



w44wcf

[ndnchf]

Considering the less than good condition of my rifle's bore, I was very pleased with the results.  ;
Happy, Happy, Happy ....

w44wcf

Wow -  that is great for 50 yards, first time out.  I think you have a winner

[Adirondacker]

Wow -  that is great for 50 yards, first time out.  I think you have a winner

Absolutely.  Compare these roughly 2MOA results with the Handloader results at only 10 yards; the Marlin used in the latter test must have been a smoothbore.

[Adirondacker]

Note the 32 Long Rifle cartridge. Interestingly, its bullet weight is a little different than the
.32 Long Colt's.[/size]

w44wcf

Looks like maybe this cartridge is somewhat analogous to modern super HV .22 LRs, which all have lighter bullets to increase velocity without raising chamber pressure.