Leading on .314 .32 ACP LSWC Bullets

I'm getting a lot of leading in my Pardini SPBE .32 ACP barrel from the T&B .314 LSWC bullets.  After an hour of soaking it in Ballistol and running cotton patches through it's still not all out.  Others may have success with this combination but count me out.

Bummer. I'm not seeing much leading at all on mine after putting 200 rounds through (1.7 g VV N310). Since you mentioned it I just ran a brush w/ Ed's Red through & the bore is now totally clean.

bking wrote:Bummer. I'm not seeing much leading at all on mine after putting 200 rounds through (1.7 g VV N310). Since you mentioned it I just ran a brush w/ Ed's Red through & the bore is now totally clean.

Hmmm...  wonder why the difference?  My total round count is probably closer to a 100.  Are you using the same T&B bullets?  How old is your Pardini?

beeser wrote:Hmmm...  wonder why the difference?  My total round count is probably closer to a 100.  Are you using the same T&B bullets?  How old is your Pardini?

I'm using T&B bullets. I've been shooting the Pardini for a couple of years, but the .32 conversion is brand new. These were the first 200 rounds through it.

bking wrote:

beeser wrote:Hmmm...  wonder why the difference?  My total round count is probably closer to a 100.  Are you using the same T&B bullets?  How old is your Pardini?

I'm using T&B bullets. I've been shooting the Pardini for a couple of years, but the .32 conversion is brand new. These were the first 200 rounds through it.

I don't know how to explain the difference in results.  I loaded 10 ea. using 1.7 & 1.8 of N310, about 20 using 1.6 of W231 and about 10 ea. using 1.4 & 1.5 of Tightgroup.  The only other bullets used were the Hornady XTP 60 using 1.8 of N310.  The size of the T&B bullet still doesn't make sense to me so I'll postpone using them again until they're resized to something that can chamber correctly.  BTW, I'm still pushing chunks of lead out of the barrel.

Beeser,

Stop and check what is causing your bullets to get swaged smaller than 0.314". You might not be expanding the cases enough and squeezing the lead bullet when it is loaded. You might be over crimping the case. Take a loaded round and pull the bullet and measure it. If it is under .314 fix what is causing it. Do not worry that the bullet touches the lands and grooves and if you remove a loaded round from the barrel you will see some marks from the barrel on the bullet this is normal for this gun. If you try to shoot a bullet under 0.314" through this gun you will get leading in short order. There is nothing wrong with the T&B bullet you should be able to shoot thousands of these with out leading.

Thanks for the response pistol champ!  Your comments prompted me to look a little deeper into my problem.  Here's something that I found that might explain the root of it.

.32 ACP is a different cartridge to load for a couple reasons.

European 7.65mm Browning/.32 ACP uses .308" or .309" bullets and thicker walled brass to produce the final cartridge dimensions.

American .32 ACP use a .311" or .312" bullet in thinner brass to keep the final dimensions under the SAAMI dimensional specification.

The end result is that there is a lot of variation in both bullet diameter and case wall thickness and the combination of a thick walled cases and a .311" or .312" bullet will result in a round that will not chamber in a snug .32 ACP chamber.

Just so happens the cases that I'm using were made by Fiocchi (rebranded as S&W) and have an ID of .306" consistent with using the smaller European bullets mentioned above.

If you haven't already done it, it may prove useful to slug your barrel so that you know what actual bore diameter you are dealing with.

Beeser,

Once you get your load finalized you are going to like this gun/cartridge combination. It is very accurate and reliable. I've shot over 2,000 rounds between matches, league, and practice with out a malfunction and my barrel has no signs of lead in it. All shooting is with a similar lead bullet to the T&B.