Reloading 32 S&W Long

Reloading 32 S&W Long on a Dillon press. I bought the dies but do I need to get a smaller powder bar?  Anything else I need to buy to convert my equipment over? TIA

Micrometer powder bar so you can record the position for the load/powder,
GEMINI-20 Portable Precision Digital Milligram Scale,
Lee carbide sizing/crimp die,
UFO light,
Chronograph, my loads run 700-750fps
Notebook, spreadsheet,
Lots of patience.

Greetings,

Impressive target!

What pistol?

Factory or Custom barrel?

Sand Bags or Random Rest?

What velocity does the 2.1 TrueBlue produce?

I cannot find any published load data via the Web.

Cheers,

Dave

Hi, it's actually one of your barrels. I bought it used last year.
GSP-C from a Ransom rest.
2.1gr True Blue gave me 690fps with a std dev of 9
Originally, I bought it to load 9mm, but it burned so clean, I started to work up a load for the 32.
Problem is, it's not cheap.

I get the similar results with 98gr Speer or Lapua and 1.4gr WST 690fps dev 12.

I can get respectable groups with the factory barrel, but the faster twist stabilizes better.
My setup.

toddcfii wrote:Reloading 32 S&W Long on a Dillon press. I bought the dies but do I need to get a smaller powder bar?  Anything else I need to buy to convert my equipment over? TIA

The arrendondo micrometer bar is the way to go for these small charges. I have a lightly used on for a dillion 550 for sale as I went to a 750 and the gradations are now on the wrong side.

I've found both good and bad information on the internet, and especially on YouTube, but I think it would be worth your while to look at this video:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arz_AM8K8B8  

The results I have gotten with the Dillon small bar and re-swaged Speer at 25 yards from a rest have been all in the black, which is as good as I get with factory.  

I also bought the Arredondo bar, and will likely eventually try it also.  

Getting the .32 S&W-L to work on the Dillon machine has been a long series of frustrations, including the primer pockets on Lapua brass being too tight for most US primers, and the only US primers that inserted on the Dillon failed with a big crack through the firing pin indent on firing.  I am going to have to ream all the Lapua pockets

If you read a lot of the old posts on the .32 S&W-L, you'll see mention of other equipment you might want, such as the PhotoEscape powder funnels: https://www.photoescapeinc.com/products/powder-funnel32.html    
Lee also used to make oversize full length sizers, and you would do well to inquire if they have resumed making them.  The thinking behind both pieces of equipment seems to be to have the inside of the case the same diameter as the bullet, down to the base of the bullet, and this might be achieved by the case just being that ID after firing (unlikely in my experience), or after full length sizing, or after expanding with a PhotoEscape Funnel/M-die/other.  

I am pleased to see a positive review of the Bear Creek HBWC above.  I bought a bunch, but have not shot any.

Hello,

I have purchased the extra small Dillon bar, and it dispensed powder very well as I recall. I'm not sure that I have enough measurements from it to indicate that it has a wider variance than my Star press in 32; which I also don't have enough measurements to characterize. At the moment, I'd be happy with either one in the powder measure department since I don't have enough data to say one is better than another.

That said, I think the reason many, including our beloved Dave W. here, recommend and use the Star is because it is proven to work with very minor, if any, adjustments. It's why I bought one, anyway. The Star has the advantage of sizing everything just right out of the box; with a Dillon, you are at the mercy of your die manufacturers and the dimensions they use. I wasn't able to successfully get Lee to make a custom die, but it has been a very weird 2 years, so maybe I called the wrong person on the wrong day.

I'd prefer to load on the Dillon. Maybe I'm used to their presses, but it seems to me that they are laid out better- ergonomically speaking. Having to look around to seat a bullet on the Star is sub-optimal from my point of view.

Maybe there is a use case for the Arrendondo bar- I've never used one; but, it would be neat to try one out and see what the powder measurements revealed. The extra small Dillon bar was able to throw N310 without any fuss or mess, while my Star can leak a little N310. I did pick up a Unique-tek micrometer head for the extra small bar simply for the ease of adjusting back to some other powder or some other powder weight in the same powder lot.

All that to say, I'd try the extra small bar. I think you'll be surprised.

I will point out that Starline 32 brass does not like the wadcutter. They put a radius where the projectile seats and it bulges. No amount of resizing will fix it. Fiocchi or Lapua brass is headache free.
Micrometer head will throw as low as .7gr of N310.

Fezzik68 wrote:I will point out that Starline 32 brass does not like the wadcutter. They put a radius where the projectile seats and it bulges. No amount of resizing will fix it. Fiocchi or Lapua brass is headache free.
Micrometer head will throw as low as .7gr of N310.

To expand a bit starling brass does not like 98 gr hollow base wadcutters. 88 gr solid bases have no issues

Actually the Redding sizing die does pretty much get the Starline brass OK. Starline brass (and this is true for the 38SP as well) is tapered internally so the HBWC may well get squeezed by that.
I've settled on the Dillon extra small bar with the micrometer - that gives me the most consistent drops. Actually slightly better than the Arrendondo. I think my preferred load is going to be 1.5g N310 - but I'm still learning this cartridge and its issues. Despite's Dave's generous assistance I still can't get good groups out of it with reloads.

While we are on the topic of 32 SWL reloading on the Dillon -  has anyone had issues with primer seating with the 550B using shell plate labeled "D"?  

When I go to prime the cases (on up stroke) the shell plate appears to excessively flex and the case gets cocked significantly from vertical causing the primers to be inconsistently seated and dented and borders on unsafe.  I've got it tightened down to point of significant drag.

My fix has been to use the primer arm of my single stage press with a Lee shell holder.  No problems there with both Fiocchi and Lapua going in just fine with WSPs but more time consuming of course.  Maybe I got lucky with the Lapua pockets as I didn't have any undersized. Perhaps differences in lots.

I've contacted Dillon support and we've gone back and forth but to me it seems the shell plate "U" cut out is a touch too big to me.  The case seems to fit better in 223 Rem shell plate and thinking of trying that.

With regard to powder throws the precision I'm getting with consecutive throws is good (<=0.1 over 10 1.7 gt summed charges) with the Dillon extra small bar fitted with the UT micrometer bar and BE powder.  That seems generally consistent with what the tester on Youtube and other posters here found.

NuJudge wrote:I've found both good and bad information on the internet, and especially on YouTube, but I think it would be worth your while to look at this video:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arz_AM8K8B8  

The results I have gotten with the Dillon small bar and re-swaged Speer at 25 yards from a rest have been all in the black, which is as good as I get with factory.  

I also bought the Arredondo bar, and will likely eventually try it also.  

Getting the .32 S&W-L to work on the Dillon machine has been a long series of frustrations, including the primer pockets on Lapua brass being too tight for most US primers, and the only US primers that inserted on the Dillon failed with a big crack through the firing pin indent on firing.  I am going to have to ream all the Lapua pockets

If you read a lot of the old posts on the .32 S&W-L, you'll see mention of other equipment you might want, such as the PhotoEscape powder funnels: https://www.photoescapeinc.com/products/powder-funnel32.html    
Lee also used to make oversize full length sizers, and you would do well to inquire if they have resumed making them.  The thinking behind both pieces of equipment seems to be to have the inside of the case the same diameter as the bullet, down to the base of the bullet, and this might be achieved by the case just being that ID after firing (unlikely in my experience), or after full length sizing, or after expanding with a PhotoEscape Funnel/M-die/other.  

I am pleased to see a positive review of the Bear Creek HBWC above.  I bought a bunch, but have not shot any.

I'm surprised to see you are having issues with small primer pockets on Lapua brass. Perhaps a bad batch? I'm not familiar with the different brands of primers available in the US but here in Canada I use Sellier & Bellot, Federal and CCI without issue in Lapua .32 S&W brass.

NuJudge wrote:I've found both good and bad information on the internet, and especially on YouTube, but I think it would be worth your while to look at this video:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arz_AM8K8B8  

The results I have gotten with the Dillon small bar and re-swaged Speer at 25 yards from a rest have been all in the black, which is as good as I get with factory.  

I also bought the Arredondo bar, and will likely eventually try it also.  

Getting the .32 S&W-L to work on the Dillon machine has been a long series of frustrations, including the primer pockets on Lapua brass being too tight for most US primers, and the only US primers that inserted on the Dillon failed with a big crack through the firing pin indent on firing.  I am going to have to ream all the Lapua pockets

If you read a lot of the old posts on the .32 S&W-L, you'll see mention of other equipment you might want, such as the PhotoEscape powder funnels: https://www.photoescapeinc.com/products/powder-funnel32.html    
Lee also used to make oversize full length sizers, and you would do well to inquire if they have resumed making them.  The thinking behind both pieces of equipment seems to be to have the inside of the case the same diameter as the bullet, down to the base of the bullet, and this might be achieved by the case just being that ID after firing (unlikely in my experience), or after full length sizing, or after expanding with a PhotoEscape Funnel/M-die/other.  

I am pleased to see a positive review of the Bear Creek HBWC above.  I bought a bunch, but have not shot any.

Which Dillon machine are you using?   My opinion of the various machines is not interchangeable.    I have had zero issues loading small primers (three different brands so far) into Lapua 32S&W long brass, which is all I use.    However my machine is a Dillon 1050, and in my opinion, other than the inability to see if there is a primer in the primer cup,  this and the 1100 are the systems which are least likely to have any kind of priming related issue.   

I struggled with the 550 due to my inability to get it set up to be as stable, level and precise as a 1050/1100. Way too much play in the priming system.  The square deal, which I have, is the same, if not a bit worse.   
I have no experience with the 650 line of machines, except to hear a number of my friends cussing the priming system, which was poorly designed to begin with.

Thanks for all the replies. I have a 550 and square deal b. I have the 550 set up for 45ACP and would like to leave it that way. So I bought dies for the sdb. Looks like I will for sure need the Dillon extra small powder bar. A micrometer would have been nice but I guess the gradations would have been on the bottom so no good for the sdb. I have Lapua and Federal brass. My factory Federal loads have been all in the 9 ring almost 10 at 50 yards from a bag rest. So would love to reproduce that round. The Federal rounds are more snappy than the 83 gr and 98 gr Lapua I have tried. But much better accuracy.

toddcfii wrote:Thanks for all the replies. I have a 550 and square deal b. I have the 550 set up for 45ACP and would like to leave it that way. So I bought dies for the sdb. Looks like I will for sure need the Dillon extra small powder bar. A micrometer would have been nice but I guess the gradations would have been on the bottom so no good for the sdb. I have Lapua and Federal brass. My factory Federal loads have been all in the 9 ring almost 10 at 50 yards from a bag rest. So would love to reproduce that round. The Federal rounds are more snappy than the 83 gr and 98 gr Lapua I have tried. But much better accuracy.

Be careful with those factory federal loads.   There are a bit snappy, and two of my friends have experienced broken parts or barrel damage with shooting too many of them.  I would use them only at the long line, unless or until you can get as good of accuracy with a less peppy reload.

Schaumannk wrote:

toddcfii wrote:Thanks for all the replies. I have a 550 and square deal b. I have the 550 set up for 45ACP and would like to leave it that way. So I bought dies for the sdb. Looks like I will for sure need the Dillon extra small powder bar. A micrometer would have been nice but I guess the gradations would have been on the bottom so no good for the sdb. I have Lapua and Federal brass. My factory Federal loads have been all in the 9 ring almost 10 at 50 yards from a bag rest. So would love to reproduce that round. The Federal rounds are more snappy than the 83 gr and 98 gr Lapua I have tried. But much better accuracy.

Be careful with those factory federal loads.   There are a bit snappy, and two of my friends have experienced broken parts or barrel damage with shooting too many of them.  I would use them only at the long line, unless or until you can get as good of accuracy with a less peppy reload.

Good to know. I would certainly believe broken parts as factories may have set 32s up for Lapua type loads but barrel damage? That seems odd and unlikely to me. Do you mean like shot out barrels?  Seems impossible with a low power load like a 32 even if loaded to double or more SAMI specs. Can you elaborate on the damage your friends saw?  And on what guns?

toddcfii wrote:

Schaumannk wrote:

toddcfii wrote:Thanks for all the replies. I have a 550 and square deal b. I have the 550 set up for 45ACP and would like to leave it that way. So I bought dies for the sdb. Looks like I will for sure need the Dillon extra small powder bar. A micrometer would have been nice but I guess the gradations would have been on the bottom so no good for the sdb. I have Lapua and Federal brass. My factory Federal loads have been all in the 9 ring almost 10 at 50 yards from a bag rest. So would love to reproduce that round. The Federal rounds are more snappy than the 83 gr and 98 gr Lapua I have tried. But much better accuracy.

Be careful with those factory federal loads.   There are a bit snappy, and two of my friends have experienced broken parts or barrel damage with shooting too many of them.  I would use them only at the long line, unless or until you can get as good of accuracy with a less peppy reload.

Good to know. I would certainly believe broken parts as factories may have set 32s up for Lapua type loads but barrel damage? That seems odd and unlikely to me. Do you mean like shot out barrels?  Seems impossible with a low power load like a 32 even if loaded to double or more SAMI specs. Can you elaborate on the damage your friends saw?  And on what guns?

If I recall it was some sort of peening near the muzzle end.   Older style Pardini I believe with a Dave Wilson barrel.  I didn’t see it, was just intending to what she was saying at Atterbury. 
The other gun, new style Pardini, I think the extractor broke on the line, and he said Pardini warned him about hot loads.

I recently hesitated quite a bit on purchasing a used GSP Expert in .32 since I read about how hard it is to reload, so thanks everyone for all this info

IMHO, the GSP-C is a great shooter amd puts a smile on my face every time. You would benefit if you already reload, it's not difficult, just meticulous. Accuracy is not an issue at 50' and 25 yds...you will need some discipline to work at 50 yds.
I'm glad I put the time in to figure out the nuances of the .32 S&W loads. Lovingly referred to as the 'Fat .22'.

Thanks! ('Fat .22' lol) I'm one that enjoys challenges, so I jumped right in. My neighbor may sell me a press already set up for .32 wc, so that would give me a leg up. Previously I've only reloaded .38wc/swc and .45acp, but it's been years and I only started target shooting again recently.