32acp for 1974 Walther PP

[drachenboot]

Recently I bought a 1974 Walther PP made for the Bavarian Police force and I am considering re-loading Fiocchi brass.Ammunition is rather hard to find in my area and getting more and more expensive. When I was a member of a range in SoCal I used to reload for S&W revolvers using Lee reloading dies, small (50-200) round batches. Neither my Hornady, nor Speer reloading manuals even mention these rounds(32 auto).
Is someone currently re-loading these?
I would appreciate any advise/ help i can get on this subject.

[hambam105]

.32acp fmj penetrates stuff real well so be mindful of Rule 4.

Full length resize every time. Watch out for berdan cases. Use real FMJs, no copper coated bs. Fast powder such as Bullseye or W231. Standard small pistol primer. Definitely no magnum primers.

I bought a Lee Challenger Press `$65 bucks, to specifically load for 32acp. And no resizing any cases bigger than 380acp on that particular Press.

See powder manufacture's website or 1970s reloading manuals for powder weight.

[kramynot]

I load the 32acp for an old CZ27 and Mauser pistol. Really not much different that reloading for any other handgun round other than the powder charge. Because the round is so small, you may have difficulty throwing a charge that is so small out of your powder measure. I don't have a powder trickler so I just fill up a piece of 30'06 brass with my powder and do the "manual trickler" method of just gently tapping out the charge onto my scale. Eventually I'll make a powder dipper out of a piece of 22lr brass I think but for charges this small, I like to weigh the powder for each round.

As mentioned, for loads go to the powder manufacturers websites. Both Alliant and Hogdon list loads for the 32 acp.

[kcheung2]

Western Powders also lists data using Accurate #2 and #5.

[RogueSniper]

I found the chamber on my 7.65 PP to be a bit tighter than my Beretta 3032 Tomcat.

I use Lee dies and the Lee Hand Press. Minimal case mouth expansion. Make a few dummy loads (no powder or primer) and check to see if you need to do a slight crimp by drop them in the chamber.

There's so little powder to throw, using a Progressive was a bit tough to get right. Now, I have a RCBS Chargemaster to measure my powder - so much faster than weighing on a scale. Prior to that, I would use the Lee powder dipper and mark off the correct powder weight I needed. No trickler.

I use Win W231 for loading 7.65mm. Hodgdon HP38 is similar (some say the same powder). Winchester FMJ 71gr bullets.

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol

I was checking some factory on my PP and the rounds were not seating fully in the chamber. I think the rounds were some old GECO ammo.

[tonyjr]

I kind of agree . Only FMJ .
I use hp38 for the 25 , 32 and 380 ACP's
While it took a while , I used the Lee powder -
the one with disks . Iran the disks in corn cob
to polish , then wrote caliber on each disk .
They are cheap [ the disks ]- I store in plastic bag-ee .
We really don't shoot the 32 much any more .
The 25 or 22lr [ cheapest to shoot ] or jump to 380 or
9mm .

[drachenboot]

32acp / Walther PP

thank you very much fellow shooters. That info helps a lot. I will look for the Lee dies and do a single step at a time.i am thinking of soldering up a powder dipper from an empty cartridge case , filing it to level load inside. I do have a very accurate electronic scale to test the loads it picks up.Does anybody know where to order the dies at a reasonable price?
Tomorrow my 12 year old will finish his hunter ed. course, may be we will still get one day of bird hunting in.

cheers and good night.Paul Bodo L.

[tonyjr]

1st check the Lee site .Then ebay .
A lot of times a new set is cheaper than a used
set on ebay . Include S/H .
Depending on what you want , the 4 die carbide set
is what I would get .
If you want to make a dipper - fine but Lee makes a
set of plastic dippers

[Bumslie]

Funny thing. I just bought 32 acp dies off if eBay. Arrived the other day. Now I'm looking for a 32 acp pistol.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[stranded1980]

I don’t reload for the Walther (since I don't own one), but I do for the Seecamp 32. Here’s my experience:

The Hornady 9th edition, the Lyman 49th edition, and the Lee 2nd edition all have reloading information for the 32acp. I'm willing to bet the newer editions do to, but I haven't bought those yet. I use Bullseye since I already owned a pound prior to getting the gun (a gift from my father-in-law). My Seecamp also likes Federal primers. The CCI and Remington don’t always go bang on the first trigger pull, although they will on the second. Probably not a problem with the Walther.

My needs for the Seecamp were a little different than other 32acp guns, because the Seecamp needs a shorter OAL and was designed for hollowpoints. As a necessity, I use Hornady 60 grain XTP bullets. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/18...int-box-of-100 I’ll eventually toy around with the Berry’s plated bullets, even though they’re a little longer.

I bought the Lee Carbide 3 die set when it was on sale or clearance at one of the online sites (either Midway or Brownells). My problem with the Lee combination seater/crimp die was the crimping. I couldn’t get a good taper crimp on it no matter how much I kept adjusting it. I kept getting bullet set-back when I’d cycle rounds through the Seecamp.

So, I bought the Lee Factory Crimp Die. https://leeprecision.com/carbide-fac...32-s-w-lg.html BIG MISTAKE! WASTE OF MONEY! The website says it includes the 32acp, but I didn’t read the fine print, it only applies a roll crimp. It’s designed for 32 caliber revolver cartridges. Lee said that Factory Crimp taper die for the 32acp was a special order, and would take some weeks.

So I bought the only commercially available taper crimp die only for the 32acp, made by Redding: https://www.midwayusa.com/product/64...aper-crimp-die Success! No more bullet set-back.

Since I was shooting the Seecamp so much, I set it up on my Dillon 550. Now, the cross reference page of the 550 User Manual says you can you use the same shell plate as the 30 Carbine (shell plate 8), whereas the caliber conversion chart in the same manual says to use the J shell plate. I already owned the 30 Carbine shell plate 8, so I gave it a whirl. Well, some cases fit just fine, but some I had to force into the shell plate, and they made a click sound, and they wouldn’t eject from the shell plate at station 4. I think it was Remington cases. Anyway, I found a Dillon 550 32acp caliber conversion set on gunbroker and got it for a song. With the J shell plate, all the cases fit and eject perfectly.

I also opted for an extra small powder bar for the Dillon powder measure. It’s accurate enough for my blasting rounds. I can now reload tons of 32acp relatively quickly. My only problem is picking up the casings: they fly everywhere! Either way, when it comes to hollowpoint 32acp, buying new brass and assembling myself is still a helluva lot cheaper than buying production rounds.

[Elgatodeacero]

I think Stranded1980 gave you a great response.

I load for a seecamp and a walther pp in .32 auto. The seecamp hurts to fire, and the walther is very nice and very accurate.

I like Win 231 and Power pistol.

I use hornady 60 grain bullets in both pistols.

Sometimes you will crush a case resizing as the case walls are very thin.

I like the lee micro-disc for powder, but lee no longer sells due to a factory fire that destroyed the micro disc making equipment. A similar small charge disc can be purchased from Titan reloading on the web.

I use the lee turret press with lee dies.

Do not overcharge cases with powder or you will break your gun. I use velocity readings from the walther pp as my guide to pressure.

[tonyjr]

I have crushed a few cases .
After I started running the dies thru the sonic , crushed
cases went down .
Most people here think I go overboard cleaning everything
but I have a bunch of nephews and nieces that reload here .
No more than 3 reloading sessions before dies are taken apart
and put in sonic with WD-40 . When the dies are run thru
sonic , the pistols are too . [ Taken apart to clean , run thru
sonic and wiped down ]
I still get a few crushed / split and loose pocket cases but I
figure they are just wore out .