Dillon powder funnel for .32ACP

First topic message reminder :

In another thread, there was discussion of using a powder funnel designed for .308 rifle to reload .32ACP.  I offered to work with the maker of that funnel and offer feedback on how it might be adapted for .32ACP.  For folks who are reloading .32ACP, this might be helpful because:

• It is a "stepped" expander which provides superior bullet placement over the simple flare of a stock Dillon "S" funnel
  
• A number of folks who reload this cartridge are using a Lyman M expander. That consumes a station and means the Dillon powder funnel is adjusted for zero flare.
  
• Others who load this cartridge do NOT use a Lyman M expander because they don't have a spare station.
  

A member of this forum sells stepped powder funnels for traditional pistol calibers.  (e.g. 9mm, .45ACP) (aka Mr. Bulletfeeder funnels).  He also sells stepped powder funnels for .308 rifle.  I volunteered to work with the maker of the rifle funnel to experiment with using it for .32ACP.  More specifically, I load Hornady 60gr XTP JHP (.311").  The maker has been asked for an update.  Hence this post.  This is a work in progress...

When you buy the funnel it comes with funnel, a "cowl" and three spacers.  One option for the funnel is a .3125" expander version. With this .3125" version of the funnel, you can get a working powder funnel that will provide two step expansion.  This requires the funnel, spacer .75" and spacer .625".  The second stage expansion (.3125") is a bit snug compared to the Lyman M expander.  The alignment of the case with the funnel tip can also be a bit finicky.

The "cowl" was designed to align rifle brass with the funnel tip. The rifle cowl won't work with pistol cases.  He has made a modification to the cowl so it will function but it still doesn't quite resolve the case and funnel tip alignment. A refinement of the funnel tip is planned.  A refinement of the cowl is planned.  These are intended to improve the alignment.

He is also making funnels with larger second step expander dimension.  We think a couple thousandths will go from snug to ideal. Again, I am only testing with .311" JHP bullets.
Glen

As AP mentioned, I've tested the .3155" funnel and it works well. I will also be testing the .3145" funnel and I have a hunch that it will be as close to "perfect" as one can get.  I'll report my results when I get it.

What I'm looking forward to testing is the cowl.  I get a few cases that "tip" slightly in the shell plate and if the nose of the funnel doesn't slip into the case, the case can get damaged.  I've never seen anything like AP's "cowl" on a pistol die and I'm enthusiastic about it's potential.

For folks anticipating the funnel for loading the Hornady XTP 60gr JHP (.311") bullets, the combination of the .750" and .625" spacers is what works.  If you lay the stack of funnel, spacer, spacer next to your stock Dillon powder funnel you'll get a pretty good idea of much you'll need to adjust your die.
Glen

carykiteboarder wrote:As AP mentioned, I've tested the .3155" funnel and it works well. I will also be testing the .3145" funnel and I have a hunch that it will be as close to "perfect" as one can get.  I'll report my results when I get it.

What I'm looking forward to testing is the cowl.  I get a few cases that "tip" slightly in the shell plate and if the nose of the funnel doesn't slip into the case, the case can get damaged.  I've never seen anything like AP's "cowl" on a pistol die and I'm enthusiastic about it's potential.

For folks anticipating the funnel for loading the Hornady XTP 60gr JHP (.311") bullets, the combination of the .750" and .625" spacers is what works.  If you lay the stack of funnel, spacer, spacer next to your stock Dillon powder funnel you'll get a pretty good idea of much you'll need to adjust your die.
Glen

Thanks Glen,

When you have time, can you take a picture of your set-up so I know what to order when it is available for my Dillon 550?  

Thanks again,

Jim

Sorry or multiple posts, - I'm not sure if I did something wrong, but I was able to post only three pictures at the time. 

To summarize, - I'm finally ready to ship.  As I'm strong believer in the saying that one picture is better than thousand words, posted pictures should give you idea of what is available.  I will post FS in Commercial Row section of this Forum with outline of pricing and payment options.

Thank you for your patience.
AP

I just received the new funnel, .3175 size.  Loading .314 T&B lead SWC in Starline brass.  With the .3165 funnel, I had some difficulty inserting the bullets in many cases, the .3175 is much better. 

I am currently sizing the brass with a +3 Lee sizing die. Tomorrow I’ll try using the standard size sizing die. Not sure if this should make any difference, but.....


Edit:  Just switched to the standard Dillon 32 sizing dies (Dillon 550), works perfect as well. No tipped bullets in stage 3 .  This die is clearly the answer to loading the T&B .314 bullets in Starline cases.Not sure if different brass would make a difference in 32 ACP.  When I load 32 S&W long, in the past, it did make a difference due to different wall thickness, particularly with cast bullets which I no longer use.  When I get some time I will try not resizing at all, just depriming.

Next, I will try the .3175 dies for loading 32 S&W Long.

Tested the .3175 funnel for 32 S&W Long.  Using my bumped Speer Plinkers ( copies,of the .314 H&N ).  Mine are.3145, loaded in Lapua brass. I previously tried the .3165 funnel, and liked it. However, as I loaded more rounds, I noticed that the variations in bullets and brass (including spring back, etc) resulted in 25-30% being a bit fiddley getting the bullet in the case.  The .3175 is much easier, bullet drops in easier, all the time. Unfortunately I don’t have have any other brands to test, e.g. Lapua hbwc, or cast bullets. Will likely be a toss up between .3165 and .3175, depending on brass as well. In any case, it makes loading the wadcutter much much easier.

I received the production expanders on Friday.  I did some quick testing and:
 
For folks reloading the Hornady XTP 60gr JHP (.311”) bullet:

• The .3145” and .3155” expanders work great.  I like the .3145" best.
  
• With a bullet feeder and the consistency of bullet placement it provides, I’d recommend the .3145” expander.  The bullet is nicely snug with almost no chance of bullet tipping when the shell plate advances.
  
• For hand bullet placement, the .3145” might be fractionally slower because getting the bullet into the pocket requires it to be aligned just right.  The .3155” pocket offers some slack. (similar to what gregbenner describes for using .3175" for .314" bullets.)
  
• For cowl adjustment, I thread the cowl all the way up the expander.  Alex recommends a tiny bit of loc-tite.
  

I haven't had a chance to do any volume reloading yet but I'm very confident in this setup.

So, to summarize what you need for .311" JHP bullets:

• The .3145” funnel/expander.  (Or, choose the .3155” expander if you want more slack.)
  
• Two spacers: .750" and .625"
  
• Cowl
  

The stack of expander and spacers is slightly shorter than the stock Dillon powder funnel so you'll have to adjust the powder measure die slightly to compensate.

carykiteboarder wrote:I received the production expanders on Friday.  I did some quick testing and:
 
For folks reloading the Hornady XTP 60gr JHP (.311”) bullet:

• The .3145” and .3155” expanders work great.  I like the .3145" best.
  
• With a bullet feeder and the consistency of bullet placement it provides, I’d recommend the .3145” expander.  The bullet is nicely snug with almost no chance of bullet tipping when the shell plate advances.
  
• For hand bullet placement, the .3145” might be fractionally slower because getting the bullet into the pocket requires it to be aligned just right.  The .3155” pocket offers some slack. (similar to what gregbenner describes for using .3175" for .314" bullets.)
  
• For cowl adjustment, I thread the cowl all the way up the expander.  Alex recommends a tiny bit of loc-tite.
  

I haven't had a chance to do any volume reloading yet but I'm very confident in this setup.

So, to summarize what you need for .311" JHP bullets:

• The .3145” funnel/expander.  (Or, choose the .3155” expander if you want more slack.)
  
• Two spacers: .750" and .625"
  
• Cowl
  

The stack of expander and spacers is slightly shorter than the stock Dillon powder funnel so you'll have to adjust the powder measure die slightly to compensate.

Received a .3155" expander today and am very pleased with how the bullets seat.  

Very nice product.

Glen just reminded me something, that I meant to post before.  If any of you interested in using Mr. Bulletfeeder for reloading of 32 CAL, I will be happy to introduce you to Rick Koskela.  I'm sure many of you know, that he is THE ORIGINAL inventor of this product.  I gave him heads up about 32 CAL funnels couple days ago, so he's aware of potential interest.  To illustrate, here is verbatim from Glen's email, I just received: "I love the final product and I’m extremely grateful for the introduction to Rick @ Mr.Bulletfeeder.  I probably have the best .32ACP reloading setup on the planet right now!"  I'm sure Glen will be happy to chime in and share details about his setup.  With that said, I feel, that mission is accomplished, and I'm on my next project, - hopefully will be able to introduce new PTU for .264 rifle projectiles, geared towards precision 6.5 Creedmoor reloading.
I greatly appreciate the help from Glen and Greg in developing and testing 32 CAL PTU.
AP

Thanks AP.  I will elaborate...
First, using a stepped expander is a huge improvement over the stock Dillon powder funnel.  It's hard to get the bullets vertical and concentric with a "flared" case.  Before the new powder funnel, I had installed an "M-Style" expander in station one.  That meant that sizing and de-priming had to be a separate process.  The new funnel gives back station one.  Further, by choosing the expander size you want for the bullet you choose, you actually get a better fit than you do with the stock "M-Style" expander.

Regarding Mr. Bulletfeeder...
For me, fat fingers and tiny bullets were troublesome.  In particular, tipped bullets into the seating die crushed cases.  Slightly tipped bullets ended up with slightly deformed cases as the bullets were twisted to vertical.  Also, there was the frustration of fishing dropped tiny bullets from inconvenient places in the press which slowed things down a lot.  So, I experimented with a Mr. Bulletfeeder "Mini" setup.
1) I bought a "Rifle" (.308) "Mini".  The "6-tube magazine" nicely holds 208 .32ACP 60gr XTP JHP.  (208 means that when you run batches of 200, there are still 8 bullets in the stack to give a good tamp.)
2) The .308 bullet dropper is made for MUCH longer bullets and I put it aside for awhile.
3) I ordered a 9mm bullet dropper.  Although it would not be case activated, it would properly drop .32ACP bullets by adjusting it for activation by the shell plate.  However, with no case, you get a stack of two bullets on the shell plate.
4) I figured out how to make an insert from a flared .32acp case that goes in the 9mm dropper.  With that, I had a fully functional system. 100% yield from the sizing die.
5) AP put me in contact with Rick Koskela regarding getting a full-blown Mr. Bulletfeeder.  Rick modified one of the rifle droppers.  He tried a modification of the existing rifle collator plate but the pistol bullets are so short that there are issues.  Rick made a whole new collator plate.  It works perfectly!

If you are reloading .32acp with a Dillon press, you should definitely get the funnel/expander and match the expander to the size of your bullet.  If you have a station for a bullet feeder, I'd recommend contacting Rick Koskela directly for a full bullet feeder. He'll need to provide you with a .32acp collator plate and a modified .308 bullet dropper.  For a Mini bullet feeder, you'll need a modified dropper.  
Finally, if you want to go it alone, I was able to modify my original .308 dropper so I can tell you how it is done.  (Cut it shorter - hack saw; ream it - case prep hand reaming tool; notch - small file).  Thus, you can order a stock .308 Rifle Mini and modify the dropper to make it work.

I have no financial interest in AP's funnels nor Mr. Bulletfeeder.  Testing for AP and tinkering with Mr. Bulletfeeder was strictly for fun. AP and Rick have each been interested, supportive and ultimately provided a new product.
Glen

I was notified that something is wrong with my contact information.  Please feel free to contact me at

apoltorak@photoescapeinc.com or a.poltorak13@gmail.com

Thank you,
AP

I received my expander (.3155) and spacers today, set up my Dillon 550B to load the Hornady 60 grain XTP's and after a few adjustments I has loading away!!!  The cowl keeps the case in the perfect position for the expander and bullet seats perfect in the case after expanding for the seating die.   

Here is my setup:



I could not be happier.   Thanks PhotoEscape for a great product!!!

Thank you,
AP

Extended use update:
After loading a couple thousand rounds with the .3145" funnel/expander I can say:
1) The "cowl" has totally eliminated funnel alignment issues.  ZERO waste.
2) The 2-step expander has resolved all bullet alignment issues in bullet seating.  ZERO waste from bulges (seating slightly tipped bullets) or cases damaged due to bullets that tip between placement and seating.

PhotoEscape's funnel is a fantastic upgrade for reloading .311" JHP .32ACP.
Glen