Pardini .32 ACP long line...not good.

I tried a few factory loads and my own with T&B 60 gr SWC and the results are not good. I'm inclined to just shoot the .32 indoors as the T&B loads punches out the 10 ring at 50 ft. Barrel and chamber cleaned and 5 fouling shots before the 5 on target. Side notes: My 58 year old Colt .38 wadcutter grouped nicely within the 10 ring and the Pardini easily held Xring with the .22 barrel back on. Thoughts?

What velocity are you getting with your reloads? 1.5 WST seems a little light. 

Is this the first time you’ve tested the gun, or has it gotten worse somehow?

Personally, I wouldn’t make a serious decision about a gun’s accuracy based on a sandbag test, but that’s just me. Without getting into potential reloading issues, I would expect from Hornady JHP to group better than that.

No, sandbag.

Not the results I've seen published with the .32 ACP.  There is a ton of info over on the TargetTalk.org forum on the .32ACP loads and dies etc..
- Dave

Try some 60gr XTP's with 2.1 Bullseye.  I personally use 2.3gr Titegroup with that bullet at 50 and it holds near x-ring.  

The 60 T&B or 64gr coated T&B are good with 1.8 N310 in my gun, but not quite as good at 50 as the XTP's.

I get some flyers with factory Hornady, as have you.

gregbenner wrote:What velocity are you getting with your reloads? 1.5 WST seems a little light. 

Is this the first time you’ve tested the gun, or has it gotten worse somehow?

Personally, I wouldn’t make a serious decision about a gun’s accuracy based on a sandbag test, but that’s just me. Without getting into potential reloading issues, I would expect from Hornady JHP to group better than that.

That's 1.5 N 310. Seems like I'm underequiped to tackle .32 ACP. No chronometer, no ransom rest.

Sandbags work fine, just be careful about what contacts the bench

You can do it with sandbags; even more so if you can stick a low power (4-6x) scope on it for testing.

I shot a 867 with my Pardini 32 ACP at Camp Perry a couple of weeks ago so I think you just haven’t stumbled on the right combo yet! I swear to god I have tried every imaginable combo and I can’t make those coated 64 grain Bullets fly but the 60 grain XTP’s are X’s I had 35 of them out of 90! 
Just like what Alex told me shoots the best really does! 
60XTP
1.8 grn of N310
.894 OAL
That’s it!

James Hensler wrote:I shot a 867 with my Pardini 32 ACP at Camp Perry a couple of weeks ago so I think you just haven’t stumbled on the right combo yet! I swear to god I have tried every imaginable combo and I can’t make those coated 64 grain Bullets fly but the 60 grain XTP’s are X’s I had 35 of them out of 90! 
Just like what Alex told me shoots the best really does! 
60XTP
1.8 grn of N310
.894 OAL
That’s it!

Great info, thank you. Are you using the expander from Photo Escape? If so what size.

No I take my time when I flare the case! I flare only enough to barely let the bullet sit upright! 
When it comes to reloading this caliber I personally believe people get lost with expander and crimp and case thickness and this and that!!
I only care about a couple of things 
Flare
OAL
1.8 grains of N310
1.8 grains of N310
1.8 grains of N310
1.8 grain of N310
See where I am going with this?
For my long line I use a RCBS Trickle Charger just for the scale. I double and triple check almost everyone!!!!
1/10 of a difference is 30 feet per sec on my chrono 
When I do this my speed per sec is under 5-8 feet per sec from high to low! 
I seem to have deleted the groups from my phone or I would show you

James Hensler wrote:No I take my time when I flare the case! I flare only enough to barely let the bullet sit upright! 
When it comes to reloading this caliber I personally believe people get lost with expander and crimp and case thickness and this and that!!
I only care about a couple of things 
Flare
OAL
1.8 grains of N310
1.8 grains of N310
1.8 grains of N310
1.8 grain of N310
See where I am going with this?
For my long line I use a RCBS Trickle Charger just for the scale. I double and triple check almost everyone!!!!
1/10 of a difference is 30 feet per sec on my chrono 
When I do this my speed per sec is under 5-8 feet per sec from high to low! 
I seem to have deleted the groups from my phone or I would show you

I'm going to give it a try. Bullets ordered. Thank you very much.

Well, I had similar results with the T&B bullets, they shoot well at 25 yards but won't hold the black at 50 (and I loaded them with 1.8gr N310 as well), so I switched to the Hornady factory ammo for the long line. I also have some Hornady 60g bullets but haven't tried to load them yet. Hornady factory ammo is hot but for the slow fire who cares. Shot about 20 rounds last week offhand and most, if not all of them were on call.

I highly recommend the PhotoEscape expander.  It provides excellent consistency of bullet placement into the seating die.  I only use Hornady XTP 60gr JHP.  For those (.311") bullets, I like the .3145" expander because I use a bullet dropper.  If you are hand placing bullets, a little more slack using the .3155" expander might make finger placement a little faster.

When using the two-step expander, be careful when adjusting the depth of expansion. Like flare, just enough but not too much.

Prior to using the two-step expander, almost all of my reloading rejects for .32acp were at the seating station and due to tilted bullets. That problem is 100% relsoved with the 2-step expander instead of flare.
Glen

carykiteboarder wrote:I highly recommend the PhotoEscape expander.  It provides excellent consistency of bullet placement into the seating die.  I only use Hornady XTP 60gr JHP.  For those (.311") bullets, I like the .3145" expander because I use a bullet dropper.  If you are hand placing bullets, a little more slack using the .3155" expander might make finger placement a little faster.

When using the two-step expander, be careful when adjusting the depth of expansion. Like flare, just enough but not too much.

Prior to using the two-step expander, almost all of my reloading rejects for .32acp were at the seating station and due to tilted bullets. That problem is 100% relsoved with the 2-step expander instead of flare.
Glen

I actually just ordered the .3145 last nite. I have the one for lead already. Works great.

Don't know why some of you are having trouble with the coated 64gr T&B bullets.  The 10-ring group shown below is typical for my gun at 50yds.  It uses 1.8gr N310, but 1.6gr is almost as good, and so is 2.0gr Bullseye.  I use XTP's at the long line because they do shoot tighter, but these groups are really good enough for most of us.

Has anyone tried the PMC Bronze 60gr JHP factory ammo? Will it fit the HP magazine?

Dr.Don wrote:Don't know why some of you are having trouble with the coated 64gr T&B bullets.  The 10-ring group shown below is typical for my gun at 50yds.  It uses 1.8gr N310, but 1.6gr is almost as good, and so is 2.0gr Bullseye.  I use XTP's at the long line because they do shoot tighter, but these groups are really good enough for most of us.

R

My results as well. I use 1.6 gr of 310, I Shoot quite a bit, and I like the lighter loads, particularly in my Hammerli. In the RR holds the X ring.
The T&B coated bullets are great!

.835 wont even cycle consistently in my Pardini! I am at the range right now so I will post pics and info

James Hensler,

I use an OAL of .835 because that bullet, in my barrel, catches in the leade and a live round cannot be manually extracted if the OAL gets much longer.  For XTPs I am out around .894.

I know you are having success in competing with the 32acp, and everyone has to follow the process that works for them.  But I do not believe we need to weigh powder charges.  The proof of that to me are the outstanding barrel tester groups that fc60 keeps posting.  These are all loaded on a Star with a powder measure.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks Doc! I value other people ideas and results! I follow Dave and most of his testing is with S&W Long.
Here is some info from today

The first pic is 60 grain XTP 1.8 N310
The Second is 64 Coated 1.8 N310

Just wanted to see where the coated Bullets were at 25 yards and like always they would have held the X ring and was very happy!


Disclaimer
Open sight because my Match Dots are at Ultra Dot having the water from Canton drained out of them! Lol
From a rest but not locked in due to my grip.

Yes I know it’s a 25 yard backer but I didn’t know I was out of 50 yard backers in my box.

So yes they would have held black but not tight enough to compete with my load with XTP’s!
Travis and I have spoken at length and his willingness to help by striking them larger or smaller is customer service at its finest! I have 2000 of them to work up a load that can make the groups smaller in my pistol! I appreciate any and all help

The XTP’s and the group would be X’s if I had been using my Matchdot